Shaking, head shaking and a head tilt in a French Bulldog

"Why is my French Bulldog shaking" is the breed's own version of a question with a long list of answers, and "head tilt" is the version with a short one. This page gives the Kennel Club's causes and threshold for shaking, the PDSA's for a head tilt and for the balance problem behind most of them, and the breed's two look-alikes: the head tremor that is neither, and the ear that is usually the cause. No verdict; the phone call does that.

Shaking and trembling

The published threshold

The Kennel Club's causes run from the ordinary, "scared, anxious or excited" and "wet or cold", through nausea and pain, to the medical: "epilepsy, generalised tremor syndrome, muscle weakness, ear problems or poisoning", with kidney failure and inflammatory brain conditions on the long list. Its poisons: chocolate, slug baits, cannabis, mouldy foods, nicotine, xylitol, macadamia nuts and caffeine. Its threshold: "If your dog is showing other signs, is shaking a lot or has been shaking for a while you should contact your vet immediately." The Kennel Club's emergencies page adds, for anything on that poisons list, "Never 'wait and see' with poisoning and always take any packaging with you to your vet."

In this breed

Three things to separate before the call. A dog that trembles all over, is bright, and stops when the excitement, the cold or the fear passes is the ordinary end of the list. A dog that is shaking and also drooling, vomiting, unsteady, or was near anything on the poisons list, is the immediate end, and cannabis is on it for a reason: the breed's forum has the stories. And the breed's own: a rhythmic nod or bob of the head, up and down or side to side, in a dog that is awake, alert, responsive and otherwise itself, that stops when you offer a treat or call its name, is the idiopathic head tremor, which has its own page and its own instruction, which is to film it. It is not a seizure; a seizure takes the dog's awareness and usually its footing.

Head shaking

Shaking the head, as distinct from a tremor or a tilt, is the ears. The Kennel Club puts "ear problems" on its shaking list, and in this breed the ear that is scratched, shaken, red inside or smelly is the ear infection the breed gets one and a half times as often as other dogs, which is a morning appointment and, the second time, a pattern that points at allergy. The itch log has the ears column for that reason. A grass seed in the ear, on the PDSA's head-tilt causes list, is the sudden violent version after a walk.

Head tilt

The published thresholds

The PDSA: "Some of the most common causes are an ear infection or vestibular disease – a problem with your dog's balance. Most of the conditions that cause a head tilt also cause other symptoms such as head shaking, circling, loss of balance or a reduced appetite. Contact your vet if you notice your dog's head is tilted to one side, even if there are no other symptoms." Its causes: ear infection, something stuck in the ear such as a grass seed, vestibular disease, certain medicines, stroke, tumour, inflammation of the brain, trauma. On the balance problem itself: "It usually causes loss of balance, a head tilt and flickering eye movements", it "is most common in old dogs", it "usually develops very suddenly, but fortunately, most dogs start improving within 2-3 days, and recover within a few weeks", and: "Always contact your vet if your dog has symptoms of vestibular disease, and ask for a same-day appointment if they are vomiting or seem distressed."

In this breed

A head held to one side for more than the few seconds a dog gives an odd noise is a call in any breed, and the PDSA's line is that it is a call even with nothing else. What decides the speed is the company it keeps: a tilt with circling, falling to one side, eyes flicking side to side, standing with the legs braced wide, or vomiting is the balance centre, and that is the same day. A tilt with a smelly or painful ear is the ear, which is the morning. Older dogs are the ones the PDSA names for the balance version; in the PDSA's words, most of those dogs "start improving within 2-3 days". The older dog page covers what else changes with age.

Have ready for the call

• A video: the shake, the nod, or the tilt, with the dog walking towards you.
• Whether the dog is otherwise itself: eating, responsive, steady on its feet.
• Anything it could have eaten or got into in the last day, with the packaging.
• The ears: red, smelly, painful, or a walk through long grass.
• For a tilt: which side, when it started, and whether the eyes are flicking.
• Any medication, including ear drops.

What this page is not

A verdict. The thresholds are the Kennel Club's and the PDSA's wording, attributed; the breed lines are the site's head tremor, ear and older-dog pages, sourced in turn. The PDSA's page on a dog that has eaten something harmful was not read for this page and is not quoted; the Animal Poison Line is the number for that.