Epilepsy in gerbils.

[Katy_Bobbles]

I'm a people person not a zoology person so any help would be appreciated. Gerbils!

Last night my nephew came into my room holding his gerbil. It was just sitting there staring up at me and it's hind leg slightly twitching. Later on it started rolling around an having violent convulsions. This went on for roughly 10 to 15 minutes. We assumed it was on it's way out even though it's only a couple of months old. I did some research on the internet and it turns out about half of gerbils are born with a genetic form of epilepsy and they usually have their first fit at 2 months of age. It is still alive thankfully but looks as if he has injured himself in the process.
I found this webpage among others.
http://www.agsgerbils.org/gerbil_tales/ ... l#seizures
Click on "seizures in gerbils"

Has anyone else had experience with epileptic gerbils? Is there anything that can prevent further seizures? I know medication is out of the question! Do they have a limited lifespan because of this?