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[Russbiker]

Hi, relatively new owner in the UK. We re-homed two females 4-5 years old from a lad who was going to university, he seems to have really looked after them and he was very sad to let them go. One of the girls has history with seizures (nose twitches really fast and then her movements go really slow, sluggish to walk for a minute or two then snaps straight out of it and back to normal) he says shes had them the whole time hes owned her. If he keeps her playtime down to 15-20 mins he said she rarely has any problems. Ive read all the info I can find on this site and others regarding seizures and it just sounds like geneticly inherited epilepsy? She seems very happy and is lovely and friendly. Im hoping if Im strict with her playtime it wont interfere with her health and she will have a long happy life

[GrayRodent]

Seizures can be caused my several things. You might consider having some blood work done to see if you can find a nutritional or diabetic cause. Some types of seizures may be treatable but not all. You may have concluded that epileptic chinchillas can live a normal lifespan.

[Russbiker]

Seizures can be caused my several things. You might consider having some blood work done to see if you can find a nutritional or diabetic cause. Some types of seizures may be treatable but not all. You may have concluded that epileptic chinchillas can live a normal lifespan.

I think Ill contact the previous owner and check with him again first to see if he actually taken her to the vet or just arrived to the conclusion based on what he had read. If shes already had blood analysis done previously I dont want to stress her out with another vet oppointment unless theres chance of a different outcome.
Im hoping for a long happy life for her, even if its not as long as the average chin. Shes done 4-5 years so far so if it was really bad surely she wouldnt have lasted this long? I dont have any experience with seizures and chins, I know they are easily stressed and it may effect them much worse than say a human or a dog which has fits. I had a dog that suffered from seizures his throughout his life, prob every 4 months or so but apart from the fits he lived a happy average lifespan. Vets were pretty useless, every time I took him theyd just say he was epileptic and tests were inconclusive. Not helpful at all just stressed him

[GrayRodent]

Seizures are somewhat uncommon with chinchillas but epilepsy is possible. It's another one of those things where a reputable breeder will remove chins with those kinds of problems from their lines if they know about it but sometimes it can be brought on by a head injury or permanent damage from being overheated. If you decide to get an exam done you might want to talk to the vet ahead of time and ask about doing a blood test for nutritional deficiencies and electrolytes and testing for diabetes. If they can't help you at least you won't be putting your chinchilla through any undue stress. If it's really bad I'd expect she would not have lived to be five years.

[chinclub]

The best site I have ever seen on seizures in this one http://cachins.org/  They do agree that some chinchillas just have untreatable, life long, seizure issues.  Although many times it can be a dietary issue.  If you haven't read their page you might want to give it a look.  They describe what each type looks like to help you know which one yours could be.

You may want to talk with a vet about it.  We had a dog that had a problem with seizures.  As long as they are short and don't repeat over and over, there isn't really an issue.  You just wait it out.  However, if the seizure is very long or if they come over and over you need to seek help.  Our vet explained to us that extended seizures cause the temperature of the animal to rise.  If they have prolonged seizures the brain will eventually fry and the animal will die.  Prolonged -  like over the course of a few hours.