Seizure?

[Diva Chins]

This is why it's SO important to have an exotic vet ER number on hand.

I was playing with Jupiter this morning, he was running around, fine, then ran back to me and hopped in my lap and stopped, it looked funny, I mean he's always so hyper so I picked him up, he just got tense in my hands and his nose started twitching to one side, eyes darting a bit, I just held him until it stopped. Then when it did stop, I put him in a pet carrier (In case it happened again, I didn't want him to hurt himself some how) and called the ER vet's number. I was a mess. I told her I thought it was a seizure, I was explaining what it looked like, how long it went on (About..7 seconds?) and she said it did sound like a seizure, but there wasn't anything they could do unless it was a cluster seizure (One after another) and if that happened, to rush him in immediately. I'm trying to stay calm but I'm a wreck. He's in the pet carrier staring at me like "Psht, what's YOUR problem."

I'd LOVE, seriously, LOVE to hear any in put on a course of action, what I should do, what I should watch for, when I can take him out of the carrier and put him back in his cage. This is a pet store chinchilla, he is a fur chewer, I guess I can add epileptic to the list. Take it easy on me though, I've never had a chin have a seizure before, it scared me pretty bad. Deep breaths, but alright, all questions asked (What I should do, what to watch for, when to put back in cage, etc) I'll end it here. Thanks so much in advance.

 

[Laurie]

This could be a blood sugar crash due to playtime. Most of the time we caution against raisins as a treat, but in this event giving him a half of raisin to increase his blood sugar would be helpful.
Chins seizuring doesn't mean they are epileptic. I would monitor his playtime very closely over the next few days and consider not allowing him playtime out of the cage for a few days.

 

[tunes]

It may happen just the once and never happen again, or it could continue. For now, if it happens again, either do as Laurie said with half a raisin, or rub some Karo syrup on his gums, just a little, it's pretty instantaneous and a faster delivery than them trying to chew a raisin if they are bad off.

Cut his play time back. However long he was out, cut it in half. If he's out every day, go to every other day, see if that helps prevent it again. If he doesn't have another episode, then you can try slowly upping his play time again. I'm assuming the room was cool enough, so that wouldn't be an issue?

 

[Diva Chins]

The play time was what gets me. He'd only been out for about 5 minutes, and the room was 62.3 degrees F so it should be fine. I would call his last owner and ask but she was inexperienced and probably wouldn't have even known anything was wrong.

 

[Veronica]

Could be he had been active in his cage before his official playtime. If it happens again, you might want to give the raisin before each out-of-cage playtime.

 

[stampinchick]

I was told that our chins previous owner reported that she would have seizures when she was out at playtime for too long. I guess this happened several times. When they surrendered her to the shelter, the vet checked her out and could find nothing that would indicate a seizure disroder. The entire time that she was at the shelter and since we've had her she has not had a single seizure. The vet seems to think this is due to a better diet. What kind of food are you feeding her? It may also have to do with length of time out, although we let Bella out for quite some time, but I think diet may be more likely. I hope this helps, and best of luck.

 

[chin8710]

Koda had a seizure over the winter holidays this year. It was exactly like you described and lasted about 10-15 seconds max and then she was fine after that. The weird thing was that she wasn't playing or anything I actually gave her acidphilous for the first time about 3-5 minutes before hand (which was the only thing different with our routine). I'm not sure if this is what caused it or not but I haven't used it since and she's been fine. I certainly keep a closer eye on her now though. I wish you luck!

 

[Diva Chins]

What kind of food are you feeding her? It may also have to do with length of time out, although we let Bella out for quite some time, but I think diet may be more likely. I hope this helps, and best of luck.

Before he got here, he was on Kaytee Fiesta and I did a cold switch with acidophilus to PANR so I really hope that's not it. He was on a bunch of nasty treats as well and I've only given him rose hips a few times because he's so tiny and I want him to gain weight from the food. He's a fur chewer though, it looks like he may still be chewing and I'm going to have to do something about it (gold bond in dust bath as was recommended on another thread). Could the fur chewing maybe have caused a blockage or something that lead to the seizure?
I'd really love to take him into the vet (for my sake) and have them run all sorts of tests but in the vet's words when I was in a panic "I wish I could tell you that you could bring him in and we'd run all these tests and tell you exactly what the problem is, but if it was just one seizure there's really nothing we can do." I have a feeling it'd just be more stress on him. I think I just worry over him the most because he's so tiny.

 

[Laurie]

Maybe because he is so tiny that it happened. I forgot about the Karo syrup so I'm glad Peggy mentioned it. The good thing is you don't allow playtime unsupervised so you were there to see it and should it happen again you'll be able to act on it. I sure hope you don't have to go through it again though!

 

[Diva Chins]

Maybe because he is so tiny that it happened. I forgot about the Karo syrup so I'm glad Peggy mentioned it. The good thing is you don't allow playtime unsupervised so you were there to see it and should it happen again you'll be able to act on it. I sure hope you don't have to go through it again though!

I never do unsupervised playtime, my chins are lil devils in fur =P I can get my parents to get some karo syrup at Wal-Marts this weekend, I plan to get a scale as well so I can get some weights. He's just really so tiny, I thought my 1 year old females were small but he's even smaller than they are at 5 years.

 

[feistychins]

I agree with what has been said and that it may be just a one time thing. Some chins, especially those that have been on a poor diet and tend to be more nervous (fur chewers), seem more vulnerable or not have as strong of an immune system. If it does not happen again, I would say it was a drop in blood sugar. Almost like he had an adrenaline rush which caused it.

I would not put him through a bunch of test unless it becomes a real problem. I have a very healthy and happy chin that was great until he went in to the vet for a regular physical. Apparently, for him, that was very stressful and he collasped and went limp for a few seconds. I was shocked and started to panic and the vet gave him a little sugar boost and he was fine. It has never happened again and that was years ago.

 

[Diva Chins]

I would not put him through a bunch of test unless it becomes a real problem. I have a very healthy and happy chin that was great until he went in to the vet for a regular physical. Apparently, for him, that was very stressful and he collasped and went limp for a few seconds. I was shocked and started to panic and the vet gave him a little sugar boost and he was fine. It has never happened again and that was years ago.

That's awful, I can't imagine causing something like that just trying to be protective. I guess I'm just concered cause I've never had this happen before and God knows if there's something I can do to fix his problems I would. He's the sweetest little boy and I'd hate to lose him, every time I walk in the room he chirps til I come to his cage and give him scritches. I'm just being spastic, just a concerned chin mom I guess.

 

[Claire D]

I'm just being spastic, just a concerned chin mom I guess.

We've all been there at some point with our chins.

In the nicest possible way - chill out!
The more you over-analyse what happened the more upset you're going to get. It may be a one-off (as others have said) and he may never have another fit again. I certainly would not rush head long into a battery of tests and stressful vet trips for one fit which he came out of pretty quickly.

You've been given some good advice re: the Karo syrup etc and restricting his play times - just take it easy and see how he does.

 

[feistychins]

Anyone who has ever experienced their chin having a seizure knows it is horrible to watch. You feel helpless and the best thing you can do is comfort them and wait for it to be over. They usually only last several seconds, but it seems like forever!

You did what you needed to do and contacted the vet right away for advice. You were there when he needed you and that's what counts . You are going to watch his every move for a while though.