Why is my 11-year-old dog screaming in his sleep and tilting his head?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Rambo. His behavior suggests that he is painful. I recommend that he sees a veterinarian today. His breed is especially prone to neck and/or back pain. If this is the case, it requires prompt treatment. In the meantime, keep him quiet and do not give any over-the-counter pain medications as these can be toxic to dogs. I hope this information helps!

Hello, sorry to hear about Rambo. It sounds like he may have developed kennel cough and is coughing because of it. Kennel cough can be caused by different infections but most commonly it is caused by a bacteria known as Bordetella. Your dog will need antibiotics to treat this infection and thus I recommend having him seen by his veterinarian for this. His coughing is likely not related to his epilepsy. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your dog. I recommend that he sees an emergency veterinarian today. Screaming and shaking typically represent pain in dogs. Small breed dogs are prone to neck and/or back pain. The muscles lining the spine can spasm causing excruciating pain. In more severe cases, a bulging or swollen disc can place pressure on the spinal cord creating neurological problems. Of course, there are other causes of pain. His veterinarian will examine him carefully and direct you on treatment based on these results. In the meantime, keep him quiet and do not give any over-the-counter pain medications as these can be toxic to dogs. I hope this information helps!

Poor Marshall! Although it certainly could be fear/anxiety based, I have concerns that he has pain somewhere and he woke up screaming because the pain woke him up. Dogs don't really have nightmares to the best of my knowledge. I recommend to have him examined by his veterinarian to look for any evidence of pain. If none is found, I recommend to talk to the vet about a temporary anti-anxiety medication as no one likes to see their fur babies like that. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Yes, it may be seizure related but i would be concerned it may also be due to pain and spasms. I recommend you video the episodes if they happen again and show them to your vet. I would be concerned that this could be progressive

Is he running into things around the house? He could be suffering from some blindness which can make them hypersensitive to anyone coming around their face. If this is all of the sudden, it could be due to high blood pressure and I would have your vet check him out to see if he needs to be on any blood pressure meds. Another possibility is that he may have had a seizure in his sleep which caused the twitching. After a seizure, they can be very hypersensitive to any touch or movement until they snap out of it. If he isn't improving, I would definitely have your vet take a look at him to see if there is anything else going on. If he doesn't snap out of it suddenly, then I would believe even more than it was likely a seizure. I would call your vet and talk to them about the seizure. Your vet will likely recommend a panel of bloodwork to ensure there isn't anything metabolically wrong that could have caused a seizure. I would recommend to start a seizure log which records the date, time and what he did during and after the seizure. If these episodes begin to happen often then I would contact your vet about this as well. I hope this helps!

Oh my. Poor guy. It sounds like JJ is having possible seizures. You will need to get him seen by your vet for baseline bloodwork to look for some possible causes for the seizures. If none are found with this first test, then an MRI or CT scan may be recommended. However, he likely will go on anti-seizure medication right away since he had multiple seizures within a 30 day time frame. Hopefully we can manage his seizures well with medication, but due to his age, there is unfortunately a higher risk for an underlying brain or spinal cord lesion as the cause. If he has another it is best to take him to your ER vet right away. However, if they don't reoccur, he may be able to wait until morning to be seen by your regular vet. I do hope that JJ feels better soon! Best wishes and take care.