I am new to the board, but not new to Bostons. My JJ is now 6 years old (male), and recently, we have noticed him "biting" or acting like he is trying to catch flying mosquitoes or flies which aren't there, over his head. I am wondering if something is wrong with his eyes? It only happens when he looks up - it's as if there was a swarm of bugs over his head and he tries to jump up and catch them by biting at the air. Any suggestions? I do hope this is not a precursor to seizures!! Help!! We will take him to the vet soon if it continues.

I sure hope that's not the case. My 9 week old Boston does the same thing every once in a while, but I thought it was just him being goofy and playing. I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help, let me know if you get any information on it though! Good luck!

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Kasi and Tie-Son

I think you should just continue to monitor his actions, and if it continues, it would definitely not hurt to have him checked.
I couldn't imagine that it would be a precursor to seizures, but it wouldn't hurt to just be aware.
Does he only do it when he looks up?
One of our BT sometimes licks at the air a lot, and I figured out he usually had like a fuzz on his muzzle, or had licked up a hair, etc., but your situation may be totally different if there is a definite pattern.
Keep us posted on how he's doing!!

It turns out that there is something known as "fly biting syndrome", believe it or not....a secondary form of epilepsy - in this case, a complex partial seizure disorder, although mild. IT doesn't cause any brain damage, doesn't require medication, and is just a disconnect of some sort in the brain which lasts only seconds at a time. He had bloodwork done, which showed an elevated red blood cell count, so we have to FU with that...I'm not sure what that means, although it could be many possible things. Keep you posted.

Wow, that is so interesting....where did you find the info, or was did the vet tell you? I would like to read up on that if there is a website......
I hope the RBC count turns out to be okay.
Let us know!!

If you google "canine fly biting syndrome" you will find several links to this. I never heard of it, either. My dog also ate an entire geranium over the course of a month, and now I'm wondering if that may have something to do with it, because he hasn't been doing the biting at flies thing all weekend - maybe the geranium was toxic? I know that some plants are - some aren't. I looked up geraniums and got 2 different opinions - so I don't really know. I'm just glad he is improving! The vet had definitely heard of this, but hadn't seen a case. It is apparently very common in King Charles Spaniels! :roll: