Why is my old dog twitching, flinching, and acting scared after sleep?

Question

My 14 year old boston terrier has been acting weird. He woke up from what looked like a bad dream (he was twitching in his sleep) and then when I put my hands in front of his face he acts like i'm about to hit him. He is even doing it when no ones near him. he twitches like a dog would if you tried to slap him in the face. What could be wrong? Pet's info: Dog | Boston Terrier | Male | neutered | 25 lbs

Megan, DVM, CVA · Accepted Answer

Is he running into things around the house? He could be suffering from some blindness which can make them hypersensitive to anyone coming around their face. If this is all of the sudden, it could be due to high blood pressure and I would have your vet check him out to see if he needs to be on any blood pressure meds. Another possibility is that he may have had a seizure in his sleep which caused the twitching. After a seizure, they can be very hypersensitive to any touch or movement until they snap out of it. If he isn't improving, I would definitely have your vet take a look at him to see if there is anything else going on. If he doesn't snap out of it suddenly, then I would believe even more than it was likely a seizure. I would call your vet and talk to them about the seizure. Your vet will likely recommend a panel of bloodwork to ensure there isn't anything metabolically wrong that could have caused a seizure. I would recommend to start a seizure log which records the date, time and what he did during and after the seizure. If these episodes begin to happen often then I would contact your vet about this as well. I hope this helps!

Why is my old dog twitching, flinching, and acting scared after sleep?

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