My 2 year old Basil had an episode last night that has happened maybe 3 or 4 times before. She was getting her bedtime scritches and treat when it happened.
I picked up some whole rosehips at a pet show (from a reputable seller) yesterday afternoon and decided to give one to each chin as their bedtime treat. My chins haven't had them in awhile, but have had them in the past. A few bites in, Basil started her "episode". She dropped her treat and her whole body stiffened. She laid on the floor of the cage and her back curled slightly backward and back legs stiffened up straight. There was no violent shaking or twitching, just stiffening. She was moving her stiff straight hind legs to move forward, but her front legs and face dragged on the floor. This lasted about 1 minute. Before I had time to even grab my phone to video record her episode, She unstiffened and popped up and was completely and totally FINE. Bouncing around her cage again.
This has only happened after a "treat". My chinnies are always given approved treats (mostly plain cheerios, plain shredded wheat, or a couple oats, sometimes half of a vitakraft nibble ring). The other couple episodes we've seen were once after a wheatie, and once after some oats. So i know it wasnt the rosehip.
I would call this a seizure, however, I do have another chinnie "Tripp" who DOES have seizures (diagnosed and on daily medication for them) BUT Basil's episode looks nothing like my other little guy's seizures (Tripp flops around and twitches, and takes several minutes to recover after it's over). So i am hesitant to call this an actual seizure. It's even hard to explain really what it looks like. So i'm hoping someone else here has seen this odd stiffening behavior. My husband thinks that she just gets too excited and somehow it's a reaction to her over-excitement.
Even if I were to take her to the vet, based on my previous chinchilla-seizure experience, i know they will not put her on medication due to the rarity of the episodes. But still, i want to avoid them as much as possible. Do I take out "treats" entirely? I hate to do that, as she's in the same room as 4 other chinnies who would still get them, and as a good fur-momma I don't want her to think I'm playing favorites! lol Seeing how it hasnt happened with the same treats consistently, I don't know if that's really necessary anyway. Ugh. Any advice would be helpful!
Before anyone asks: They eat Tradition food and always have. They live in Critter nation cages, with fleece items, pine ledges/shelves (no plastic). She loves hay but prefers the orchard grass to timothy hay (i try to switch it up). I've had chinnies for almost ten years now! and I consider myself a knowledgeable, experienced chinnie owner who follows very much of the advice typically given on this forum.
I picked up some whole rosehips at a pet show (from a reputable seller) yesterday afternoon and decided to give one to each chin as their bedtime treat. My chins haven't had them in awhile, but have had them in the past. A few bites in, Basil started her "episode". She dropped her treat and her whole body stiffened. She laid on the floor of the cage and her back curled slightly backward and back legs stiffened up straight. There was no violent shaking or twitching, just stiffening. She was moving her stiff straight hind legs to move forward, but her front legs and face dragged on the floor. This lasted about 1 minute. Before I had time to even grab my phone to video record her episode, She unstiffened and popped up and was completely and totally FINE. Bouncing around her cage again.
This has only happened after a "treat". My chinnies are always given approved treats (mostly plain cheerios, plain shredded wheat, or a couple oats, sometimes half of a vitakraft nibble ring). The other couple episodes we've seen were once after a wheatie, and once after some oats. So i know it wasnt the rosehip.
I would call this a seizure, however, I do have another chinnie "Tripp" who DOES have seizures (diagnosed and on daily medication for them) BUT Basil's episode looks nothing like my other little guy's seizures (Tripp flops around and twitches, and takes several minutes to recover after it's over). So i am hesitant to call this an actual seizure. It's even hard to explain really what it looks like. So i'm hoping someone else here has seen this odd stiffening behavior. My husband thinks that she just gets too excited and somehow it's a reaction to her over-excitement.
Even if I were to take her to the vet, based on my previous chinchilla-seizure experience, i know they will not put her on medication due to the rarity of the episodes. But still, i want to avoid them as much as possible. Do I take out "treats" entirely? I hate to do that, as she's in the same room as 4 other chinnies who would still get them, and as a good fur-momma I don't want her to think I'm playing favorites! lol Seeing how it hasnt happened with the same treats consistently, I don't know if that's really necessary anyway. Ugh. Any advice would be helpful!
Before anyone asks: They eat Tradition food and always have. They live in Critter nation cages, with fleece items, pine ledges/shelves (no plastic). She loves hay but prefers the orchard grass to timothy hay (i try to switch it up). I've had chinnies for almost ten years now! and I consider myself a knowledgeable, experienced chinnie owner who follows very much of the advice typically given on this forum.
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