Hi Tara,
Thanks for your interesting question. I had to do a bit of research on this one! This sounds like a disorder that has been documented in the literature called “idiopathic head tremors,” which can occur in any breed, but seems to occur frequently in Bulldogs. Unfortunately, it seems there is not a lot known about underlying causes or treatments for this disorder. The good news is that it does not represent a life-threatening problem, and many dogs stop tremoring as they age. I would still strongly recommend that you rule out other causes of tremoring or abnormal movements by having your vet perform a complete neurological exam and blood work at a minimum. As a side note – diabetes would cause an elevated sugar level in the blood (not a low level), and so giving more sugar would not help if this is the case. Other non-diabetic illnesses can cause a low blood sugar level and can also cause seizure-like activity — you can screen for these fairly easily with blood work and a urinalysis with your veterinarian.
I hope this is helpful for you.
Dr. Kim Hester
