seizures?

[thundersquirrel]

if you've ever had a squirrel with seizures, i need you to read this. even if you haven't, advice would be helpful.

last night we got a young male fox around four weeks old. eyes closed, fur is more than velvet but lies flat on his body. his eyes should open in a week or more. he fell from someone's rafters.

the first thing we noticed was his lethargy. he doesn't usually support his head. he never squirms much while we hold him.

he won't eat, at least not a lot. in fact, i just fed him, and it's the first time he ate enough worth mentioning (about 3 ccs).

next are the seizures, if that's what they are. once in a while he'll convulse, usually crawling half a foot while twitching, and he makes noises like an angry mature squirrel (only quieter). as he calms down, he kinda holds his limbs where they were, and slooooooowly brings them back.

he does, though, have full feeling. he can yawn, scratch his head with his foot, lick formula off his paws, and curl up in a ball.

his balance seems a bit off though, and his head looks a little flat. i didn't feel any breaks in the skull, but who knows.....maybe it's cracked.

he peed, but hasn't pooped yet. i'm not too concerned about that yet, it's been less than 24 hours since we got him.

he's a cute little thang (actually he's big for his age) and i wanna help him out. i think he's got a chance.....

[Critter_Queen]

Any idea how long he was without Mom? If it was more than 24 hours, seizures could be due to calcium deficiency...do you have a vet?

It does sound like seizures to me. Hold him the next time it happens and look at his eyes (tightly shut or relaxed?), his mouth (tight or open?), and his toes (rigid, flexed or fisted?). These are the signs I've seen in my squirrels with seizures as well as the tremors...my dad died having seizures recently, and toward the end the only way you could tell he was having one was because a part of his body would start to vibrate, kinda...

Seizures can be brought on by head trauma, too...any bumps on his head/face/back?

You sound just like me, TS, always getting in the REALLY sick ones...

[thundersquirrel]

i've only managed to hold him during a seizure once. he nearly fell out of my lap because he took me by surprise. his mouth was open because he was making his angry noises.

i didn't focus on his toes during the convulsion, but they were limp at the end; kinda frozen in a limp position.

i didn't observe his eyes well enough. it happened really fast, but i know he's had more than one because i can hear it when it happens.

i'll try to keep an eye on him.....ya know, i had him out when i was feeding him. i had only tried to give him one cc when he had the seizure. honestly, he was better at eating after the seizure than he was before. i thought he'd be a bit more out of it afterwards. very strange.....

head trauma sounds most like it, considering that he fell. besides, if he has epilepsy, i can't see how he would've survived to this point.

[BuckeyeSqrl]

At his age, I would guess that the seizures are from head trauma.

I would put him on a course of Dex. This sometimes helps with neurological issues that may be due to swelling.

[Critter_Queen]

I agree. When my dad was still alive, he was on Dexamethisone (sp?) to keep the swelling in his brain down. It's ok to use short term, and it works very well for inflammation in and around the brain, but long-term is very bad for the physical body...my 210 pound dad was on 4 mg per day for less than eight months and it caused him to lose so much strength in his legs that he couldn't stand without using his hands to push off the chair or to grab something and pull himself up. And before the cancer he was THE healthiest guy I'd ever met.

Do you have a vet you can see for the Dex?

[Suro]

I totally agree to try a course or dex, let us know how he gets on?

[thundersquirrel]

hello

well we haven't seen/heard him have a seizure for a few days now. it's really encouraging. he's eating more, too.

it looks like we're gonna give him to another rehabber that we know, since she has more time and experience to work with him. i'm guessing that the seizures were a result of swelling on his head, and the swelling has gone down. i'm hoping it's all behind him.

anyway, since he's no longer having seizures, i'll stop posting on this. don't wanna take all the emergency attention away! thanks to everyone who gave advice.