Shaking head when eating, why?

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Korrie5

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2018
Messages
10
This has happened twice. My chin kept shaking/tossing his head repeatedly more than five times in a row while I syringe-fed him critical care. He only did this while swallowing the first few mouthfuls. Some time before this, he twitched a few times when eating critical care once. What could this be? Low blood sugar, calcium deficiency or overdose, seizure symptoms, or could it be related to dental problems? He LOVES critical care, and was trying to gobble it up, so could it be triggered by his excitement? Or the sudden sugar spike....

I'm so worried because the way he did those quick shakes of the head while trying to eat just looked so uncontrollable and weird. Please help if you have any idea why! Thank you.
 
Why is he on critical care? The underlying issue could have something to do with it. To me it sounds like maybe he's eating too fast and having trouble swallowing.
 
Why is he on critical care? The underlying issue could have something to do with it. To me it sounds like maybe he's eating too fast and having trouble swallowing.

Thanks for replying! He's not on critical care, I just give him a syringe daily to supplement his water intake because he is having an eye infection. That's what I thought too, because the eye infection may be caused by dental issues. I haven't confirmed that yet. But I didn't know if such shakes could be caused by dental issues. I hope you're right and he's just eating too fast instead of it being tremors or something.
 
Why is he on critical care? The underlying issue could have something to do with it. To me it sounds like maybe he's eating too fast and having trouble swallowing.

He is a beige, so I know he's more prone to seizures. He also sometimes freezes up and gets unresponsive for a while which I was worried are absence seizures.
 
He is a beige, so I know he's more prone to seizures. He also sometimes freezes up and gets unresponsive for a while which I was worried are absence seizures.

Why do you think being a beige makes them more prone to seizures? No color is more prone than any other. I have a barn full of beiges - never a seizure in them.
 
Why do you think being a beige makes them more prone to seizures? No color is more prone than any other. I have a barn full of beiges - never a seizure in them.

It was just something I read somewhere on the internet, sorry if I'm wrong. That's a relief to hear. He also gets really tired after exercise and always lies down, not really "collapsing" but looking "limp". So I guess that's why I suspected hypoglycemia.
 
Hmm it does sound to me like he was either having a hard time swallowing, or was just very excited for the CC. Chins make some pretty rapid movements when happy, not always just popcorning. My guy shakes his head &/or whole body like a dog sometimes when he's excited. As with any suspected problems, just keep a close eye on him. If it only happens when eating CC it's probably nothing health related.

Sad to hear about the eye problems :( if it makes you feel any better, I have a beige chin who just had his eye removed about 2 months ago now. He somehow cut it and we spent about a month giving him eyedrops several times a day, weren't sure if the eye was viable or not but it turned out not to be (the disc had broken through the iris and was fusing to his iris) so we had it removed. Surgery went great and he's been doing amazingly since, he hasn't changed a bit and all the forced-handling seems to have only made him cuddlier.
 
Hmm it does sound to me like he was either having a hard time swallowing, or was just very excited for the CC. Chins make some pretty rapid movements when happy, not always just popcorning. My guy shakes his head &/or whole body like a dog sometimes when he's excited. As with any suspected problems, just keep a close eye on him. If it only happens when eating CC it's probably nothing health related.

Sad to hear about the eye problems :( if it makes you feel any better, I have a beige chin who just had his eye removed about 2 months ago now. He somehow cut it and we spent about a month giving him eyedrops several times a day, weren't sure if the eye was viable or not but it turned out not to be (the disc had broken through the iris and was fusing to his iris) so we had it removed. Surgery went great and he's been doing amazingly since, he hasn't changed a bit and all the forced-handling seems to have only made him cuddlier.

Oh my god, that must have been a tough time and I'm so sorry even after all your hard work you couldn't save the eye. It definitely sounds like you tried your best for him though, and I'm glad he managed to bounce back so well. He sounds like a fighter! Thanks for sharing your experience. I understand firsthand what forced eye dropping for a month feels like. :hug2:

My chin's eye is 95% recovered after a month of eye drops and Baytril. It still doesn't look completely normal but now the dilemma is deciding whether to sedate him to get x-rays for overgrown roots. He has other suspicious symptoms like pawing his mouth often especially after eating, flicking ears while eating, crumbling his pellets and preferring to chew skinnier twigs. So I don't know whether to take the risk of anesthesia.

It's good I don't have to worry he's having seizures too, though :)
 
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