Is My Chihuahua Having Seizures?

Takun is our daughter's Chihuahua. She's a 4-year-old spayed female. JD grew up with her. It was a blessing too, as he was a very busy body and I was thankful to have Takun around to keep him occupied and tucker him out.

It's hard to believe that when JD came to us, him and Takun were the same size!

Takun started having episodes of what either looks like seizures or episodes of pain.

The veterinary exam didn't reveal much and they can't afford the suggested MRI. Here is a video of one of the recent episodes.


We are hoping for some input of what you might be seeing in the video.

The episodes don't last long, about 5 minutes on average and everything seems normal before and after. There also weren't any changes in Takun's demeanor, drinking or eating habits, and elimination.

Everything seems perfectly normal, other than during the episodes.

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Takun’s episode started approximately 2 years ago. She was having them less frequently (once every 1 or 2 months) until recently. The winter of 2010/2011 she only had a couple rare episodes but it had gone for so long without an episode that we’d assumed they stopped.

They started again with an episode on May 24th and then in June she had 2 in the same week, the 25th and 30th.

Each episode only lasts 5 minutes at the maximum and they are always the same, she just seems very imbalanced and, of course, a little scared.

There has never been any kind of indicator when an episode begins, it just comes on all of a sudden without warning. 

The seizure she had on June 30th she was literally outside for 10 minutes tops. She had just woken so no food for at least 8 hours, but other times it will happen through the day. We free feed them so it's hard to pinpoint how long after she's eaten that she has episodes, but I'm pretty certain it varies a lot.

My first thought was overheating, but on the 30th I know for sure she couldn't have been too hot, it was early morning and not a very hot day, and only being out there 10 minutes she was not at all hot. There are often times when she'll sit outside for an hour and you can feel she's a bit toasty but she hasn't had a seizure.

I don't recall how many times it's happened where she was just chilling in the house, at least 3.

After every episode she goes completely back to normal, she never appears to be exhausted or shaken, she literally shakes it off and then back to the same old Takun.

There doesn’t appear to be any pattern behind what causes the episodes, the majority have occurred when she’s been running around outside but this is not exclusive, she’s also had them when just sitting on the couch or sitting outside in the sun.

The only thing I recall that changed 2 years ago (and it’s a bit fuzzy so I may be wrong about timeline) is that we did change her food at one point from Orijen dog food to PC Extra Meaty Lamb and Rice Dog Food.

We’d described the episodes to the vet a while ago, she’d suggested keeping our eye on her and trying to get a video if she continued to have these episodes.  

I finally was able to get footage on June 30th and went to the vet that same day. She did a regular examination as well as some kind of neurological exam which included reflexes, what seemed to be checking if Takun knew where all her feet were, and checking to see if there was any back pain. She indicated that everything was perfectly normal.

Other than the episodes themselves Takun is just as she has always been, she never has any issues with her pee or poo, she eats and drinks normally, and her temperament and activity levels haven’t changed a bit. She’s extremely affectionate with little snippets of the classic Chihuahua sass.

We are looking for any input you might have as to what you think might be going on with her.