I don't know what to DO. OMG. Vet overseas! Eddie seizure...

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RKbusy

RKbusy

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
611
Location
Ottawa ON, Canada
Okay. Eddie DEFINITELY Definitely had a seizure. He's dazed, confused, not waking right. He was foaming at the mouth during the seizure. He kept going up on his hind legs completely stiff and jerking his forearms. He'd go completely stiff for a couple of seconds and then jerk uncontrollably. OMG. I honestly was so so so scared. I'm SO scared he's going to do it again.

I called my vet over the emergency line, and it said that he was overseas for some sort of business trip.

What the hell do I do?! I guess... go to another vet?

But the only reason why I even go to this vet is cause he's the only good one I could find.

OMG. I don't even know WHY Eddie would have seizures! He's not even a year old!


He's already had 3 attacks within like... half an hour. What do I DO?!
 
place him on a flat surface with something soft underneath so he can't hurt himself. try keep him warm. how long between attacks is there?
 
Hopefully it's just epilepsy. Or there could also be something on his spine.
How is he this morning? You might need to consult with another vet, hopefully find another one who's got some rat knowledge or small animal knowledge.
 
Make sure you protect him when he's having a seizure, especially make sure he can't fall off anything. There may be a little bit of blood in his mouth if he bites his tongue. He will be tired and confused afterwards and will want to sleep.
Is he OK? Did you decide on a vet?
 
Eddie is no longer with me.

I am honestly mentally, and physically exhausted. I stayed up until 4 am watching Eddie. He was surrounded by fleece and pillows. I tried to sleep, but I kept expecting him to start seizing again. He did about 6 cycles of rearing up, batting with his arms and foaming at his mouth. Then going stiff. Then wondering around completely confused. I spent the entire time trying to find a vet clinic that was still open that looked like they did anything except cats and dogs.

Finally, at around 6am. I just bundled Eddie up, seizing and all, called their Sunday emergency line and headed to my usual vet clinic. I knew my usual vet wasn't going to be there. But there is the other vet. I'd never heard of him before, but when we chatted, he DID say that he dealt with exotics and rats before. I didn't trust him before... I insisted on my usual vet. But I figured, at this point, he was my best bet.

The receptionists there were great. They called Dr. Kameron in as soon as I showed up. He asked me some questions, and I told him I was about at my wit's end and that Eddie hadn't really stopped seizing. The vet force-fed Eddie some sort of "muscle relaxant" or something. I have no clue. He gave Eddie some fluid under the skin. And I think he gave him a shot of pain meds too. I don't know. At that point. I honestly had no idea what was going on. It really didn't seem to do anything. Eddie kept trying to rear up. He'd go still. And then go completely lax. At that point, it had been nearly an hour and a half at the vet's. 6 hours since he had started having attacks.

The vet really didn't seem to know what else he could do. So I just said, can you just have him put to sleep? I really really don't know if I did the right thing, but there was just no way I could keep watching Eddie seize like that. I'm going to have nightmares about it anyway.

So Eddie was gassed to unconsciousness, then given 2 different shots. I have no clue what they are. Either way. That was it.

I still have no idea what was causing his seizures. I mean... just the night before, he was PERFECTLY healthy. He was bouncy, annoying, playful. And now he's gone. The vet didn't find any sort of injury or lumps on him or anything. I mean. He was literally physically perfectly HEALTHY! I just don't get it.
 
Awwww, sorry to hear about Eddie. He probably wouldn't have come out of it if he were still seizing after several hours. In humans it's called status epilepticus. This can lead to permanent brain damage and/or death. I would have done the same thing. It's awfully hard when you lose your buddy so fast. If you feel up to it, you could get a necropsy done to find out what caused it. For me I need to get them buried because it helps me accept it. Hang in there, you did all you could.
 
I am so sorry for your loss of Eddie. I can only imagine how hard it is at that age to lose a rat, I dread that every day losing one young, old i can handle young i cannot.

I have been around epileptics my whole life, it is the same for humans and animals, he probably gave him a Valium, That stops seizures. it is what they use for status seizures which means they are having either one really long seizure that wont stop, or they are having multiple all of which are bad.

he was having seizures constantly, that is bad and hard on the body as Joanne said, you did the right thing for him. If they come on all of the sudden and so severe it is usually head trauma or it was a tumor. Both of which can start them. What you were actually seeing, which it might help with dealing with the sight of it, is he pretty much had a lightening storm in his brain, each time it would strike, it affects a different part of his body causing the jerkiness that you seen. But they are not conscious during it so they have no memory or pain of it . Which is a plus to it.

I know the medicine for humans, are the same as rats, they are incredibly hard on the body, they affect the liver and so many more organs. It can takes weeks to get to control them, he would of suffered for weeks to even have any type of control if any. YHis life probably would of been full of them, and to have that many show up so sudden I would lean towards some sort of tumor.


Don't let the visual stay in your mind, Eddie did not feel that seizure even if he sounded or looked like it, The only real pain they feel after one is a headache and muscle tension. The confusion afterward is normal and what happens after almost all seizures of that nature. His brain was settling down and trying to grasp what was happening.

I was 4 years old when I seen my mom have her first one, i am 35 now and I can picture every single minute of that seizure. Seizures in any form, whether it is human or animal are horrible, and I mean horrible to watch but the one having them does not generally feel them, especially not the tonic clonic seizure in which you describe almost to the T.

you really show him a huge act of love by doing that even when it is hard, but it was the right thing to do for him. Your heart knew that when you were there your mind makes you second guess it when you get home, i am sure his age plays a factor in it.
 
you did the best thing for him. he would have been so mentally and physically damaged and exhausted that you helped him out in a massive way. watching ANYTHING have a seizure is scary business. I have no explanations or suggestions for why he suddenly started having seizures. There must have been something going seriously wrong in his little body that nobody could do anything for or know about.

so sorry for your loss :(
 
I'm so sorry, it sounds like you and the vet tried your best and you did the best thing possible in the end.
 

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