Seizures In Young Rat?

[littleladyinblack]

I got Armadillo from a reputable breeder and he was very healthy and incredibly active.

A few months ago (I guess at around 6 or 7 months old) I saw Dillo "choking". I was on Google trying to figure out what the hell to do with a choking rat when it stopped.
The behavior later turned into what I thought I recognized as absence seizures.

I still wasn't quite sure what was happening so I reduced the amount of bedding, quarantined him and his brother from the older set of siblings, removed all scents from my place and my skin.

It eventually turned to generalized tonic-clonic seizures lasting around 20 seconds followed by about a minute of what looks like a postictal state.

I took Dillo to the vet DREADING hearing about a tumor and was told that while it wasn't common, he thought it was epilepsy (Dillo being younger & from a good breeder).

Dillo was put on 0.11ml twice daily oral Phenobarbital (4mg/ml). After a month with no improvement, and informing the vet that Dillo didn't seem to be experiencing ill effects from the meds, it was increased to 0.2mg.

The first time I gave Dillo 0.2mg, he seemed quite sedated, so I've been giving him 0.17mg for 2 days so far. The seizures have been occurring about 2-3 times a week (that I see).

Does anyone have any other ideas as to what could be causing seizures or what could reduce them? I've been so stressed out, and even worse - I'm afraid to take the little guy out of his cage since any kind of stress or excitement seems to send him into a fit. I'm so upset, I've lowered all their hammocks and pods worried he'll fall (he fell off the back of my shoulder once when he seized and I was inconsolable - haven't carried him since).

Just at a loss for what to do here...
Any knowledge appreciated.

A.

 

[SQ]

Lilspaz68 has had a lot of experience with rats who have seizures so hopefully she will have some ideas

 

[lilspaz68]

Have you started a seizure log? These are invaluable and will show you patterns and if he's improving or worsening. Keep track of his meds too like you are doing. Did the pheno help at all? There are other medications you can add to help control his seizures. I used potassium bromide with one of my seizure boys. Also have you ever gotten a video of one? Bear barely responded to any meds and we deduced hhe likely had a brain tumor. Charlie on the other hand responded fully to the phenobarbitol. I have videos of both boys seizing if you want to see?

http://ratguide.com/health/neurological/seizures.php

 

[littleladyinblack]

I do have video, tried to attach it but it's saying the file is too large.
May have to try to find somewhere to upload it so I can just post a link.

It would be interesting to see if your little guys look similar.

I've been writing down the date and time of his seizures but haven't gone into more detail than that.

The pheno doesn't seem to be helping but we just increased the dose so perhaps it wasn't enough.

I'll try to figure out that video later today...

 

[SQ]

I do have video, tried to attach it but it's saying the file is too large.
May have to try to find somewhere to upload it so I can just post a link.

If you save a video to youtube, you can post the link on here. I have found that this works well.

 

[kimiko]

I have a rat who has seizures as well. I got her in Sept 2017, when she was 4 months old. I first noticed that something was up with her in January when i heard a racket in the cage. It was a new cage, all metal, because either her or her sister chewed a hole through the old one that had a plastic base. When I got to the rat room, I found her laying on the bottom of the cage. I thought maybe she fell because the new cage was higher than the old one, and that she just got the wind knocked out of her. I made sure she was ok, and kind of brushed off the incident.
It happened again, and I only heard the racket and hadn't actually seen the seizure. So we went to the vet, and she said that sounds like what happens after a seizure. We started with vibramycin in case it was mycoplasma. She did well on the med, and had no seizures. But a week after she was done with the med, she had one that I actually saw. So she was put on pheno in March. We started at 1.0 ml twice a day, but she was still having seizures. So we kept increasing her dose accordingly. She's currently at 1.5ml twice a day. He last seizure was July 14 at my friend's house who was taking care of her while i was out of town for the weekend. Before that, her last one was about 2.5 wks earlier. My vet said I can keep increasing as needed, but her maximum dose would be 3ml. So if I get to that, we;ll have to look into something else to try.