Twitching episodes...mini seizures? HELP!

[mollyhoxha]

Hello,
First of all I'm Molly I have always used this as a resource for our five year old pug Sir Paul. But this is the first time I am posting. I need help, Paul has been having these twitching fits since Friday. They start usually in the middle of the night and the twitching will happen usually right when he is about to fall asleep. He did not do it Saturday, Monday or Tuesday but he started it again last night and it has me really worried. I don't know if they are mini seizures or muscle spasms but he is completely conscious while twitching. If I go by the treat jar he will follow mid twitch. I just feel so bad for him because I can tell he doesn't know what's going on and is freaked out. He is prone to really bad inner ear infections and I think that may be the culprit so I've been cleaning his ears with his solution from when he had a ruptured eardrum before. But I took him to the vet on Tuesday and she said they are red but there is no bacteria but also that could be because I've been cleaning them for a few days. She seemed confused by what is happening so we did a blood panel. Haven't heard back yet. The weird thing is this only happens in the middle of the night. Other than these episodes he is completely himself. Energetic, has a huge appetite. Last night when he was doing this he felt warm like he had a fever. After a while of him pacing he laid down and I put pressure on his right ear and I could feel it pulsing. It was then when he finally stopped twitching and fell asleep. I'm just so worried, you google things and think of the worst case scenario like PED. But I would be surprised because he has no other symptoms and he is five and male. I'm just worried he isn our world. I'm hoping it just has to do with his ears. Has anyone experience this? How do I manage it and help him? I'll attach a video I did last night.

[mollyhoxha]

Here is a video from last night where the twitching was at it's worst https://youtu.be/aEo_Nwo_k30

[Pug Auntie]

I would show the video to your vet. It looks like something is bothering him but hard to say what. Maybe the ear. You can see his tail is down and it looks like when he came to you with his paw he was trying to tell you something. I had a dog that would do that. She would come to me with her paw held up to look at it. I was worried about a spider bite but once I looked her over she just walked away satisfied that mom checked her over. She had an allergy to bee stings so we were always concerned when she would come over with one paw up.
We used to call that her "tell"

[staticjess]

Kind of looks like hiccups to me. Maybe they just happen to come at bedtime and they're keeping him awake and being annoying? Which would likely cause a down tail as well. My Buster gets them sometimes and they look similar. Wonder if some tagamet of pepcid would help keep his tummy settled at night. But still a good idea to show the video to the vet.

[Wonka & Nilla]

It looked like hiccups to me as well, but I agree that it's still a good idea to show the vet the video. Sending best wishes for Paul and hoping there is an easy fix so he feels better soon.

[shaynapug]

Could be a muscle spasm......Kelev did something like that a few times. Seemed to stop once I started Chiro with him. Seeing all being good!!! I really doubt that it's PDE......that comes quickly and I'm pretty sure starts out with a major seizure.

Seeing it being nothing major!!!! Show your vet the video!

And....keep us posted!

[mollyhoxha]

Thanks for the responses! Still haven't heard back from the vet which is very irritating. Anyways your responses made me think that maybe it is indigestion of some sort. On Friday my dad sent a box of treats to Paul, Paul has constantly been requesting them. On the days where we are home more he has eaten more of these treats and those are the nights when he has these episodes. I am saying no to these treats giving him some pepicide tonight and praying this is the culprit! I'll keep you posted on what happens and what the vet says.

[AmberB]

This looks a lot like the episodes Ellie used to have. I think a few others here have mentioned them with their Pugs too. She too, would only do it at night. She would seem restless and pace around, just get comfortable and another twitch would hit and she'd be up pacing again. This would go on for hours sometimes and then disappear as quickly as it started. I too noticed that they looked like hiccups but when I touched her while they were happening I realized that it was coming from her back end. I never figured out if it was a tummy issue or jumpy nerves in her legs but thankfully she hasn't done it again in over a year. I posted a thread very similar to yours back when it was happening to us. I called it "Restless Pug Syndrome?" and it had varying suggestions of what it could be...some very scary, some not, but it may be worth a read....

https://www.pugvillage.com/forum/pug-...-syndrome.html

[Dalinarthepug]

Did you ever figure out what was causing this? My dog is doing the same thing. Thanks hope Paul is doing better

[deedee2604]

My pug is acting the same way except I can't see such a visible twitch as in the video. She keeps us up most of the night. She would lay down then all of a sudden bolt up and do run around the house or play in her toy box or start messing around on a blanket on the floor. She would be lying in bed, jolt down and go lay in a pile of clothes on the floor, stay there a few minutes then get up again. She would seem all wound up too. Go outside and start barking. All things that are not like her to do. It has happened about 4 times now since January. The vet is no help. She does have weak rear legs. The first time I thought maybe she got into something as she was acting crazy and all wound up. The second time I saw some muscle twitching on the side of her body and thought maybe she is having uncomfortable muscle spasms. I got a muscle relaxer from the vet. Last night it happened again. I gave her a muscle relaxer which didn't seem to do anything. We are at a loss as to what to do:(