I hate to have to post about this, but I'm afraid we are experiencing seizures with little Totoro. I always thought she acted a little off, when compared to her sister, but last night there was no ignoring the fact that there is definatly something wrong.
I opened the box at 12 AM last night to feed them. Totoro was curled up tightly in a huge puddle of pee on her blankie. Her sister climbed over her and Totoro spazed the *$%# out! She was shaking violently and would do her little hissing/spitting growl sound that says I'm scared/pissed off at you. She kept trying to scuttle away from my hand when I tried to pick her up for feeding. She seemed TERRIFIED!!! Like she didn't know me and had never seen such a creature before. This has NEVER happend...yes, sometimes she gets slightley startled when you pet her to try and rouse her for feeding and makes her fussy noise, but it is always short lived. This was just the begining.
I tried to sooth her as well as I could. It just wasn't working. Her little heart was going so hard... I gave her the nipple and she took to it like she always does and it seemed to calm her just a tad. After she sucked all her food down I got ready to clean face and stimulate her and but she started flailing and writhing with so much force! (it was not your normal rebeling against being stimulated...it was downright scary!!!) I tried to get a safe hold on her and she started screaming the way she screamed the day I found her covered in ant bites. As she screamed she began to spray pee in every which direction. She stopped screaming and then seemed soooo calm and still, like none of this had ever happend. I took the opportunity to help her pee and poo...all went well in that department...
But I noticed the look on her face, and the way she was holding her body. Her little heart was still racing and her torso looked like it was having spasms....like really harsh hiccups. I tried some more to clm her but she wouldn't stop this. Her little limbs we shaking violently now. I have no doubt in my mind that this was NOT REM sleep. It looked nothing like it...Way too violent and constant. Her torso convulsing stopped and after a few minutes the limbs shaking lessened but never really ceased completley. Durring all of this her body had become quite rigid and a bit twisted like someone had grabbed her head and turned it one direction and took her rear and turned it the other. Her eyes looked so tormented. She's watching us the whole time through these frightened little eyes like she's trapped in this body that can't be controlled by her own will.
My husband and I tried to calm her and keep her warm...we curled her up and placed her back in her box, putting her in a postion that looked comfortable, as it seemed she wasn't going to move around much on her own. She was able to curl tightly on her own but when she TRIED to move, her body would not uncurl all the way (super hunched slow crawl). She kept her front arms always folded at the elbows and clenched to her outer sides...never seeming able to push them outwards to lift herself up...same for the rear legs. Her sweet paws stayed somewhat closed and very lifeless.
We did not know what to do, but it was obvious we weren't helping in any way, so we let her be...peace and quiet, and snuggled her up next to her sister in case that might make her feel more at ease. I'm not sure if I should have posted about this last night, but I didn't feel I was level headed enough to do it at the time(I felt as if all the blood had drained from my head...my tongue actualy went about 50% numb. Not sure what it means..doesn't matter now). Instead I spent hours reading all over the forum trying to figure this mess out. My husband teamed up with me, using his mobile phone to search as well. We both ended up at the same thread (Knotthead is Naughty)with the same conclusion...it was most definatly seizures.
She seems back to normal this morning....as normal as you can be when all your strength has just been drained from you. She is tired...so very tired. There was a bit of timidness when we first met eyes this morning but that melted away quickly and we snuggled, ate great, pooed and peed and gently snuggled some more. She is still holding her arms to her sides (except when it came to grabbong hold of the syringe... ) but did seem more able to lift herself around here and there...just not alot.
I hope this is all going to be okay....and maybe we'll find a way to manage it..I just don't know enough yet. Have to figure out the "why" if I'm going to do her any real good. I don't know for sure that she has had previous seizures, but I do suspect it. If you look at the video (link in the thread Totoro and Maru) of their first playtime, you will notice how she walks around in circle repetitively or scoots backwards alot. Maru does not do this but Totoro has done this many times...circling over and over and over. She has always seemed very tired, hard to wake, easily aggravated and small in size...A very strong clash of opposites when comparing Totoro to Maru.
The thing that scared me the most about the whole ordeal last night was the look of sheer terror and fear on her face when she first saw me after waking. If this is what I beleive it is, then I know that feeling all to well. To wake from a gran mal seizure...To not know where you are. To not know your loved ones faces...they are complete strangers. And worst of all, to not know who YOU are.