![]() ![]() Dog 1 presented fly biting during hospitalization within 30 min of being fed. At home, 3 dogs (dogs 1, 2, and 4) consistently presented more fly biting following feeding, suggesting potential postprandial discomfort. The data indicate that fly biting may be caused by an underlying medical disorder, GI disease being the most common. The researchers make the following points in their paper: The owners of the seventh dog did not institute the recommended treatment and their dog’s fly biting behavior remained unchanged. One other dog was also diagnosed with a neurologic disorder (Chiari malformation) and responded to a medication used to treat seizures and nerve pain but not to GI treatment. ![]() When the dogs received treatment for their GI disease, the fly biting completely resolved in five cases. Researchers at the University of Montreal Veterinary Teaching Hospital evaluated seven dogs (an admittedly small sample size) to “characterize fly biting, perform a complete medical evaluation of dogs presented with fly biting, and evaluate the outcome of this behavior following appropriate treatment of the underlying medical condition.” Let me summarize the paper’s most intriguing results.Īll seven dogs were diagnosed with some type of gastrointestinal GI) disease, including delayed gastric emptying, inflammation of various parts of the GI tract, gastro-esophageal reflux, and/or a flaccid and distended stomach. New science is casting doubt on this assumption, however. Partial seizures were not the only possible cause of fly biting, but they were the most likely… or so I was taught. I don’t know what part of the brain needs to be stimulated to make a dog exhibit fly biting behavior but the result was thought to be this specific set of movements. When I was in veterinary school, I learned that as long as a dog has normal eyesight, fly biting behavior (snapping at the air as if trying to catch a nonexistent fly) is usually a symptom of a partial seizure.Ī partial seizure is caused by abnormal electrical activity within a relatively small portion of the brain.
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