Seizures at feeding time?

[honeybear99]

Hello, I posted a few months back about possible seizures after letting my chinchilla on a running wheel and was advised to take it out. Last week, I was feeding my chinchilla in the morning, and as he started to eat, he stopped moving and started curling inwards and shaking. He basically lost function in his back legs and i got really worried. This lasted for a few minutes and afterwards he went straight back to eating. I took him to the vet that same day as an emergency visit, but they said that he looked upbeat and perky when they were checking him out and that it might’ve been stomach cramps and sent me home with pain medicine. I wasn’t satisfied with their answer but he seemed normal until it happened again today. I fed him this morning and went to get ready for work and I hear thumping so I go check on him and he is completely flipped on his back, struggling to get up. So I pick him up and hold him in my lap and he is shaking again, back legs not working again. I’ve given him a raisin every time it’s happened and after a few minutes, he’s normal and back to eating. His diet consists of Timothy hay, orchard hay and pellets. The last episode he had was the same day I changed the brand of his pellets, so im not sure if the pellets could be causing this. Any help or insight would help, thank you.

 

[Amethyst]

What kind of pellets are you feeding? Are they just alfalfa based pellets or do they have other junk food mixed in? not just bits added in but also not part of the pellets themselves either. Chinchillas should not have any fruits or vegetables in their diet, and also no sugars including honey, like those "edible" logs and huts made of honey, sawdust, and hay. Another thing that can cause seizures is if you give salt or salt licks.

Aside from diet and over doing it, unfortunately the most common cause of unknown seizures tends to be something wrong in the brain.