Has anyone heard of "fly biting" or had any experience with it? (cone is from Neuter, I thought the cone was maybe exacerbating it but taking it off doesn't seem to help) On top of Finn's seemingly endless stream of vet visits is this Fly Biting crap that comes and goes. He's doing it almost nonstop tonight. It has presented before, but the vet was unsure about possible treatments. Thought it could be fleas....it seemed to subside a bit but now it's back. I feel so bad because he seems tormented and unable to relax. Reading online it could have to do with diet or it could be a partial seizure?
How frustrating. I hadn't heard of it but I googled it. I guess you've read this article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3500118/ .....which describes a pretty thorough study that pointed to the issue being (at least in some dogs) underlying gastrointestinal disease and reflux. Medication and a diet change seemed to produce results in that study. Might be worth showing your vet that article? Is it worse following meals?
Haven't yet noticed a correlation with meals, however he is having diarrhea today and symptoms are worse. Will print that article and bring to the vet. Occasionally he will suddenly get up and run to another location as if he's being provoked by ghosts. It's AWFUL This has happened before but never for as long a duration.
Its also linked to CCD canine compulsive disorders. Its a way of releasing stress and/or frustration it's sometimes called air snapping. It begins as a response to stress or anxiety they start as a displacement behaviour as the dog tries to sooth and lower their stress levels but it eventually the behaviour itself causes the dog more stress. If Finn is in pain or stressed ot even just bored he maybe using these behaviours to try to sooth himself. as with humans Serotonin uptake blocking drugs have been used successfully to break this behaviour cycle. If you look for a CCD site you might find it useful.
That sounds pretty awful for you. I must admit I didn't know about the GI stuff. Or the link to anxiety. Makes sense. My first thought was an epileptic process a bit like automatic movement in absence type epilepy. Does he do this when he is "engaged" with you or is he a bit zoned out? As in does he still do it when distracted?
I have heard that it can possibly be a form of seizure, or brain disturbance. I think SwampDonkey's explanation is spot on. It's a bit like some of us, who when anxious, rub our hands together for instance, or tap our fingers. I hope you can get something to help Finn, I can understand how you feel.
Make sure your vet checks for gastro intestinal disease, as per that article. All dogs in that study had gastro intestinal disease (and displayed the fly biting behaviour). Treatment designed to address reflux was associated with improvement in the fly biting in 5 of the 7 dogs. Worth following up in your dog.
That article is really interesting from my point of view because all my OHs family have OCD to different degrees. They all get worse when they get stressed all them also have stomach disorders such a coeleac.they have real food intolerance and are prone gastric ulcers and colitis.
We are having the exact same issue with our 11 month old puppy. Did you ever find a solution for your guy?? Thanks! Juli
Hello, I was wondering if you ever found a resolution for this. We are having the same exact issue with our 11 month old puppy! Thanks, Juli
Watching the videos he does actually look like he can hear a noise. Has he had his ears checked? Don’t know if dogs can get tinnitus but it drives me mad! Must be horrible not to have him settling down to rest.
