Multiple Seizures

[sbinladen]

Hi all,

I've been surfing the net about seizures because of what happened to my chinchilla...it was the first time she has had it while she stayed with me (about 5 months) and it shocked/disturbed me to see her go through it.

When I first saw her, I had put out a tub for her to take her dust bath and when I came back to her cage, she was lying on her side, eyes wide, and unresponsive. I thought she was just resting but when I tried to pick her up, she did not move. Then the seizures happened. It happens in short-term intervals...like 20 second seizures and then she would get stiff then curl into a ball. Then another one...and another...she had about 3 seizures at home, and during the transportation to the vet, she had 2 more. And when she was in the hospital, the vet notified she had 2 more. The vet told me that she was very weak, lethargic, underweight, and had to stay in the hospital until tomorrow. This surprised me because she seemed to be very active and normal and then it suddenly happened.

The house is cool and dry so I know it's not a heat stroke. We've just recently changed her diet from orchard grass to mixes but she seemed excited about it and ate regularly. I know chinchillas are known to hide their sickness very well but she seemed happy (putting her paws on the cage and looking at me, always excited when she hears the sounds of the mixes opening, eating out of my hand, etc).

The thing is, today, I let her run around the house and I chased her so she was very energetic. I admit I had let her unsupervised for maybe 10 minutes. Could it be that she had ingested something toxic? We are pretty clean and we don't leave things lying around and she has been out of the cage many times before. Then when we put her back in the cage and gave her a dust bath, we came back to see her on her side. It's really strange because people usually tell me seizures last once and it's over but even the vet told me that it was unusual to have all those multiple seizures.

I know that there are many reasons why that seizures can happen but it can't be brain hemorrhage, heat stroke, tumor, or any of those serious illnesses. Or can it? And can those short-interval episodes of seizures mean that the chinchilla is close to death? I hope I have given enough details because I really want to know other's opinions.

 

[ticklechin]

Low blood sugar seizures along with calcium deficiency seizures happen in chins. Are the incisors a nice dark orange color? When the seizures happen has it always been at playtime? How old is the chin? Anyone in the house have a active cold sore in the last 14 days?

 

[Claire D]

Apologies in advance for all of the questions heading your way - it would be helpful if you could give us a few more details so we can try to help.

The vet told me that she was very weak, lethargic, underweight, and had to stay in the hospital until tomorrow.

How old is the chinchilla?
Do you have a weight for her?

We've just recently changed her diet from orchard grass to mixes but she seemed excited about it and ate regularly. I know chinchillas are known to hide their sickness very well but she seemed happy (putting her paws on the cage and looking at me, always excited when she hears the sounds of the mixes opening, eating out of my hand, etc).

What sort of mixes are you giving her?
Can you list everything you feed her please?

The thing is, today, I let her run around the house and I chased her so she was very energetic. I admit I had let her unsupervised for maybe 10 minutes. Could it be that she had ingested something toxic?

How long was she out for and why were you chasing her?
What is in the room she was in unsupervised?
Were there any wires or plants she could have chewed?

 

[Cuddlebug]

Also, what temperature was the room while she was out? It is recommended to lower the temperature prior to playtime because they can overheat at their normal temp when they are running around.

 

[sbinladen]

Hi all,

Thanks for your interest. Sadly, our chinchilla (her name is Chubs) passed at 5:00AM according to the vet. My girlfriend took it pretty hard as we had very good memories with her while she was alive. However, I'm still interested in everyone's opinion about this as I am suspicious to what might had caused her immediate death.

@Ticklechin,
It was the first time she had those seizures which was yesterday late afternoon. I have never seen her have them in the past. The seizures looked very disturbing: Her head was tilting towards her tail, her tail was stiff, her whole body was rigid, and her front paws were clawing in the air as if she was running in place. The last time I checked, her incisors were dark orange, but due to the scare of the seizure, I did not have time to check her and immediately took her to the ER. Chubs was 4 -5 months old.

@ClaireD
Chubs is 4 -5 months old and I don't have a weight on her, sorry. Her first meals were the Kaytee Fiesta Max with Kaytee Natural Orchard Grass, then we slowly introduced to her the Charlie Chinchilla food, which seemed to be of better quality. I would feed her the Orchard Grass as a treat time to time.
I had fed her a tiny piece of dried craisin in the first couple weeks I got her but stopped after. She was out of her cage for about 20 minutes and I was chasing her for supervision. She does not have a fence around her so she roams free about the first floor (townhouse). But as I said before, we don't leave anything on the floor (bamboo floor) and keep everything very clean. We don't keep plants on the floor but it can be a possibility that she had chewed a wire. However, I checked around after leaving her to the vet but I did not notice any bite marks on any of the wires.

 

[sbinladen]

@Cuddlebug
The temperature was possibly around low 60s. I know it wasn't over 70. It was pretty chilly here in Sacramento too.

 

[ticklechin]

This is a short article I wrote awhile back on seizures- causes and symptoms.

Due to the symptoms I would say it was epilepsy type seizure.



Calcium seizure symptoms-tonic rigid bowed body with the nose curled towards the tail.

Low thiamine seizures-You will see trembling and paralysis, circling and then seizure activity. The main symptoms are the tremors, staggering, shakes, twitching types.

Low blood sugar seizure-The main symptom of this type of seizure is when the chin has been active and then collapses with mild shakes. The collapse and mild shakes are sudden and then the chin is limp.


Toxic seizures can be due to lead poisoning, mercury poisoning, carbon monoxide, or toxic fumes from just about any toxic-type, volatile substance. These seizures are violent and long lasting.


Mycotoxins and Aflatoxins from moldy hay or feed also can cause seizures due to liver damage. Those seizures look like the staggering seizures of low thiamine.


Heat stroke and head trauma also cause violent seizures.

Herpes simplex 1 will cause constant seizures then death.

The unknown cause type, called idiopathic, these type are from no known cause and are considered epilepsy type seizures. The problem is due to electrical activity across the cortex of the brain. It causes rigid posturing and spasms usually of the feet and mouth. The chinchilla is usually groggy afterwards. There is no known cause and no cure. You need to really get to know and trust your vet if you have one of these since treatment requires daily meds such as phenobarbital and oral valium during seizures. Euthanasia IMO may be the humane thing to do if the seizures are frequent and not being maintained by meds. One level cages with low perches are also recommended.

 

[kcbee]

I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

how sad - so sorry. You tried to help him but unfortunately there was nothing you could do . Again so sorry for your loss