# Muscle spasms



## Ari1405 (Apr 18, 2017)

Have any of you dealt with muscle spasms in Chihuahuas?
I may have a dog who seems to be having them. I still need to watch him closely. But a couple a weeks ago as I was cleaning the patio he enjoys laying down and watching me and I noticed his leg would move almost if it was involuntarily. It raised a flag but I knew I had to watch him more carefully. 
Last night it was midnight and he wouldn't fall asleep it seemed like he was having muscle spasms. Every couple minutes it's like his leg would hit the kennel (he sleeps inside a kennel) 
I was half asleep pretty much the entire time. And he also probably just couldn't fall asleep. 
I was searching what I could give him almost as a preventative or even natural. 
What I don't want is to put him on medications for the rest of his life. I will when I feel he needs it (when it becomes a huge problem as in normal living)
Apparently they also need testing which is expensive. I will go "there" once I feel like he truly needs it.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

This maybe just normal involuntary jerking of the leg before going to sleep. My dogs do it quite often. I hear a whack after I've put them to bed, and then nothing. I've seen it happen at nap time when they are on a bed, and not in the kennel. As long as it doesn't continue like a seizure, I wouldn't worry too much.


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## Ari1405 (Apr 18, 2017)

I feel like if he were to have it way worse he would have them while walking. 
I'm hoping it's just a small jerk he experiences as he's falling asleep. 
I will see how he does tonight. 
I was wondering if I could give him some kind of joint vitamin or even salmon oil for dogs of some sort but the main issue is that he doesn't have arthritis. I wonder if it do him bad since majority of them say for stiff joints/ arthritis


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## MelodyoftheForest (Sep 11, 2015)

Ari1405 said:


> I was wondering if I could give him some kind of joint vitamin or even salmon oil for dogs of some sort but the main issue is that he doesn't have arthritis. I wonder if it do him bad since majority of them say for stiff joints/ arthritis


I don't think it would hurt, but usually this kind of spasm is from the nervous system, not the muscles or joints themselves.


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## Ari1405 (Apr 18, 2017)

I forgot about that but I did read about it. 
It said because of the nervous system and also neurological. I personally believe that it might be neurological. He's always seemed "off" to me. He's been like that since a puppy. But at the same time he's not one of those dogs who self harms.
But I don't know why. I obviously love him and him and we treat him the same as the others but we know he's a bit different. 
Because it's most likely neurological/ nervous system I don't know if he'd benefit from a joint vitamin or even a multivitamin.


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

I still think this 'jerking' is due to muscle/nerve relaxation as the dog starts to go to sleep. I remember many years ago (I was about 12!) and we had a boxer puppy. My brother and I had been playing with him, and he waddled over to his bed and promptly went to sleep. We watched him breathe, and suddenly his whole body jerked! We were terrified. crying, we called my mom, who watched the puppy who had several more jerky motions of his limbs. She assured us, that all puppies and humans too do this to a lesser degree all the time. He grew up to be 80lbs, and very healthy. Just keep on doing!


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