Epileptic mouse?

Question

Gem   QUESTION: Hi Natasha,

One of my mice, Gem, she keeps on having little spasms that are really really weird. I don't know what they are. She'll be sitting there doing nothing and then all of a sudden she will start running really fast and tripping over and falling then jumping and hitting the roof of the cage and then has a fit on the floor and shakes and pees everywhere. When she's jumping, it doesn't look like she's jumping, it looks more like someone's picked up a dead body and thrown it. It's really weird. And when she's lying on the floor it looks more like she's vibrating violently than shaking.

After she stops i pick her up (picked her up once while she was lying on the floor shaking and she bit me) and sit her on my hand she seems really doped up and stands really tall and when she walks she's all wobly. She's a friendly mouse and never tries to run away so i sit her on my bed and wait 'till she's walking again. But i don't know what's going on or why this could possibly be happening. Please help.

Claire

ANSWER: Dear Claire,

Unfortunately you are absolutely right, she has some sort of epilepsy. If she has developed it rather than always had it, then it may be from a brain tumor. Other than brain surgery, people can't be cured of epilepsy either. We can only hope it does not get worse.

She needs a safe cage. One level. Soft litter. Get some fleece (it is really cheap online) and give her a few pieces for her bed, with no hard house. My mice love that. They snuggle in between the layers. Even cover as many of the inside surfaces of the cage with fleece as you can without making it dark. No high toys. If she loves her wheel she should keep it, though. Mice without wheels can be miserable.

Poor little thing. I love her tiny little blaze. Her color is called blue, in case you don't know.

I do wish her the very best of luck and health. The special mice are sometimes the best pets. She will return all of your extra love.

Squeaks,

Natasha



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Okay thankyou so much!

I got her from my friend and she was over when it happened the first time and she said it had never happened before. So it's not something that she's always had. I don't really have a spare cage for her because I'm using it for my male mouse at the moment. But it's all one floor except for the food dish but she doesn't go up to get food because the other mice flick it down on the floor for her. I've never really seen her use the wheel for a while though.. But she kinda loves the cage she's in because she's got 6 other play mates and she's perfectly fine except for just random spasms. Which can range from 3 a day to 1 every 2 weeks so they're pretty randomly spaced.

Because i don't have a seperate cage, is there anything i could do to possibly make her feel more comfortable? Because i dunno what might be triggering it or if it's just random. Could a little tiff with another mouse cause it? Or is it just completely random?

Thankyou,
Claire

Answer
Dear Claire,

Oh, I didn't mean for her to be alone. That would make her sad. It sounds like she is OK. Just try to foresee how she could hurt herself and protect her. But most importantly, she should be happy.

Certainly seizures can be brought on by certain emotional or other stimuli, but if this is happening so often, it is probably just physical-- just random.

I wish her the best of luck and health.

Squeaks,

Natasha