My newly adoped senior dogs snaps at nothing????

[Nancy (Spuddie' s Mum)]

I wanted to bounce this off anyone who may have some insite into this problem. We recently adopted a senior Pom who was in foster care in N.Y. State. She was flown to us here in Tennessee and she had a rather rough ride on the plane due, I think, to the bad storms that were passing by. Anyway, she had a sore leg and a bit of a cough. We had her at the vet and she was checked over and got some allergy pills and an antiinflamitory for her leg, which is now totally fine. However, since she has been here for the last two weeks, I have noticed that later in the day and evening, sometimes she snaps at the air at nothing. I mentioned it to the vet and she said she was hoping that since she is a senior dog (at least 12 years old), that maybe her vision is not what it used to be and with the change of light she thinks she is seeing a bug. Also, could be a hearing thing too. And the last and worst case: could be a small brain tumour. Now she did have mamory tumours removed about a year ago, so this really gives me major cause for concern. We are hoping that it's just due to her rough ride here and as she settles in these issues fade away and we have a few good years with her. If anyone could give me in insight into this "air snapping" I would really appreciate it. I notice her do it over the course of an evening at least once, but not more than three times and I always notice it happens late in the day and evening.

[jdf]

Might also be a mild form of a type of epileptic seizure refered to as "fly biting". I think you should just observe the behavior for awhile and if it gets more severe and/or more frequent, talk with your vet about epilepsy.

I've often wondered about vision problems in older dogs - I'm an older dog and have some pretty radical floaters which at times make me think there is a bug flying in front of my face. I don't bite at them but have found myself "swatting them away".. I think if a dog had a similar problem, biting thin air could be a possibility.

[davet]

it might be good, if you can, to take a video of you dog doing the snapping cause it could be, as skeptic says, mild seizures...

[Nancy (Spuddie' s Mum)]

If it is a mild seizure or mild epilepsy, what would cause such a thing? She is such a sweet happy little girl, we want to keep her healthy and do the most we can for her. She is a special needs girl at best, but we knew this when we adopted her. I'm glad we have found a very caring vet here who is pleased to work with us and discuss all of our concerns.

[jdf]

If it is a mild seizure or mild epilepsy, what would cause such a thing? She is such a sweet happy little girl, we want to keep her healthy and do the most we can for her. She is a special needs girl at best, but we knew this when we adopted her. I'm glad we have found a very caring vet here who is pleased to work with us and discuss all of our concerns.

Many forms of epilepsy are idiopathic (unknown origin) but in some forms, the source can be indentified. Roxy, for example, had seizure activity which was related to a low thyroid. It might be a good idea to have her thyroid level checked.

Here are some links to info on epilepsy & seizures. The first link explains fly-biting.

<a href="http://www.canine-epilepsy.net/flybite/ ... te.html</a>
<a href="http://www.canine-epilepsy.net/basics/b ... in.html</a>
<a href="http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/Resource ... es.html</a>

[TheSkeptic]

I didn't say anything -- jDF did.... However I concur. .....

it might be good, if you can, to take a video of you dog doing the snapping cause it could be, as skeptic says, mild seizures...