[Lillith]

I do see the tremor in the first video, as well as the hind legs kicking out in the second. Certainly weird.

However, are you sure the zoomies in the following videos are unnatural? What did your vet say about them? Please note, I am not a vet and I don't know your dog as well as you do (I also watched the videos with the sound off), but they look a lot like a young dog blowing off the last of their energy. My own dog would launch himself off the back of the couch in his manic zoomies and then fall asleep shortly after, too. Periods of craziness and unruliness are not an uncommon occurrence in young dogs, so it may not be related to the other symptoms you noted. Obviously go with the advice of your vet first and foremost, and you know better than I do what she was doing before/after the video, but if you showed me those zoomie videos without context I probably wouldn't notice anything amiss and chalk it up to a young, energetic dog.

Has your vet discussed the possibility of epilepsy with you? It's not always the jerking seizures we see on TV, sometimes it can look like head shaking, sudden loss of muscle tone, or other weird behaviors. Although sometimes there is an underlying condition that causes it, it can also be idiopathic, meaning they have no idea what causes it. Has the vet prescribed any medication?

If you feel unsatisfied with your current vet, you can always seek a second opinion. But, it's also my understanding that neurological issues can be difficult to diagnose in dogs. They can't tell us what's going on, we can only interpret what we see. It can be an excruciating "wait and see" or "lets try this and see if it works" game that is frustrating for owners. Also, vets can sometimes have a less than satisfactory bedside manner, and we have to work a bit to pull information out of them. It may help to directly, but politely, ask the neurologist "Why are we delaying forming a treatment plan?". The answer will likely help you determine if the vet is simply being cautious and wanting to do their due diligence in figuring this issue out, or if they are well and truly stumped and a second opinion might be in order.

I hope you find some answers soon!

 

[Lillith]

Thanks so much for this thoughtful response. Just one note: she does normal "zoomies" -- what you see on the video is far outside her normal range of "zoomie" behavior.

Ok. And I'm sure you've shown all these videos to your vet, right?

At one point my dog had brief neurological episode that we were not able to record, and my vet said keeping a log of any and all weird behavior and videoing it whenever possible would help her immensely in making a diagnosis. It also helps to note what they were doing before the occurrence, because sometimes these things can be environmental (such as getting into pesticide on the grass, eating something poisonous, etc.). Log times, dates, everything, and sometimes a pattern develops. Luckily, that was the one and only occurrence of the issue with my dog and I never had to use that notebook, but I remember how frustrating it was when I brought him into the vet and they could find absolutely nothing wrong with him and couldn't explain why it happened. But, they can't draw conclusions from evidence they can't see!