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Help/Advice Needed......Ziggy just had a fit

valsie

valsie

Junior Guinea Pig
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Chafford Hundred Grays Essex
My 6.5 year old male piggy (Ziggy) has just had a fit/seizure while I was holding him. It’s the first time in 15 yrs of guinea pig ownership that I have encountered this and it was very upsetting and frightening.
I noticed that he’d not been his usual self today as he has been sleeping out in the open instead of in his snuggle sack or under his hidey. I thought that perhaps he had a temperature and was feeling hot. He has been eating normally today.

I was holding him for a cuddle before settling him down for the night when I noticed his skin was very red, in a kind of line down from the top of his head. As I touched it he began fitting. I just held him and it lasted about a minute then he recovered.
He is eating ok now and seems to have recovered.

I’m just wondering if anyone has any ideas what might have caused the seizure, and what is the best way to deal with a piggy who is fitting. I wasn’t sure whether to hold him (which I did) or put him down on a fleece. It was a horrible experience 😢.
 
valsie said:
My 6.5 year old male piggy (Ziggy) has just had a fit/seizure while I was holding him. It’s the first time in 15 yrs of guinea pig ownership that I have encountered this and it was very upsetting and frightening.
I noticed that he’d not been his usual self today as he has been sleeping out in the open instead of in his snuggle sack or under his hidey. I thought that perhaps he had a temperature and was feeling hot. He has been eating normally today.

I was holding him for a cuddle before settling him down for the night when I noticed his skin was very red, in a kind of line down from the top of his head. As I touched it he began fitting. I just held him and it lasted about a minute then he recovered.
He is eating ok now and seems to have recovered.

I’m just wondering if anyone has any ideas what might have caused the seizure, and what is the best way to deal with a piggy who is fitting. I wasn’t sure whether to hold him (which I did) or put him down on a fleece. It was a horrible experience 😢.
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Hi

Please contact the out of hours services for their advice and assessment. Unfortunately, we cannot tell you what causes seizures. Neurological issues is a difficult and not yet well researched field; seizures are thankfully not very common but they can happen and can have different causes.

Please keep your piggy calm and comfy; warm but not hot and with the option to move away from the source of heat.
A seizure often drains the body. Watching a seizure is rather frightening because there is not much you can do apart from righting your piggy and ensuring that they aren't coming to harm.

See a more specialist vet after the weekend, especially if there are more seizures.

Here is our one stop emergency advice, care and resources collection: Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

All the best!
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
 
Thank you for your quick response Wiebke, especially at this late hour. These emergencies always seem to occur late at night on a weekend!

I will get him seen by a vet on Monday hopefully, and pray that he doesn’t have another seizure in the meantime.
 
That must have been very scary for you. It sounds like you did the right thing keeping him comfy. I hope he’s ok today. Hopefully the vet can get to the bottom of the cause. Take care.
 
Update on Ziggy.

He’s now had three seizures in three days. He was seen by the vet today who confirmed that he has a massive tumour on his lower back. He has had this lump for about six months which has been growing steadily in that time. I made the decision not to have it removed because of his age and concern that he wouldn’t survive the surgery. It hasn’t been bothering him until now, he has been eating really well, lots of hay, pellets and fresh food and he’s been very active. It’s only been this last week that he has been acting differently, he’s still eating quite well although not quite as enthusiastically as before.
His skin looks inflamed and he’s lost hair on his tummy, sides and tops of his legs. The vet said the inflammation on his skin is due to the tumour and the seizures were caused by pain.

The vet suggested we keep him comfortable and pain free for now. First of all he was going to prescribe the dog strength Loxicom but then he changed his mind and prescribed the cat strength. The dose is 0.1 kg every 24 hours but I am worried that this is a very low dose which may not control his pain. Should I ask that it should be changed to the dog strength (I don’t know why he changed his mind about it)? Or even prescribe something stronger such as Tramadol? I was hoping that if we could get his pain under control we would have a little more time with him.
 

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valsie said:
Update on Ziggy.

He’s now had three seizures in three days. He was seen by the vet today who confirmed that he has a massive tumour on his lower back. He has had this lump for about six months which has been growing steadily in that time. I made the decision not to have it removed because of his age and concern that he wouldn’t survive the surgery. It hasn’t been bothering him until now, he has been eating really well, lots of hay, pellets and fresh food and he’s been very active. It’s only been this last week that he has been acting differently, he’s still eating quite well although not quite as enthusiastically as before.
His skin looks inflamed and he’s lost hair on his tummy, sides and tops of his legs. The vet said the inflammation on his skin is due to the tumour and the seizures were caused by pain.

The vet suggested we keep him comfortable and pain free for now. First of all he was going to prescribe the dog strength Loxicom but then he changed his mind and prescribed the cat strength. The dose is 0.1 kg every 24 hours but I am worried that this is a very low dose which may not control his pain. Should I ask that it should be changed to the dog strength (I don’t know why he changed his mind about it)? Or even prescribe something stronger such as Tramadol? I was hoping that if we could get his pain under control we would have a little more time with him.
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Aw poor Ziggy. Sorry to hear that. The pain must have been immense to cause seizures so I can understand you wanting to really tackle it. The dose is 0.1ml once a day?

I don't know how it compares but I have a 1275g piggy who's passing a bladder stone on 0.04ml dog loxicom twice a day, and a 600g end stage cancer piggy on 0.02 ml dog loxicom twice a day.
 
I am sorry to hear this.

I would ask or more pain relief/dog version. This sounds like a low dose to me, particularly only once every 24 hours when piggies can take pain meds every 12 hours due to their metabolism
 
Poor Ziggy I hope you can control the pain and he has lots more happy days ahead. ❤️
 
I’m afraid I have little advise. I’d see how he gets on with the cat metacam and asked the vet for the dog strength should he still be in pain? I’m sorry that he has the lump and I hope you have plenty more time with him x
 
I’m so sorry he’s been having seizures, poor boy. :( I’m lucky I don’t see mine but my rat (actually called Ziggy!) had them in my arms years ago and it was terrifying so I hope you’re ok too.
I definitely agree that more pain relief is a good idea, 0.1 of cat metacam/loxicom is incredibly low, it really won’t be doing anything to be honest. (My Cleo is 800g and has 0.3ml of the dog metacam, which is 0.9ml of the cat one!) I’d definitely try and get him into a more piggy savvy vet to check him over and for more pain relief so he’s more comfortable. Big hugs to you both ❤️
 
Update on Ziggy.

Ziggy wasn’t doing well, he’s lost a lot more hair and not eating very much (I was syringe feeding Critical Care). I decided to take him up to Northampton to the Cat and Rabbit Clinic where I had my other piggy treated for dental problems (sadly no longer with us). It’s a long journey, nearly 2 hours each way but worth it.

Had an appointment with Kim and her opinion was that he’s got mites which is the cause of the hair loss and him being so unwell, although the tumour is obviously a factor too. She applied a dose of Stronghold and gave me another one to be applied middle of October. She also prescribed dog Metacam and Gabapentin. Within 24 hours he was eating well again and seemed calmer and less distressed and (touch wood) he hasn’t had another seizure.

One thing I am a little concerned about is his skin (he has quite extensive bald areas, especially on one side) feels really hot to touch. I wondered if this could be due to the mites and if there was anything I could put on it to help cool him down or if I should gently dab him with a cold flannel.
 
valsie said:
Update on Ziggy.

Ziggy wasn’t doing well, he’s lost a lot more hair and not eating very much (I was syringe feeding Critical Care). I decided to take him up to Northampton to the Cat and Rabbit Clinic where I had my other piggy treated for dental problems (sadly no longer with us). It’s a long journey, nearly 2 hours each way but worth it.

Had an appointment with Kim and her opinion was that he’s got mites which is the cause of the hair loss and him being so unwell, although the tumour is obviously a factor too. She applied a dose of Stronghold and gave me another one to be applied middle of October. She also prescribed dog Metacam and Gabapentin. Within 24 hours he was eating well again and seemed calmer and less distressed and (touch wood) he hasn’t had another seizure.

One thing I am a little concerned about is his skin (he has quite extensive bald areas, especially on one side) feels really hot to touch. I wondered if this could be due to the mites and if there was anything I could put on it to help cool him down or if I should gently dab him with a cold flannel.
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Great news that you had him seen by Kim and have a diagnosis of a condition that can be treated.
He will definetly be more comfortable now.

I wouldn't do anything directly on his skin which may traumatise him further, but instead I would put a frozen bottle wrapped in a damp cloth somewhere in his cage.
That way he can choose to lay next to it, if he feels the need.
 
I’m so glad you could get Ziggy to Cat & Rabbit, hope he feels more comfortable when those mites are gone and I’m so pleased he’s got some good pain relief bless him. Hope he’s feeling less warm today and still eating well x
 
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