Possible siezure

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oasisandbambi

oasisandbambi

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
48
Location
Portugal
Hello. Today one of my rats woke me up with horrible noises coming from the cage. I saw he was having a possible seizure ( violently jumpjng and running against the cage walls ). This never happened before, should I take him to the vet right away or see if it was a one time episode? He freaks out at the vet. I cant know what his family record is. He was rescued from an over breeding situation. He and his brother were always extremely nervous boys and won't bond with me no matter what I try. I try to bother or stress them as least as possible. What could have caused this?
 
Is he still doing it ? Can you post a video of him? I'd go to the vet right away! You don't wanna mess with these kinds of things..
 
Kye said:
Is he still doing it ? Can you post a video of him? I'd go to the vet right away! You don't wanna mess with these kinds of things..
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No. I couldn't get a video, I had just woken up I was a little startled and trying to figure out what was happening lol and it didn't last long. Thank u :)
 
This was Bear, we determined that he likely had an actual brain tumour after not responding to the phenobarbital etc.



This was Charlie, after a terrifying start I gave him phenobarbital and he responded quite quickly and his seizures stopped

 
lilspaz68 said:
This was Bear, we determined that he likely had an actual brain tumour after not responding to the phenobarbital etc.



This was Charlie, after a terrifying start I gave him phenobarbital and he responded quite quickly and his seizures stopped

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Thank you so much for this info!!
 
With seizures it's best to make a seizure log, recording severity, duration, how long for initial recovery (swallowing, blinking) to full recovery (normal behavior), any possible triggers (bright light, loud sounds, vacuums can set off some rats), and any pre-vehaviors, like agitation, rearing and sniffing the air etc. These Logs will help you determine a pattern, and tell you if it's improving or worsening.
Once you're in full seizure watch it's exhausting and these Logs will help as you won't be able to remember. I really hope it's just a one-time thing for you.
 
lilspaz68 said:
With seizures it's best to make a seizure log, recording severity, duration, how long for initial recovery (swallowing, blinking) to full recovery (normal behavior), any possible triggers (bright light, loud sounds, vacuums can set off some rats), and any pre-vehaviors, like agitation, rearing and sniffing the air etc. These Logs will help you determine a pattern, and tell you if it's improving or worsening.
Once you're in full seizure watch it's exhausting and these Logs will help as you won't be able to remember. I really hope it's just a one-time thing for you.
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I really do too. I am very thankful for that info! Im sorry you have to go through that with your babies.
 
@lilspaz68 Whatever that was, it happened again today while they were out of the cage. I am cleaning out the cage and making a little more noise than usual. How of nowhere I saw him speeding around the room going against things cuz of the slippery floor so I manage to grab him and held him tightly against my chest. I don't know if you are supposed to do this but he did stop not too long after and just stayed on my arms seeming kind of lethargic which I am guessing was him just recovering. While I held him I checked for the classic seizure you talked about and there were no symptoms. He was just heavy breading very fast. I'm thinking these might be panic attacks like you mentioned. What can I do to help him?
 
It does sound like seizures especially being lethargic and limp afterwards. When you were holding him was he jumping in your hands in a rhythm or just scrambling to get free?
 
lilspaz68 said:
It does sound like seizures especially being lethargic and limp afterwards. When you were holding him was he jumping in your hands in a rhythm or just scrambling to get free?
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Not really in a rhythm but not just scrambling. Should he get an x-ray done? Or whatever you do to see if there is smth wrong with his brain. Or should I just ask for medication?
 
X-rays don't help diagnose neurological problems you would need an MRI which I don't recommend since they are expensive. Plus it is unlikely you will find a vet's office with that kind of equipment for small animals and you have to sedate your rat to get them to hold still for the MRI. I would describe your problem to your vet and ask them for a diagnosis and medication. I am not sure if this statistic applies to rats but in humans forty percent of people have a drug resistant form of epilepsy so medication might not work. If that is the case or even if that is not the case the best thing for your rat is to reduce the amount of stress they experience. If you haven't already, put their cage in an out of the way room to reduce noise, have a strict schedule for everything (feeding, cleaning, playing) if they always know what to expect it will reduce their stress and it makes it easier for you to track things that trigger the seizures, and you should pad the inside of the cage with fleece, especially corners, so that you reduce the risk of your rat injuring themselves during a seizure. Good luck!
 
ratgamer16 said:
X-rays don't help diagnose neurological problems you would need an MRI which I don't recommend since they are expensive. Plus it is unlikely you will find a vet's office with that kind of equipment for small animals and you have to sedate your rat to get them to hold still for the MRI. I would describe your problem to your vet and ask them for a diagnosis and medication. I am not sure if this statistic applies to rats but in humans forty percent of people have a drug resistant form of epilepsy so medication might not work. If that is the case or even if that is not the case the best thing for your rat is to reduce the amount of stress they experience. If you haven't already, put their cage in an out of the way room to reduce noise, have a strict schedule for everything (feeding, cleaning, playing) if they always know what to expect it will reduce their stress and it makes it easier for you to track things that trigger the seizures, and you should pad the inside of the cage with fleece, especially corners, so that you reduce the risk of your rat injuring themselves during a seizure. Good luck!
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Thank u so much! I will try to reduce stress to the max. Having a strickt schedule for everything may be a little hard at times but I'll try to manage as best as possible.
 

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