Seizure

[muzzyj]

Ok so I'm crying right now so excuse typos. I've my chinchilla for almost two weeks now. Shes super shy and skiddish so I've taken it very slow. We just got to the point that she'll eat treats (rose hips and seedy tops from the hay) from my hand. Good right? Well recently she's been hiding under her fleece liner...I thought it was just a safety thing, she liked be closed in. Well, I peaked under today and gave her some hay and was talking to her (I don't pick her up yet, she's too nervous.) She was doing well but then her left ear went flat against her head, then the right, then she tipped over, and at this point I pulled the fleece liner off of her as she began shaking and seizing. A couple of minutes later she tried going to the back of the cage because she was scared (I don't blame her) but she was dragging her back legs. She did this for several minutes. She got her legs back and was ok but very shaky. I called the breeder, (Sandy from Apple chins) and she said she'd take her back, she had never seen her do this before.

What should I do? :cry3:

 

[tunes]

I would take her to a vet and get her checked out. I would not take her back to the breeder. If she was out for run time, it could be hypoglycemic. If she wasn't, how hot was it in the room where she is kept? If she was under fleece, and the room was hot, then she cold have had a seizure or even a stroke from high heat. What kind of food do you feed? Does she have access to water at all times and is the water bottle working?

 

[EMSChins]

I have not heard of that breeder but personally I would highly suggest taking the chin to a vet right away. There could be any number of things wrong with it from a nutritional deficiency to a neurological disorder. If it is something to do with it's nutrition or GI system then it needs to be addressed right away. Good luck!

 

[muzzyj]

Shes on Mazuri feed and its around 65 in here, definetly not hotter. She has fresh water, that is filtered and given to her daily. She hasn't been out of her cage yet because shes very nervous. Shes about 5 months old. Her teeth are slightly orange, but nearly as dark as my Chinchilla Pepper. I figured it was still because she's a baby.

Pikia i believe is her username (the breeder)

 

[CrissysChins]

pm'ed you on two local vets.

 

[muzzyj]

My appt is at 2:15. Till then she is not going to be out of my eye sight (despite the fact that I've been up since 6pm last night). I won't be able to sleep until I know shes ok anyway....Guess I'll be cleaning the chin room today.

 

[CrissysChins]

Keep us posted! Big hug coming your way :hug2:

 

[JodiO]

How scary!!! Good luck at the vet today. Please give an update. I hope your chinnie is ok!

 

[muzzyj]

Thank you guys!!! We are waiting for the vet now. She's so scared. Shes barked a few times. My poor baby.

 

[Mikayla]

How did it go?

 

[muzzyj]

Hey Everyone,
Snowy is doing so much better. We went to the vet and she was such a brave little girl. She let me hold her for the first time, but then again she only had the choice of the vet and I sooo...=p. So the vet was wonderful, he listened to her heart to make sure it wasn't caused from an arrhythmia and said her heart sounded fantastic, checked pulses, listened to lungs, belly, checked eyes, nose, teeth, everything. She did so good. She even let him take a weight on her. He said he doesn't suspect hypoglycemia because she was eating for me and she hasn't been allowed out for play time yet. He said seizures could be caused from lesions in the brain, but its not life threatening as long as she has time to recover between seizures.

He did give me the option to do blood work, but did warn me it might stress her out quiet a bit, and at that point she was over heating (first hot day in albany). So I did decide against it. For now, he wants me to make sure I spend lots of time with her, monitoring poop, pee, food, water, ect. If it happens again within a month, he highly recommends doing the blood work, and at that point he'd consider discussing medication.

Other than that he said she looked wonderful though. He said she was a very healthy chinchilla and to continue what I'm doing with her.

 

[muzzyj]

So my seizure booger is being difficult. I'm at work right now so I'll give you guys the skinny. She was doing pretty well after all the seizure events, but now shes not eating....go figure. This morning she ate 2 pellets, 2 rose hips, and a chinchilla cookie. She also ate two pieces of hay for me, the fluffy/seed part cause thats her favorite as we all know. Anyway, thats apparently all she ate the ENTIRE day. Shes been picking at her hay, but not really eating much at all. I ordered lifeline and dyex (sp?) for her. Should I go right to hand feeding her, or just try to go in every couple of hours and feed her a couple of pellets by hand? Should I try to pick out the fuzzy pieces from my bag of hay for her?

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

if she is not eating and giving the problems you had before I would take her back to the vets and have blood work done. You will probably have to start hand feeding (force feeding) her Critical care . You can mix some Lifeline in it but CC is what you will need if she doesn't eat

 

[ticklechin]

When a chin stops eating you start handfeeding ASAP and the chin does need another vet visit to diagnose.

 

[Jenn]

I agree that your chin not eating means something is wrong, and she really does need further investigation from the vet to find out what the issue is. Chins hide illness well, and by the time they show signs, it may be too late.

Also, it seems like your chin may be eating quite a bit of treats? Treats shouldn't be daily, but fed sparingly.

Good luck, please continue to let us know how she is doing!

 

[muzzyj]

I will confess I gave her more treats yesterday cause I just wantEd her to eat something. I'll kiddo you guys posted.

 

[muzzyj]

Bah missed the 10 minute mark. Ok called the vet and I now have a standing order to get cc whenever I want or needed it. So I'm goig to pick that up and we'll let the games begin. He also gave me his home phone invade anything tens for the worst because it's Easter weekend so he gets to be away from the office... Until I call panicing of course

 

[mishellyshel]

Are you weighing her? Is she still peein & popping? Sometimes it seems like they are not eating because they eat half a pellet & then throw it down. Whenever I suspect a chin isn't eating, I weigh both the chin & their food. If you can't get the critical care at minimum I would crush up pellets, mix with water & a teaspoon of plain canned pumpkin or baby food squash. Stage 1. Just a teeny tiny bit to make the mix a little smoother. You can try to get him to eat off spoon but if not start syringe feeding.

 

[muzzyj]

Ok, So handfeeding was a success. (I think lol) I crushed up some pellets for her and used organic squash baby food and water. She did awesome. She took 4 mls, and she took it without issuse once she realized I wasn't trying to poisen her....she got my arms with those nails...who knew they were sharp. Anyway. I feed her at 6 just before I had to leave for work. My boyfriend will be home at 10:30 and will give her more. I'm going to run home for my break around 1am to feed her again, and he is going to feed her again before he heads to bed. The longest she should end up without food is 3-4 hours, assuming she doesn't start eating. I weighed her and shes 425g...she was 420 when she went to the vets a week ago. She should still be growing though so I don't know if she gained then lost or what. I weighed her food as well and I'll weigh her in the morning so see if shes doing any better. I'm picking up the CC from the vet's office in the morning. 8 am...should I go home after work (7 am) feed her and then go get it, or should I wait for that feeding and give her the CC around 8:30? If I wait she's going to go like 6 hours without being feed, so maybe I'll feed her and just feed her again at 9 am before I sleep for a few hours.

Thank you for all the help.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

She needs to be fed as much as possible. 4 ml is not going to 'cut it'. For a 400 + g chin I would try to get at least 50 ml into her a day. Has she seen a vet since the new development??