# Is my rat having seizures?



## Mariasha (Apr 19, 2012)

Hey guys,

I'm hoping you can help me. I'm beside myself with grief that my baby boy Matty might be seriously ill. I'll give you a bit of background first. About 2 and a half years ago I worked as a kennel hand. On a morning walk I came across a baby rat outside on the path (It was hairless, Eyes and ears closed, About 7 days old I think). I left it thinking its mother would come and take it away or something. Anyway, On my next afternoon walk it was still there. I decided that if it was still alive when I finished work at 5pm I would take it home or else it was going to die. I live in England and it was summer time, We were having a heatwave at the time so it was very hot. Anyway, I went back and sure enough the little baby was still alive. Bear in mind it had been outside in the sun for atleast 7 hours. 
So I nursed it, Got up every hour and a half and hand fed it and once it got older I discovered it was a rat and a little boy - Matty had joined our family. He did really well, Thrived even. We couldn't re-release him into the wild because he had no hopes of surviving so we kept him.

We decided to get a couple of friends for him to keep him company - Mo and Blake. My three boys all lived together happily until recently. Mo and Blake both passed away within a month of each other about 8 weeks ago. Matty missed his friends and started plucking his fur out and was covered in bald patches. We decided to get him another two friends once we thought he was over his grief for Mo and Blake, so we got Louie and Fynn. 

So now, Cut a long story short, The boys all get along fine and live together in Mattys cage after some long introductions.

Now heres the problem. Everything was fine til a few days ago. I noticed Matty was drinking a lot of water, Like a heck of a lot of water. I thought I seen some blood in Matty's pee, so I did some research and thought maybe he had a urinary tract infection. We took him to the vets and he's currently on 0.25mls of Baytril. He does seem a bit more perky but has developed this strange behaviour whereby he grinds his teeth all the time and constantly lifts his head up, Like he's not in control of it. I've just realised also that he's moving his tongue around strangely too. There doesn't seem to be a great deal of pattern to his behaviour, but it does seem to increase when he's excited or tired.

I've done loads of research about seizures and epilepsy in rats but theres really not much out there. The stuff I have found though doesn't seem to be like what Matty's doing at all? I'm really at a lose with what to do. The vets around here don't know a great deal about rats and just usually prescribe Baytril no matter what the problem is. I love my boy so much and it kills me to see him like this. I can't bear it 

I recorded a little bit of video of him doing it;

http://youtu.be/2K_B5YWMGU0

What do you guys think it could be? I wonder if he had this potential in him from being out in the sun for so long as a baby but the stress of losing Mo and Blake and then getting introduced to Louie and Fynn has made it come out?

Please please help me, I'm desperate


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## Maiden (Mar 9, 2012)

I see the head movements that you are talking about but watching the video, from what I could tell, he looked like a healthy rat.

It could be some kind of leftover from a minor seizure but it could also be nothing. It would even be a nervous tick. I don't doubt what you're saying, not one bit. You know your rat best. He did seem thirsty. For that, I would advise investing in a water bowl, just to see if that helps. Also, as far as the teeth grinding, I think he is just bruxing. It is a normal rat behavior. (I didn't know until someone told me, then I googled it.)

I'd like to ask about his cagemates. How old were they when they passes? What exactly did they pass of?

Also, none of the metals your rats are exposed to are galvanized, right?


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## Mariasha (Apr 19, 2012)

Hi, Thanks for your speedy reply!

Well to be honest, That clip there is nothing of what he normally does. I mean he is doing that head flick constantly, Maybe every 5-10 seconds usually. Yeah, For the thirst I did consider that maybe he might have kidney failure or something but it's hard to tell. He normally drinks straight away after doing his head flick. Sometimes it seems like he needs to be kept busy because if he's grooming or drinking he doesn't do his head flick as much as if he would if he wasn't doing anything. If you know what I mean. I'll try to get a better video of him tomorrow so you know what I mean about it being constant. 

Yeah, I did wonder if it was bruxing but I'm pretty sure its not, He doesn't seem relaxed at all. Plus when he does it theres no eye boggling which he has always previously displayed when bruxing. 

Mo and Blake were about 2 and a half-ish when they passed. They both died of old age, There was no apparent cause of death other than they gradually slowed down and passed away  

I don't think the metals are galvanized? The cage itself has a white paint stuff on it which I assume is safe for critters because it was previously used for birds and ferrets (By the previous cage owner but when I bought it, It was thoroughly washed and disinfected) - But I'm not sure. How would I know if it was galvanized? :S


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## Maiden (Mar 9, 2012)

See if you can catch him grinding his teeth. I would imagine the passing of both of his cage mates to be EXTREMELY stressful for him. How long did you wait before getting him new friends? How long have you had the new ones?

When I was younger my family had a cat that died. We found out he had a urinary tract infection that lead to a kidney failure. (Still upset with my parents about it. Boils down to my cat died because they were lazy.)

Also, how old is he?

I don't know how to tell, but I thought (and I may be entirely wrong) if he has been chewing on some galvanized metals it could be some kind of metal poisoning.


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## Mariasha (Apr 19, 2012)

I understand what you mean, but the teeth grinding has only started since he developed what I believe to be a UTI. When Mo and Blake passed away he was plucking his fur out (No teeth grinding then, just bald patches all over him). So I's say from saturday, since he really started showing signs of being ill, he's been grinding his teeth. After Mo and Blake passed away I think we waited about 3 weeks before getting Louie and Fynn. We decided to get them because we were concerned that the hair plucking might become a habit with him so we wanted to break it before it became ingrained. We've had Louie and Fynn now for about 4 weeks I believe.

It's terrible when you lose an animal, I had a similar experience where my dog passed away due to my dads laziness 

Matty is about two and a half years old. I know he's a old man, but I just know he's not ready to go yet. He's always been such a active little thing and this illness seems to have set him off badly. I really do think that when he lost Mo and Blake it's caused him mountains of stress which have triggered him plucking his hair, his UTI and from there his head jerking 

I'll see if I can research metal poisoning in rats and see if any other symptoms apply to him. Thanks for your help, I really do appreciate it


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## Miramarr (Apr 4, 2012)

Have you checked inside his mouth? The tongue thing could be a result of overgrown or misshapen teeth, maybe. I know that a rat's molars grow throughout their life too, but at a much slower rate than the incisors. By the time they're a few years old, the molars tend to be pointed a bit sideways.

I'm no expert though. Good luck with this. I hope everything works out for you and Matty.


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