Seizures - With almost no scratching

rachmcg13

Post   » Fri Oct 10, 2003 2:44 pm


Hello, my guinea pig, Fred, is an 18 month old male whom I rescued from the Humane Society back in June. Fred had been treated for mites and when I first got him, I could not touch his fur. Now he enjoys being petted.

In August, Fred started attacking towels. I took him to a gp vet where they did some tests. They found bedding very deep in his ears and mineral deposits on his penis. Both the mineral deposits and bedding were removed. (There were no signs of infection in his ears.) Fred was then on an antibiotic for 14 days and an anti-inflammatory for 10 days.

Since then, I have noticed that Fred has these “seizures”. He tilts his head so that it lies along his right side, usually with his left eye facing up. His left eye will twitch and his whole body shakes (it’s a relatively small movement). Sometimes he bends so far back that his nose touches his back end. When he does that, he sometimes hops in a circle (with his nose touching his backend) and if they are really bad, he rolls onto his back. He doesn’t scratch very much and I’ve never seen him scratch himself and then have one of these “seizures”. Often, I pick him up when he is “seizing” and hold him. He is usually stiff when I pick him up (though sometimes he will relax for a moment and then continue his “seizure” in my arms). These only last at most a minute. Afterwards, he just uncurls and wanders over to his food bowl or water bottle or looks at me (if I picked him up). He has these several times a day that I see (though I work at a full time job) and often he will have 2 or 3 in a row.

Fred has been to the gp vet for this and we are treating him again for mites (even though he doesn’t seem to have any). I don’t know if anyone has ever had a guinea pig that has done this before…and if they have any information or ideas on what I can do to help the little guy. (Fred eats lots of Oxbow Timothy hay, and Oxbow’s Cavy Cuisine pellets. He also enjoys green and red peppers, parsley, carrots, squash, cilantro, apples and pears.)

Thanks,
Rachel

User avatar
swannie
For the love of pigs!

Post   » Fri Oct 10, 2003 2:56 pm


Maybe he's just popcorning? It can't hurt to treat him with the Ivermectin again, just in case it is mites. Have him get at least three doses 7 to 10 days apart.

Perhaps someone else will have other thoughts.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Oct 10, 2003 3:02 pm


Ciaytee (I think) had a pig that seisured. I believe he grew out of it. I don't know enough to offer you any good suggestions.

User avatar
Bonnie

Post   » Fri Oct 10, 2003 3:09 pm


That sounds like what my Samoa did a couple weeks ago. I had never seen her do it before, and I've haven't seen it since. We don't know what's wrong with her.

User avatar
salana
GL is Just Peachy

Post   » Fri Oct 10, 2003 3:56 pm


The fact that he continues the "seizure" in your arms makes me think that it isn't popcorning. I had a pig, Ippie, who would spaz out in the cage and make us think he had a seizure, and then cuddle happily when picked up.

The only thing I can think of other than seizures (which would be caused by another condition, like epilepsy or some kind of brain problem) would be an inner ear infection, particularly since he always puts his head to one side. Ear mites might be a possibility too.

rachmcg13

Post   » Fri Oct 10, 2003 4:35 pm


Fred only tilts his head to the side when he is having a seizure. The rest of the time his head is straight.

User avatar
Paravati
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Fri Oct 10, 2003 4:37 pm


Ear mites can cause seizuring. The mites leave a funky residue on the inside of the ear, causing balance issues and pain. If the pain, itching, or discomfort gets too bad the pig, bunny, dog or other animal can raise its head, tilt its head, paw at the ears, and can have seizures.

We just had a bunny here with severe ear mites that did that - Raised her head, tilted the head to the side, and had seizures. Took her to the vet and they screamed "EAR MITES" at me. She's doing better now after a few Ivermectin shots.

InkysMom

Post   » Fri Oct 10, 2003 11:03 pm


Rachm, just wanted to comment that you seem like a very knowledgeable, concerned guinea pig "guardian" and that I hope your boy Fred stops this seizure behavior after mite treatment. Keep up the good work!

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SandraVE

Post   » Fri Oct 10, 2003 11:12 pm


My first thought was ear mites also.

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Ciaytee
Almost Inbred

Post   » Sat Oct 11, 2003 12:31 am


Yeah, Lynx, St.John had very intense seizures his first 4 or 5 months of life. He would violently spasm for a minute or two, then he'd go limp, drool, and lose his bowels. After another minute or two, he'd come to, hop up, and shake it off. He'd have one or two a week, then they just stopped. His last one was 4 years ago.

The vets couldn't find a reason for them and had never heard of this type of seizuring in pigs, so they just assumed it was akin to epilepsy in rabbits. My own theory is that it was a pig version of juvenile epilepsy, and he just grew out of it.

But it doesn't sound like that's what's happening with Fred. First, he's too old, and second, the seizures sound different. It seems like ear mites is the best guess.

I hope you find a solution, Rach. I know how heartbreaking it is to watch an animal go through something so traumatic.

User avatar
MeAndMyPiggies

Post   » Sat Oct 11, 2003 2:22 am


That sounds exactly like what Jasper was doing the day before he died....I took him to the vet, who is FAIRLY cavy knowledgable, though not the best, and he said that Jasper was seizing. When I left him at the vet's office and came home, I immediatly looked everything up here, and I came across the ear mite thing, but by the time I got ahold of the vet on monday, my mom had unbeknownst to me given the Doctor permission to put Jasper down, because she didnt want him to suffer. The vet tech that Jasper really didnt know where he was in the end....I didnt want him to suffer, but I would have liked to be able to hold him as he went.

I'm sorry, I didnt mean to get all depressed, but if it is ear mites, I hope the Doctor knows something to fix it, because Jasper went downhill fast. From Friday when he was just kind of off, to Sunday, when they put him down.

Naomi

rachmcg13

Post   » Mon Oct 13, 2003 8:56 am


Hello Everyone,

I wanted to give all of you an update on Fred. Friday afternoon, after my last post, I saw that Fred has a small white spot on his eye and called the gp vet. The vet looked at him and gave me an antibiotic eye drop to put in his eyes every 2 hours or so and an anti-inflammatory to be given once a day. Saturday morning, I woke up to find Fred having seizures every 5 -10 minutes. These were bad ones, where he rolled around on the floor. I called the vet and took him in again Saturday morning. The vet looked at his eye and noticed that Fred can’t close it. So, she suggested giving him human eye drops on the hour that he wasn’t getting antibiotic ones. She also prescribed an antibiotic (Bactrim) twice a day. She gave Fred a shot of steroids (to reduce swelling) and a shot of Valium (to relax him). Fred is currently being kept on towels (with them being changed every 1-2 hours). His cage is setup with bumpers, so he can’t bang his head or injure his other eye. The medicine relaxed him and stopped him from having wild seizures. I am taking him to the vet this morning (Monday) for an eye check up. He has had 2 seizures that I have seen in the last two days and both of them have been very mild.

I’m sorry that I haven’t kept you all updated! I appreciate your support and knowledge. I want to do what is right for my Freddie who has stolen my heart. These past few days have been very hectic (constantly doing laundry, putting in eye drops and buying more towels). Thank you for caring! I will try to keep you updated. I hope that Fred recovers soon. I must go change his cage and give him another eye drop.

Rachel

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