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Post by maggi on Jul 30, 2022 19:49:42 GMT -8
Hi. This is my first post here. I'm so heartbroken. We made a terrible mistake. Our sweet Oliver 1.5yo had what I now believe was a grand mal seizure yesterday. We didn't know that was common with gerbils and thought somehow he had a broken back or something. It looked horrible so my husband scooped him up and took him outside and ended his suffering quickly. Now I'm learning about seizures and that he likely would have been fine!?! Omg. This is so horrible. We loved him so much and have been devastated this happened, but now finding out it was likely a mistake is just too much. We went and got a little one right away today, for the kids sake and for his brother Stoopy's. We rigged up a split cage and have swapped sides once so far.. but that's off topic to this post. (I may make a separate one in the right section..) for now.. Any words of encouragement that Oli's seizure may have been fatal anyway would help. It was at least a minute long, if not longer, and definitely grand mal.. but omg.. we killed him didn't we? 😭
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Post by maggi on Jul 30, 2022 21:36:18 GMT -8
Update.. I asked my husband for more details about his 'mercy killing'.. he said after he stopped seizing he was totally limp and could find no heartbeat. He's convinced he was dead at that point.. but I'm still not sure.. I think we killed him unnecessarily. I don't know though. What is the recovery period like after a seizure? Would they be limp like that? Like-dead, but not? 😭😭 My poor sweet boy 😭
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Post by betty on Jul 31, 2022 4:36:02 GMT -8
Hello there - and don't beat yourself up over and over either way. Your little one is no longer in any pain and that is all we can ask for for any of our pets.
If your partner is confident your gerbil was totally limp possibly already dead (which can be the result of a very serious siezure anyway) and they used a method that they felt was swift and approriate - then the suffering is over whatever it was, and whatever the long term prognosis could have been is no longer relevant.
You can look around and search online for siezure-related issues and many siezures are small and short-lasting and the gerbils go on to live on - sometimes having repeated siezures throughout. Some have more serious siezures and never fully recover physically or in character.
It isn't an easy thing to say what is right or wrong with treating or caring for gerbils with siezures - and that isn't helpful anyway - but - if you have made a decision already (that is not reversible) then you need to talk through all the positives of that choice only. Oliver is now at rest and knows nothing of all this, he likely didn't know he was ill, he likely didn't understand what was happening to him, and most importantly, he is no longer in pain.
It is always sad to lose a beloved pet whatever the circumstances, so we all are thinking of you and your family because of that anyway. Sending hugs for sure.
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Post by maggi on Jul 31, 2022 13:22:47 GMT -8
Thank you so much, Betty. Your words brought tears to my eyes. I have been busy praying for peace about this but am having a difficult time. I'm seeing positive signs on the split so far.. I'll do a separate post on that soon. In the meantime, truly, thank you. I made the mistake of posting this in a Facebook group as well and while there were a couple of kind responses, a lot of anger and disgust was coming through too. I deleted the post and left the group. My heart can't take it. 💔
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jul 31, 2022 15:19:28 GMT -8
Hello,
When reading about seizures in gerbils you've most likely read mostly about the seizures that affect pups or very young gerbils, usually in response to a new environment. These seizures are indeed mostly harmless, but they don't start spontaneously in a gerbil of 1.5 years. A seizure in a gerbil of that age likely indicates some kind of internal health issue, and the prognosis for an older gerbil having a seizure is often not good at all. A minute is quite a long seizure as well. There's a high chance he was never going to wake up and be ok again.
I have found they become responsive quite quickly after a seizure. Not necessarily back to normal, but they would respond to being picked up. If he was limp and unresponsive it does sound he could have already died.
Many gerbils also have convulsions or violent muscle contractions around the time of death, which could be what was happening here. The majority of gerbils who I have seen die, aside from those who died in accidents, had some kind of convulsion as they died.
I'm sorry to hear what happened in the Facebook group. They do tend to be quite harsh in my opinion but you won't get that here. You did what seemed kind and humane at the time which is what matters most for Oliver.
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Post by maggi on Jul 31, 2022 19:16:06 GMT -8
Hello, When reading about seizures in gerbils you've most likely read mostly about the seizures that affect pups or very young gerbils, usually in response to a new environment. These seizures are indeed mostly harmless, but they don't start spontaneously in a gerbil of 1.5 years. A seizure in a gerbil of that age likely indicates some kind of internal health issue, and the prognosis for an older gerbil having a seizure is often not good at all. A minute is quite a long seizure as well. There's a high chance he was never going to wake up and be ok again. I have found they become responsive quite quickly after a seizure. Not necessarily back to normal, but they would respond to being picked up. If he was limp and unresponsive it does sound he could have already died. Many gerbils also have convulsions or violent muscle contractions around the time of death, which could be what was happening here. The majority of gerbils who I have seen die, aside from those who died in accidents, had some kind of convulsion as they died. I'm sorry to hear what happened in the Facebook group. They do tend to be quite harsh in my opinion but you won't get that here. You did what seemed kind and humane at the time which is what matters most for Oliver. Oh my gosh. I can't thank you enough for this! I've been tortured thinking we did the horribly wrong thing. My husband said he spent a moment trying to get any sign of life from him before he took any action. He was sure he was gone. I asked, but then why did you do anything? He said he feared him struggling later possibly and wanted to be sure he wasn't suffering. There was a chain of events just before all this where the gate we use to block off the play area where the kids will sit with him fell down. I don't know if it fell on him but feared it might have. I put him back in his enclosure (and at the time thought his back legs looked different.. Longer maybe? But wasn't really sure) then, regrettably, I got him right back out again when he climbed on my hand and brought him back to my daughter. Not one minute later she came and got out attention and that's when we saw him convulsing. All my instincts said that was a mortally wounded animal. For the next 24hrs I thought maybe the gate did fall on him after all. Then I read about the seizures and thought the worst. Thank you so much for this piece of mind ❤️❤️ this makes so much more sense. That gate is no longer part of our setup. |
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Post by tanzanyte on Aug 4, 2022 12:19:46 GMT -8
I've had this very recently with one of my girls and she died very shortly afterwards. My girl was lying out with her legs stretched out behind her, unable to move. This is just what happens in seizures and the fact that it was both legs is never good as it's a large enough stroke to affect both sides of the body. The chances are that if Oliver was in a very odd position and both legs were at odd angles then it was major and unlikely to be a positive outcome so please don't feel bad. I feel terrible that my girl suffered (she died on the way to the vet but it still felt too long to suffer like that) so whichever way there is always guilt and I am still coming to terms with it several weeks on.
I'm sorry that you had such an unkind response on facebook. Your husband tried to help the situation (although it sounds like Oliver had already passed away), it was for mercy and wasn't done for cruelty. People need to remember this and not be so judgemental. I'm glad you have deleted the post and come away from the group. You need kindness at this time to help you through losing a pet you cared deeply for. Be kind to yourself. It's neither yours nor your husbands fault. Animals get sick and we do the best we can at the time.
I hope the split cage goes ok, keep us posted as to how it is going with Stoopy and his new cagemate.
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