Do dogs get headaches?

[BG and Gavin]

As some of you know, I have a problem with Gavin every so often.  It started with episodes of fever of unknown origin nearly two and a half years ago.  After treatment with anti-biotics and rimadyl (shot gun approach) he was back to normal.  About a year and a half ago another lasting episode.  He had every test in the book and our vet consulted with a pathologist at our teaching university. Gavin was put on a five week course of anti-biotics with the thinking that he may* have had a lingering kidney infection that had been knocked down but not fully cured (white blood cells elevated but not crazy).  Perfect blood followed at the end of the course of meds.  So fast forward three months later and another episode of lethargy, not eating, warm ears, some panting and what we term a "fake yawn."  Temp on the high side (102) but not quite a fever.  After a day or so he recovered on his own.  This has happened about once every three months or so and recovery happens spontaneously within 24 hours.  This week it happened again.  He was on the mend, but I guess we got him moving a bit too fast and he relapsed a bit.  The next day I gave him a rimadyl and after a couple hours he came around and is now right as rain.  I talked to the vet about these episodes and he shrugs and shakes his head - he is either baffled or thinks I am crazy (maybe both).  The facts are:  it is not an infection because he would not recover spontaneously, it is not an immune mediated disorder (ruled out because of bloodwork), his hips are good, fever is caused by inflammation so all that I can think of is that he has a soft tissue injury that acts up (although neither us nor the vet can find it) or he has a headache. Pain?  Anyone have any ideas?  P.S. My vet is great and I trust him and he sought the appropriate second opinion (shared Gavin's blood panel - which he termed a bit of a head-scratcher) from likely the top expert in the province (maybe the country).

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I truly believe they do. If they have head with brains attached, of course they do.  I'm sorry he is not feeling well.  I'm wondering one thing; would they be willing to try some of the wonder drugs used out there for migraines with Gavin?

Dogs can not have Advil or Tylenol but they can have Aspirin!   Have you ever tried this approach?

A few of my dogs, in later years, were given a 75mg of Aspirin just to get through the aches and pains of aging.  It seemed to help.

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

Here's a link to the discussion in "Health and Medicine" about human meds for our pets.

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/healthandmedicalissues/forum/topi...

 

Also, remember if giving a dog aspirin DO NOT GIVE COATED ASPIRIN, their stomach acid does not breakdown the coating the way ours do, so they may not be getting the full dose.

 

Consult your vet before giving your dog any medications.

[BG and Gavin]

Thanks for the link Andy!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Coated aspirin is broken down in the intestine not the stomach, though.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Here are symptoms on one site,  http://www.health-for-dogs.com/eight-dog-symptoms-a-possible-dog-he...

You suddenly find your dog wants to hide in the closet where it is dark and quiet.
• Now your most affectionate dog in the world does not want you touching their head or stroking them at all.
• Dog symptoms like rubbing their head against furniture or on your body hoping for relief of this invasion in their head.
• Total avoidance of people and loud noises which only make their head pound more.
• Not interested in playing and only wanting to be left alone.
• Squinting with their eyes to avoid sunlight which worsens their pain. 
• Seeking out cool places to rest their head upon.
• Not very enthusiastic about eating their meals (putting their head down to feed from their bowl can cause that throbbing)

I want to add another; a slight shake off of the head. Almost like an ear infection, but not shaking so severe. Rather gently.

Any of these sound familiar?

[BG and Gavin]

Thanks for the list Joanne - when I googled I only found yahoo answers no vet/science content.  So what fits:

- avoiding people and play and any activity

- lying down but keeping his head upright and staring straight ahead (sphinx style)

- he would not eat or drink from his bowl, but when I held a smaller dish up to head level he would drink from it and he accepted some hand feeding again from head level

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

BG, can you try a massage?  See if he responds well to a gentle massage of the neck, back, under the ears. I know, I did it daily to calm down Starlit ( and she loved it) and I do it with Spud each night. I can feel him melt in my arms.

[BG and Gavin]

Luckily he is good as new right now.  Asked to go for two (short) walks today but was denied park time.  Took matters into his own paws and did several rounds of zoomies in the back yard.  Ate fine today too :) He just snaps right out of it!  We were giving him massages while he was in the episodes.  I was trying the T-touch that Gina talks about.  DH thought he could feel "heat" between his shoulders, but who knows. 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

If you do a search on the research on some of the veterinary sites~ it will overwhelm you.  Too many, What ifs

You can search by: Veterinary Periodicals to start with.  Here is one site I found just off the bat.  I do have some research sites bookmarked and I will try to find them

Also, Vet Schools have areas of publications and you can search that way.  Here are a few. There are many

http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dvm

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/browse?type=lcsubc...

https://library.dtcc.edu/wilmlib/vettech.html

http://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/

http://www.vetweb.net/veterinary_publication.html

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I don't know....maybe they do get headaches and maybe they just have times when they feel yucky like we do.  There are times when I just feel "not like myself"....could be headache or funky tummy or just really tired and no energy.  There's nothing really that wrong with me...I'm just "under the weather".  Usually there's no discernible reason why I'm having a bad day or two....I just am.  My guys have their "off days" too. Since your Vet has done a great "work up" with nothing concrete showing up, I think I'd think it's just one of those "undetermined origin" things.  I hope that's what it is.  Keep us posted and try not to worry too much....the lack of specific symptoms is a good thing.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

So true, Jane.   I have a lot of those ' moments'    Just what they are too.  Down time.  Spud, energetic, hyper Spud, has days like this too.  He will just go off to bed. 

[BG and Gavin]

At its best it is low energy, not eating.  But at its worse it is short shallow breathing, panting, staring off into space, and weakness (helping him stand up, walking very gingerly).  I hate to be dramatic, but when he is fevered he is so non-responsive, it is scary. Note - not every episode is this intense.  All elimination is normal so it does not seem to have anything to do with the tummy.