Seizure!!!

[Jasper's Mom]

I think Campbell just had some kind of seizure. She was in the bath, and was totally normal. Then I picked her up and suddenly her tongue came all the way out of her mouth and she thrashed around in my hand. Then she went totally limp, eyes closed, and didn't breathe for about 3 minutes. I was packing her up to take to the vet when she suddenly took a big breath and sort of came back to life. Now her eyes are open, she's breathing, and she seems more or less OK. She's sort of jittering her beard in and out, but otherwise seems OK. Now I don't know what to do. I called the clinic and the emergency vet that's there is not an exotics doctor. They have left a message with my regular vet but I haven't heard from him yet. I've got her sitting on the heating pad and I'm just watching her now. Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Wow, a seizure huh?
You are using the proper lighting, correct?
How long have you had Campbell for now? Is he a rescue?
How often do you give calcium?
I don't know what would have caused a seizure other than metabolic bone disease, or did she get worked up over a bath?

Tracie

 

[Jasper's Mom]

I have a 100w Megaray SB bulb. It's about six months old, and I have a new one on the way. Basking temp is 107, cool side 80. She is a rescue, I got her just over two months ago. She gets 0.1 ml of liquid calcium every other day, as advised by my vet. It's entirely possible that she has MBD, as she had no supplements and no UV for who knows how long at her old home. It's also possible that she got stressed in the bath - I had her in the big tub instead of the little tub, where I usually bathe her.

My vet called me back, and I'm going to take her in to the clinic tomorrow for a full checkup, including blood work to determine her calcium levels.

 

[msmaui]

OMG!!! I'm praying that Campbell Jane is OK.

Nancy

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Ok, GREAT! I figured your lighting was fine. I just knew that Campbell did not have good care prior to you getting her. She probably does have a slight case of Metabolic bone disease, or hypocalcemia. The bloodtests should reveal that if they are low. Are they doing an ionized calcium test, as well as a complete blood count?
The tub, could she see out of it?
Good luck tomorrow. Let us know how things go at the vets.

Tracie

 

[Jasper's Mom]

I'm not sure what tests he is planning to run. He said it will depend on how much blood he can get from her - last time he wasn't able to get very much. I will ask him to do both if possible. She couldn't see out of the tub, but I had my hand in there with her the whole time. She didn't freak out until I took her out of the bath. I'm hoping it was just some stress due to being in the big tub and nothing more serious. You know, usually I don't start work on Saturdays until 10:30, but tomorrow, just this once, I'm starting at 5 am. It's like she knew that and chose tonight to scare me half to death so I wouldn't sleep! She is currently asleep in her viv, although I don't think she's sleeping well because I keep waking her up to make sure she's alive. I guess we'll both be tired tomorrow morning. Depending on how she looks when I get up, I may take her to work with me.

 

[Jasper's Mom]

I checked her at 4 am before I left for work and she was OK. She was definitely not impressed with being woken so early! I decided to leave her at home rather than subjecting her to the stress of a strange environment. As soon as I'm done work I'm taking her up to the clinic. I only slept for a couple of hours last night, and it was bad couch sleep because I wanted to stay near her. I would kill for a nap right about now! Guess I'll have to make do with (another) cup of coffee.

 

[Pleaides]

oh my goodness what a panic for you both!
well i hope shes ok keep us updated!

 

[dreshany]

I am not sure it's the same thing, but both my beardies did/do something similar, although usually when I put them in the bath. I think when they get stressed, or dislike something they go into survival mode (fight or flight). My beardies will thrash about and then go absolutely limp, like they are dead. A few minutes later, or sometimes when you change their position they are fine. I attribute it to a survival mechanism from the wild. Their first reaction is to fight to get away and if that doesn't work they play dead.
I hope this is all that has happened with your little one. let us know how he does

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How are things today? How did the vet visit go today?
I am sure she was not happy at all with being woken up at 4am!! So you were both tired then, good grief.
I agree, they do sometimes thrash around like that, then, it's like they just give up & go limp. They are so funny sometimes, but they do pick the most inopportune times to have tantrems or fits, don't they?

Tracie

 

[Jasper's Mom]

He couldn't find any physical reason for the seizure. He thinks it may have been due to stress brought on by the bath in the big tub. She seems fine now. The vet did take some blood, although not enough to do a full panel. He checked the ionized calcium and sent some blood away for a CBC (?) to check her white blood cell counts. Surprisingly, her ionized calcium level is very high - she's actually hypercalcemic! Which brings us to why she hasn't been pooping. The vet stuck a flexible tube up her vent and dislodged a huge, rock hard urate. After that, the poo came flooding out. We're going to reduce the amount of calcium she's getting orally to see if that softens up her urates. Poor girl!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Well, that is probably what happened, the stress just caused that type of behavior in the bath. That is so odd. How many baths has she had previously?
So he took just a little bit for an ionized calcium then & has sent away for a complete blood count at another lab? How high was the calcium on the ionized test?
A rock hard urate came out? Geez, it was really blocking her up then. Something like that would cause some problems. Increase the oral fluids as well, to help flush her system out. Poor thing!
Good that it was nothing serious!

Tracie

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

I'm so sorry to hear about Campbell Jane's experience in the tub. I hope everything is alright and it was just a freak episode.

Dawn