Joanne
Well-Known Member
Poor little man!
Bear (seizures) is now at Peace <3
- Thread starter lilspaz68
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Godmother
Well-Known Member
So sad to see him like that.
SQ
Senior Member - Vegan for the animals
I am so sorry that Bear is still having seizures ... poor little guy
It sounds (and looks like) my Eben last fall
..... except Eben died after having repeated seizures in my arms over a period of several hours while we were waiting to see the vet
People can experience bad headaches for days after a seizure ... and some people hurt all over depending upon the type of seizure
I assume that rats likely have bad headaches afterward too .... poor Bear ....
I hope Bear is soon doing much better
It sounds (and looks like) my Eben last fall
..... except Eben died after having repeated seizures in my arms over a period of several hours while we were waiting to see the vet
People can experience bad headaches for days after a seizure ... and some people hurt all over depending upon the type of seizure
I assume that rats likely have bad headaches afterward too .... poor Bear ....
I hope Bear is soon doing much better
lilspaz68
Well-Known Member
Due to those stupid brown bottles that you cannot see the liquid levels in, and my stopping thinking, I almost ran out of phenobarbital for Bear. I had to rapidly reduce his dosage and increase his potassium bromide to compensate. I picked up a new bottle yesterday and he's now on the optimum dose for the Pbr (phenobarbital) and we are increasing the Kbr (potassium bromide) gradually. I thought he might regress badly on the too rapid reduction of his Pbr or he might go into status epileptus (like poor Noor did) which could kill him. Bear did fine. Last night he even improved a lot in the times between seizures.
8:03 pm - he had a moderate seizure.
His next one was at 11:13 pm (over 3 hours later!) and another one right after...both of these were milder which is great. So a total of 3 seizures for 5 hours
I caught a pictoral sequence of his seizures...
Here he is with sweet old Sully (we lost him on Saturday night)
The tip over
and the roll
Sometimes he rears up and moves his mouth while looking confused but more and more these days, he just stops, flips himself upright, then goes to lie down and recover. If no one is in the carrier to comfort him I often will hold him...I tuck his head under my chin, and then cover his body with 2 hands with a light pressure that makes him feel secure. He will lie on me for quite awhile, then take a breath and wake up. Then he's off.
8:03 pm - he had a moderate seizure.
His next one was at 11:13 pm (over 3 hours later!) and another one right after...both of these were milder which is great. So a total of 3 seizures for 5 hours
I caught a pictoral sequence of his seizures...
Here he is with sweet old Sully (we lost him on Saturday night)
The tip over
and the roll
Sometimes he rears up and moves his mouth while looking confused but more and more these days, he just stops, flips himself upright, then goes to lie down and recover. If no one is in the carrier to comfort him I often will hold him...I tuck his head under my chin, and then cover his body with 2 hands with a light pressure that makes him feel secure. He will lie on me for quite awhile, then take a breath and wake up. Then he's off.
lilspaz68
Well-Known Member
There's a nice story in here. Bruce sadly has decided he doesn't want him in his cage anymore and will attack him like a stranger, but I found out that Bear wants calm older companions right now, ones that don't set him off.
He was very upset when we lost Sully, but then there was Riley an old 29 month old loner boy I have, who not long ago was so frightened of rats that he would attack first and ask questions...never. Riley decided Bear was going to be his friend, no matter what Bear thought of the matter haha.
He kept crawling up to him, inching closer and closer like a dog trying to slink up to the dinner table without you noticing LOL, At first Bear was rather rude and kept pushing him away, and I thought Riley might give up, but not a chance.
The big change was when Bear went into a seizure...most rats just leave when there's paws batting at their face, but Riley actually got his head under Bear and started lifting him up, so once his seizure was over he got him back on his feet...then he followed him all concerned and gently lay down beside him. Bear capitulated his standoff on this new friendship but he really wanted to climb on or at least lay his head on Riley, and I could see Riley fighting not to run away as he found this scary, as he waited for Bear to attack him. Bear just closed his eyes and slowly Riley relaxed, and put his head down for a snooze.
Sneaking up on Bear when he was sleeping...at first I thought it was the nice warm snugglesafe but I found out it really was Bear he wanted more.
Here Bear was 5 minutes prior to a seizure
and here we go
you can see Riley pushing his head under Bear
and getting him back on his feet
And the aftermath
Here is Bear last night very bright and happy to have Cheer as another head rest
He was very upset when we lost Sully, but then there was Riley an old 29 month old loner boy I have, who not long ago was so frightened of rats that he would attack first and ask questions...never.
Riley decided Bear was going to be his friend, no matter what Bear thought of the matter haha.He kept crawling up to him, inching closer and closer like a dog trying to slink up to the dinner table without you noticing LOL, At first Bear was rather rude and kept pushing him away, and I thought Riley might give up, but not a chance.
The big change was when Bear went into a seizure...most rats just leave when there's paws batting at their face, but Riley actually got his head under Bear and started lifting him up, so once his seizure was over he got him back on his feet...then he followed him all concerned and gently lay down beside him. Bear capitulated his standoff on this new friendship but he really wanted to climb on or at least lay his head on Riley, and I could see Riley fighting not to run away as he found this scary, as he waited for Bear to attack him. Bear just closed his eyes and slowly Riley relaxed, and put his head down for a snooze.
Sneaking up on Bear when he was sleeping...at first I thought it was the nice warm snugglesafe but I found out it really was Bear he wanted more.
Here Bear was 5 minutes prior to a seizure
and here we go
you can see Riley pushing his head under Bear
and getting him back on his feet
And the aftermath
Here is Bear last night very bright and happy to have Cheer as another head rest
TheHermit
Senior Member
:toothy1:
YAY! That is awesome, a good night for Bear and a new caring friend! Fantastic, both of you, fighting this together! :kisskiss:
Now just gotta get those meds juuuust right to kick those seizures in the butt... right? Is it the aim to/possible to get him down to just one a day, a few a week or one a week?
Shame about Bruce :/ guy always changes his mind about how he wants to do things. Maybe he got frustrated and just needs a break from Brother Watch. It's always hard being that person for your family member.
YAY! That is awesome, a good night for Bear and a new caring friend! Fantastic, both of you, fighting this together! :kisskiss:
Now just gotta get those meds juuuust right to kick those seizures in the butt... right? Is it the aim to/possible to get him down to just one a day, a few a week or one a week?
Shame about Bruce :/ guy always changes his mind about how he wants to do things. Maybe he got frustrated and just needs a break from Brother Watch. It's always hard being that person for your family member.
Sgreene9398
Well-Known Member
Good for Bear having such great comfort in his time of need. I hope Bear can get past the seizures. Poor buddy.
Joanne
Well-Known Member
I'm so glad to hear that Bear has a new buddy. It sounds like it's a win-win situation. I hope his seizures become less and less so he can enjoy just being a rat for a while.
Is there anybody for Bruce on the horizon?
Is there anybody for Bruce on the horizon?
lilspaz68
Well-Known Member
I haven't ruled out a return to his brother yet.
Last night I watched Bear from 7:30 pm til 10:30 pm (then I passed out by mistake) and not one seizure. He came and visited me between 2-2:30 am but he wasn't agitated I think he was bored. They have met out of the cage and it went well until Bruce found my oldies and got a bit agitated himself.
Tonight I will watch him properly for at least 4 hours and see if the seizures have stopped or diminished a LOT. I have a lot of optimism right now and I REALLY needed that sleep LOL
lilspaz68
Well-Known Member
Very bad day today, we had hope for a few days and its slipping away again
Joanne
Well-Known Member
Poor guy. I'm glad he had a couple of not-bad days in there.
Godmother
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry. It must be very hard to see him have a bad day after so much success.
praying things get better again and SOON
lilspaz68
Well-Known Member
Yesterday got so bad I did some drastic medicating hoping to break the cycle of a seizure every 5 mins...
I think it worked, but I am almost scared to post this. He did have one seizure at noon but it was the most mild one I had seen yet, he didn't even fall over and roll
I am watching him like a hawk, and he keeps grooming facing away from me which stops my heart for a second...LOL
I think it worked, but I am almost scared to post this. He did have one seizure at noon but it was the most mild one I had seen yet, he didn't even fall over and roll
I am watching him like a hawk, and he keeps grooming facing away from me which stops my heart for a second...LOL
SQ
Senior Member - Vegan for the animals
{{hugs and scritches}} to you and Bear
lilspaz68
Well-Known Member
After a lot of ups and downs...sweet Bear seemed to have a severe downturn on Saturday early evening. I believe he had a stroke from his symptoms. He was unable to walk (had been bouncing and running that day), and was listing to one side. He seemed weak on one side, but there was one relief for him despite his weaknesses, no more seizures.
A few minutes ago, Bear came out for a visit from his carrier, cuddled with me, then slid off of me to be with his old gf Cheer, who put her head on his back like she always did. I realized a few minutes later Bear had stopped breathing and had just slipped away. The passing was at 4:50 am. :heart:
A few minutes ago, Bear came out for a visit from his carrier, cuddled with me, then slid off of me to be with his old gf Cheer, who put her head on his back like she always did. I realized a few minutes later Bear had stopped breathing and had just slipped away. The passing was at 4:50 am. :heart:
oh I am so very sorry, what a long hard battle you both fought. I'm glad his passing was peaceful at least. He needed the rest, like you probably do now
Play hard at the Bridge, Bear!!
Play hard at the Bridge, Bear!!
Unepuce
Well-Known Member
Oh my... this is one of the sweetest passing story I have read... his life has been so very hard by the end, but he passed away in the best possible way. He even said goodbye to his favorite friends... I am teary right now...
Rest in peace sweet Bear...
I may be very silent these days, Shelagh, but jeez... you definitely still are my hero...
:rose3:
Rest in peace sweet Bear...
I may be very silent these days, Shelagh, but jeez... you definitely still are my hero...
:rose3:
