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can guinea pigs have epilepsy?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lez
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Lez

i just took bob to the emergency vet (and paid £70 to see a vet who "didnt know much about guinea pigs" but anyway) i took him because he was acting very strange, his head was on one side, twitching side to side, and both his eyes were twitching one worse than the other. at first he started hitting his head against the entrance to his bedding space, then he laid down and started wriggling, his head twitching violently. i called the vet straight away and took him, by the time i got there, his twitching had almost stopped, he was huddled up, and not responding or acting normal at all. strangely by the time we got into the vet, the symptoms gradually disappeared, and he started acting normal, apart from a few slow reflexes. after checking him over, the vet sent me on my way, saying to monitor him carefully, as he "could" possibly have epilepsy, that what i described sounded like he had a fit, and as i had changed nothing in his diet, and he hasnt had hold of anything that he could have been poisoned by.

his eyes are still looking funny, one looks like its "spaced out" so I'm going to monitor him all night, and see how he is tomorrow.

I'm posting as i would like advice for a start, has anyone had this with a piggy before?

can piggies have epilepsy? or is there something else it could be?

I'm very very worried about him now, and am not letting him out of my sight tonight
 
I had a piggie with epilepsy called Arthur.

He had it from birth though and would have several fits a day when he was very young. As he got older they became less frequent and he always recovered very quickly from them.

He lived to be about 2 and a half and was a very happy little chap.
 
aw the poor piggy! the vet didnt seem to know if guinea pigs could even have epilepsy, so i hoped someone here coule help me! bob has only had the one so far thats why it shocked me so much. hes asleep now, was acting normalish when i got back, just had a funny look in his eyes

does what i described sound like an epileptic fit?

any help is greatly appreciated
 
right, since i got back from the vets yest ive been researching, and the more i read, the more I'm sure that what happened to bob was a siezure.

now I'm wondering: can piggys have one off seizures? its never happened before, and today he seems to have fully recovered, apart from sleeping all day. is there a chance it could never happen again?

i spent all last night constantly checking on him as i was so worried it would happen again.
 
I'm sorry to hear about your guinea pig. There are a few things that can cause fitting/seizures, one is fungal skin infections and the other is neurological problems. You might want to try treating for a fungal infection first to see if that might help. If fungal infections arent treated the seizures can get worse.
 
It sounds like epilepsy but i didnt know piggies could get it lol

I had childhood epilepsy but it went within 2 years and in that time i only had 3 fits and i was on tablets everyday :'(
 
Gorgeous Guineas have a good selection of skincare products, you could try and eliminate that its a skin problem then go from there. Does there seem to be a problem with the skin/hair?

I had one sow that started to fit when she was around 4, gradually the fitting got worse and was happening several times a day and I had her put to sleep after I was sure it wasn't a skin problem.
 
awww (RIP) thats so sad. i really hope it doesnt get to that with bob I'm so worried about him. i check his skin every week as he had mites when i got him in feb, and watch for any conditions coming back, and there doesnt seem to be a problem. i checked again after reading on the internet and his skin looks fine at the minute.

hes lost a little bit of weight, but not enough to start panicking about, so I'm monitoring his weight very closely too. ill check out the stuff on gorgeous guines and get some any way just to be doubly sure. he hasnt left his bed again today, hes been sleeping all day again, when he does come out he acts normal now. little munchie, his housemate is looking after him too, following him every where, and giving him piggy hugs
 
There are two kinds of fits/seizures that gps can get.

Fits caused by MYCOSIS (either fungal or mites) are very distinctive and differ from the fits caused by epilepsy. In mycotic fitting the piggy twists round and the head goes to one side,they may or may not twitch.The fit lasts for seconds,then the piggy gets up as if nothing had hyappened.

Eplileptic fits last much longer,can be as much as 3 minutes and the piggy will salivinate profusely.When the fitting stops the gp will l look normal but may be aggressive to cage/pen mates. Epilepsy can be treated with Primidone.

It sounds as if what your piggy experienced was probably a mycotic fit.Is there any sign of scabbing or sores or scurf i on the skin?.If the problem is mycotic then as Karen has already advised you,email Chrissie at GG,Iuse her products on my pigs,they are great.
 
Mary, have you known a guinea pig successfully 'treated' with Primidone? We discussed it but as it was going to be a hit and miss affair I decided to have her put to sleep. I don't think I personally would have wanted her on long term drugs anyway, but thats just me.
 
maryh said:
There are two kinds of fits/seizures that gps can get.

Fits caused by MYCOSIS (either fungal or mites) are very distinctive and differ from the fits caused by epilepsy. In mycotic fitting the piggy twists round and the head goes to one side,they may or may not twitch.The fit lasts for seconds,then the piggy gets up as if nothing had hyappened.

Eplileptic fits last much longer,can be as much as 3 minutes and the piggy will salivinate profusely.When the fitting stops the gp will l look normal but may be aggressive to cage/pen mates. Epilepsy can be treated with Primidone.

It sounds as if what your piggy experienced was probably a mycotic fit.Is there any sign of scabbing or sores or scurf i on the skin?.If the problem is mycotic then as Karen has already advised you,email Chrissie at GG,Iuse her products on my pigs,they are great.
Click to expand...

his fit was much longer than 3 minutes. i was asleep for a while and woke up to find him already fitting, and his fit lasted about 15 minutes after i first spotted him! i was on the phone to the vet whilst he was still fitting. and it took him about 45 minutes to start walking/acting more like a guinea pig should, and he still looked a little strange until early hours of the morning (i stayed up all night keeping an eye on him) also he was violent afterwards. for the rest of the night when munchie tried to look after him and go near him, he would growl, or try to nip him to make him back off. the next day he was normal again, and him and munchie were eating and sleeping together, and munchie is following him everywhere

theres no scabbing on him at all, ive double and triple checked again just now
 
Hi Lez,

This is definately not a mycotic fit.Almost certain ly epileptic.Sadly the prognosis is not good because as Karen said,you have to think of the quality of life of a piggy which is on constant drug therapy.I have never had a piggy with epilepsy and have only heard of two cases.In the first instance the piggy died during a fit,soon after it was diagnosed.The second piggy was maintained on Mysoline for 10 months,then died of a heart attack.


Epileptic type fits can also be caused by an underlying liver defect.

Sadly this forum seems to be going through an "unlucky phase" at the moment because epilepsy in gps is very uncommon,unlike gerbills who are very prone to it.

I feel so sad for you because you have a difficult descision to make,but before you do,either talk to Vedra or a gp expert vet.What area are you in?.
 
maryh said:
Hi Lez,

This is definately not a mycotic fit.Almost certain ly epileptic.Sadly the prognosis is not good because as Karen said,you have to think of the quality of life of a piggy which is on constant drug therapy.I have never had a piggy with epilepsy and have only heard of two cases.In the first instance the piggy died during a fit,soon after it was diagnosed.The second piggy was maintained on Mysoline for 10 months,then died of a heart attack.


Epileptic type fits can also be caused by an underlying liver defect.

Sadly this forum seems to be going through an "unlucky phase" at the moment because epilepsy in gps is very uncommon,unlike gerbills who are very prone to it.

I feel so sad for you because you have a difficult descision to make,but before you do,either talk to Vedra or a gp expert vet.What area are you in?.
Click to expand...

Hi mary,
i live in derby. I'm currently registered with a vet who have taken great care of my piggies and treated them very well when theyve been ill, but I'm not sure how knowledgable they are about things like this. the emergency vet told me only to take him to my regular vet if he has another seizure, but i dont trust her opinion, as she admitted she didnt know much about small animals

i really dont trust the information the emergency vet (a different place to my regular vets) gave me as i dont think she had a clue what she was on about, i got more info from the internet than i did from her.

i was planning on taking bob to the vet on monday anyway if he doesnt perk up before then, and see if they can test him or something. i dont know much about vedra, is there a suitable contact that i could speak to about what to do, if they can help me before i go to my vet that would be useful

as of yet hes still only had the one seizure, and when he is up and about is acting normal, he is just sleeping a lot more than usual and is really liking his cuddles at the minute, so I'm giving him all my attention, and doing everything to make sure he and munchie are as happy as they could possibly be.

its not just him I'm worried about though, I'm worried about the impact its having on munchie who loves bob to bits, and they seem like brothers. just taking bob to the vet made him very sad and all he wants to do at the minute is huggle up to bob. I'm hoping this doesnt happen again or get worse as i know munchie would react very badly to losing his friend :'(
 
I'm also sad as i had an argument with my mum, who is trying to convince me to give him back to the lady who gave him to me, in case he is epileptic, but its not fair on him, and i love him to bits theres no way id give him back now! i told her if i have to spend my entire student loan and all my savings and wages on vet bills I'm going to do everything i can to take care of him!

i will do anything for him, whatever it takes
 
I hope that this works out for you Lez, Epilepsy is horrible. If you have some Vetbed put that in the cage, fitting makes you ache all over. After the fit he will be disorientated hence the attacks on his friend.
 
thanks karenrgpr

i dont have vet bed, but i have fleece and towels, they being cleaned at the minute, so i am using newspaper and hay at the minute, ive been laying extra hay in the cage, to make sure hes comfortable once the fleeces and towels are dry ill put them back in so hes nice and comfy
 
Hi Lez,

My vets ,who in my opinion,would be the best people to see Bob are unfortunately in Surrey.Anne and Andy are always willing to give advise over the phone to people who are to far away to get to them.Unfortunately,Anne is on holiday this week,but you could talk to Andy.

I am going to send you a personal message about this and also I have a friend in Derby who has gps,and I am hoping she will be able to help re good vet in the area.She is out at the moment,but as soon as I can get hold of her,I will pm you.

Vedras contact details are at the top of this page under CCT.
 
aww sorry to hear that hun. sounds like you are making him as comfy as possible. it does sound more epileptic than mycotic.
hope you get to see a good vet who can help. thinking of you and sending love and big hugs! :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :-*
 
Hi Lez,


I have sent you a pm. Have spoken to my friend in Derby and she is able to help you. She agrees with me that there is no need to have this piggy put down without trying treatment first.
 
hi mary thanks for all your help!

i just replied to your pm, ive been at work all day today and only just got back so sorry i couldnt reply sooner.

let me know if theres a time tomorrow i can contact you.

bob is still the same, hes had no more fits, but is still sleeping all day, only getting up at food times or a little bit in the evenings
 
Lez,

Have seen your pm and replied.Will talk to you later.

It is normal for a piggy to be a bit lethargic after an epileptic fit for about 24 hrs although this can last longer.
 
Good to hear you've found some help Lez :) I hope you get some medication sorted so you have some time with him. :)
 
thank you everyone for your advice and well wishes for bob.

big thankyou to mary for all your help, i really appreciate it!

bob is getting checked out tonight, so ill post when i know for definate what the problem is :)
 
good news!

bob doesnt have epilepsy!

it is looking most likely a genetic thing, he could have more of them, but luckily as of yet theres no need for medication or anything. he could take up to a week or 2 to fully recover and stop sleeping so much. apart from that hes a healthy piggy, so i just have to watch for it happening again, and if it does, just make sure he is comfy and in a nice quiet place until it stops.

at least now i know what the problem is, and will be prepared for if it happens again!

my mum is going to speak to the lady i got him from, to try and get his history/parents history for me, as he could have had this from a very young age.

big thank you to mary and her friend for helping me out with bob :) you have both helped me so much, i found out a lot of new stuff, even about my own piggies! apparently bob is a very big piggie for his age ;D
 
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