PSA: Epilepsy (Seizures)

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Vocabulary

Neural ~ relating to a nerve

Spasm ~ a sudden unvoluntary muscular contraction

Idiopathic ~ unknown cause

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Overview

A seizure is when the brain has a sudden surge of neural activity. It's when your rat will start thrashing and moving their muscles quickly and violently. This usually causes the rat to go unconscious. Also called epilepsy, this can be reoccurring and deadly if untreated.

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Symptoms

Falling Over

Jerking or Spasms

Glazed Eyes

Violent Flailing

Loss of Consciousness

Tongue Protruding From Mouth

Clenched Teeth

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Treatment

If the seizures are reoccurring, note the rats behavior before, during, and after the seizure. Take this information to your vet as soon as possible where they will likely give you medication. If epilepsy continues to occur after the medication, keep giving them it. Sometimes the medication can take several weeks to take affect.

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Prevention

Not the seizure itself, other than treating any other illnesses as soon as possible. Try to make your rats environment as safe as possible to prevent the rat getting injured during a seizure. There are some that say that the sugar in your rats diet might affect seizures, so you might want to keep your rats diet low in sugar aswell. Low amounts of magnesium may also cause a seizure, aswell as brain tumors.

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Misconceptions

Generally, seizures are more common in male rats. Keep in mind pituitary tumors and other brain tumors can be a cause of seizures aswell. Like mammary tumors, genetics play a big role in whether or not your rat will suffer from epilepsy. 40% of epilepsy cases are, unfortunately, idiopathic. After a seizure, your rat may become really thirsty or appear more lethargic than usual.

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