Hi fellows, sorry I took forever. Here's the update (btw, please lemme know if you can't load the YouTube playlist or if certain videos within the playlist can't load).
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Vet’s initial diagnosisPhysically all okay, nothing wrong. Vet proceeded to test the basics, i.e. liver and kidney; which involves drawing blood.
Seizures are common in gerbils. Gerbils are in fact, used in medical fields to study human seizures.
Side-note: in my colony, which I get from a specific breeder, this is the first time I observe early onset of continuous seizures. I’d observed some of my other gerbils whose seizures are right before their demise (this may be a different type of seizure, e.g. heart attack before death perhaps).
A lot of old gerbils develop seizure because the fat content in their food is >4%. Upon which they get too much cholesterol, blocks up their blood vessels and then get a stroke.
Side-note: Both of the acceptable food in my repertoire, i.e. VL Hamster and Gerbil complete, and Supreme Science select for Gerbil, have fat content of 6%. May need to re-visit source to get Envigo lab blocks.
Outcome from the blood test (taken from the tail)ALP (related to liver) coming up high, i.e. possibly due to muscle problem or liver problem. Though borderline, still acceptable. If the gerbil has muscle problem, this will be high also. Gerbil don’t have ALT
(BUN and CREA) are representative of the kidney. Smob’s metric here also acceptable.
(Unsure about this) Additional note by vet: gerbils have 2 kidneys. CREA may go high if >70% of the kidney is gone.
Smob is not dehydrated also.
PCV is amount of blood cells. GLU = glucose. TP = total protein. All measurements for Smob are within parameters. In fact, vet commended his high TP is good; if TP goes very low, i.e. to 38-40, the gerbil is very sick.
Cholesterol is coming up on high side, common in old gerbils.
AssessmentOverall is healthy. Nothing extraordinary observed in the ears.
Summary: vet says Smob is healthy; so a few things may have happened:
1. Trauma, e.g. got hit on the head.
2. Bacteria infection. Some infection affects the brain. Can take antibiotics.
3. Stress-induced seizures. Some gerbils when they get frightened they will start to get seizures (but they recover). If Smob’s current situation didn’t originate from this (continue from tremoring developed since young), then it’s possibly the reason below (emerging gene).
4. Genetic condition and/or due to inbreeding. Some gerbils when they’re young once in a while they will tremor. The tremors get worse as they age. As they get older, this gene emerges whereby both sides of the brain stem that controls the cochlea (ear area), starts to become spongy (spongiform alesion (probably typo)), i.e. sponge-like lesions which further becomes bigger and bigger holes (& the seizure becomes worse). As this scenario is internal, this can be confirmed only via MRI, which requires sedation. Imagine the brain stem starts to form bigger and bigger “air bubbles/vacuum” as the gerbil ages, and the gerbil instead of experiencing tremors, start to lose control. The spongiform lesion may push on the brain and cause the gerbil to cannot walk/be wobbly forever. The gerbil may stop eating due to this “constant haze” in the brain. Vet commented that gerbils who are like that since young typically dun survive long.
5. Cancer. Can’t do much, i.e. don’t even know what drug to give.
If it’s not the Scenario #2 (cos both vet and me ruled out Scenario #1), the seizures will get more frequent and worse until they pass on. At the very least, it is very exhausting for the gerbil. The vet says strokes are one of the onset for seizures.
Note: seizure is not equal to stroke. But frequent seizure may lead to strokes and may cause permanent immobility/paralyzed.
Final diagnosis/conclusionOption 1: take antibiotics
Option 2: (emergency) do Diazepam (suppository / oral). Worse come to worst, administer this daily so the brain is “dull-ed”. I asked for Diazepam on standby but informed the vet I will not administer this unless absolutely necessary.
Vet emphasized: Option 2 is not reversing anything; it’s handling the symptoms only.
Prescription0.1ML of enroflavin daily for 10-14 day. If situation gets way worse: not more than a total of 0.3ML of DZ per day. The vial I’m given expires Jul 2023.
In the meantime, I said I can only observe the food & fluid consumption. Vet says can try to get non-slip surface for them to walk on. Ensure no dust in the habitat, in case the gerbil reach a stage where they cannot throttle their sniffing.
Vet says to use a deep water bowl if the gerbil is no longer able to drink from a hanging bottle. But fill the water bowl with marbles to avoid accidental drowning.
What I’d actually done since the vet visitRecap: the vet visit was on 19 Nov and I’d been feeding Smob on enroflavin daily since then, i.e. ~20 days.
Fortunately, apart from a very weird escalation on Day 6, I dare say Smob has recovered based on my random observation. In fact, observe his sleep and standing from 25 Nov onwards.
Actually I really should stop the enroflavin, i.e the vet says to give for 10-14 days only. You may observe update on this situation on this YouTube playlist (I dated the videos in their title):
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdjTCiBTGy8sW6SZQCoXmYWBB0myry-pmNote: on a separate note, a few days back I did notice he has a weird wound on his back, which I’d sprayed him with colloidal silver solution. I still dunno how he got this wound, on his back right below his neck, when he’s by himself. You may observe the wound on this YouTube playlist:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdjTCiBTGy8vrCEvZA2xJOjob_UvLpfLSAppendixList of qns the vet tech asks (can pay more attention to this next time on our own, i.e. like a “pre-“checklist):
Identify seizures symptoms
• Did the gerbil topple/lose balance/cannot stand properly?
• Did the symptoms, if any, ever stop since the 1st occurrence? i.e. an approximation will be, after the 1st observation, did you observe the symptoms every time you see the gerbil again?
• Appetite, energy level, alertness and responsiveness (gerbil reacts when call)?
• Motion, i.e. able to crawl in a straight path or going around in a circle/tilt to one side?
Treating seizuresIt’s challenging to inject the drug (fastest route, i.e. via bloodstream) when the gerbil is experiencing seizure. Alternative route (2nd fastest) is via suppositories (when the gerbil is having seizure they cannot ‘fight back’ if you lift their tail to administer the suppository). Another means is to feed (3rd route, i.e. slower) diazepam to dull the brain. Diazepam will also be used by the clinic if a seizing gerbil is brought, i.e. emergency. Vet reminded that typically if the animal is seizing when brought in. It’s straight away injection of 3-5mg into the muscle. Oral dosage of 0.2ML is approximately 1mg (very low dosage).
Note: vet says if administer Diazepam via oral dose/suppository the effect will be within 10mins. Typically the gerbil will lie very flat/sleep when the drug hits & the seizure should stop. But do not administer more than the maximum dosage per day (even if the gerbil show no reaction to it) otherwise the gerbil will die, i.e. literally performing euthanasia.
Another emergency-handling technique is to use anaesthesia via gas, but once the gas wears off, the seizure will return.
Note: all these are rectifying the symptoms, because the underlying cause cannot be healed. But we still try to do this because the seizures may be very intense/frightening.
Side-note: there are drugs well-known for treating seizures in dogs and cats; not much literature for gerbils. For injection (into bone), even for gerbils, we may use the same dosage as cats and dogs, i.e. 10-15mg per kg of body weight (I may have got this measurement wrong); for oral dose, the closest proxy is the dosage we have for cats and rabbits, i.e. 2-5mg per kg of body weight (much lower than injection). All these are for emergency handling. Below are the drugs:
Common drugs used (for treating emergency seizures) in dogs, cats & rabbits
Drug #1: pentobarbital, also used for euthanasia
Drug #2 (new drug): levetiracetam (Keppra). Oral dose 3X/day
Drug #3 (new drug): Gabapentin. Does not work on rodent. Have 1 case where it worked on rabbits (other vets were recommending it to be put down)
Drug #4: Potassium Bromide (KBr)
TL;DR: if it comes to this, may try to use them on gerbils (vet’s words; not mine). But once again, there’s no exact dose for rodents (this applies to Diazepam as well). Even for the (well-known) pentobarbital, the dosage range is wide, i.e. start with 2-5mg and increase by 50% until effect is achieved; up to 20-25mgs per kg of body weight.
Ideal diet for gerbil should be <4% fat.