Feline Seizures???

[Mambito67]

My 10 month old persian boy, Winston, has had two unexplained "episodes" now over the past two months.

The first time, I came home from work and noticed that he was not there to greet me by the door as he always is. When I called his name, he did not come. I found him hiding behind the toilet in the bathroom and he looked like he had seen a ghost. I picked him up and he freaked out and began running like a maniac all over my house - running into walls, trying to climb up curtains, and eventually ending up hiding in the back of his litterbox. He was panting and drooling, so I immediately called my vet and brought him right in.

The vet agreed that something had definitely freaked him out - his heart rate and breathing were both elevated, however, they could not find anything wrong with him. We thought perhaps he had fallen or hurt himself and was scared from that. It took him about 2 days to get back to his normal self, and he has been fine since then. That is, until this morning.

I woke up to my alarm clock, shocked that Winston was not there crying in my ear to be fed. I got out of bed and searched for him and could not find him anywhere. I shook his treats - he did not come. I finally looked under the bed, and there he was hiding in the corner with that same terrified look on his face that I saw 2 months ago. I pulled him out and brought him in the bathroom with me while I showered and he again hid behind the toilet. He was not drooling and panting as he was the last time, however his chest was soaked, so I can only assume he was drooling at one point.

He is doing better now (it's about 6:30 p.m.), but is still not acting himself. He will not come out of my bedroom, and when I carried him out, he clung to me for dear life and his heart began to pound. As soon as I put him on the ground, he ran back to my bedroom and under my bed.

I am at a loss for what to do. I am very worried because this is NOT normal behavior for him. He is not scared of thunderstorms, dogs, other people - I honestly don't think I've ever seen him scared of anything before!

A co-worker said he could be having seizures, but I am not sure. From what I've read online, it sounds like they can be very hard (and expensive) to diagnose. My vet charges $50.00 the second I walk in the door, so I hate to bring him in just to have them tell me that they don't know again.

Does anyone have experience with feline seizures or had similar situations with their cats? I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. THANK YOU!!!

[TRICIA81]

NOT SURE WHAT TO TELL YOU BUT THAT SOUNDS SO SAD TO ME. THE POOR DOG. IT IS LIKE SOMETHING IS SCARING HIM. LIKE HE SAW A GHOST OR SOMETHING. THE ONLY THING I WOULD SAY WOULD BE TO BRING HIM INTO A DIFFERENT VET THIS TIME. MAYBE THEY WILL RUN SOME TESTS ON HIM AND SEE IF IT IS SEIZURES.DID THE OTHER VET RUN ANY TESTS ON HIM?CAUSE IF IT IS SEIZURES THEN YOU NEED TO GET HIM HELP ASAP. CALL AROUND AND SEE IF THERE ARE ANY VETS THAT DO MONTHLY PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS. CAUSE THE VET I JUST TOOK MY CAT TO GO SEE DOES ARRANGEMENTS.THAT WAY IT MAY BE EASIER THEN AN UPFRONT COST.JUST GET HIM IN RIGHT AWAY WHILE HE IS STILL A LITTLE OUT OF IT THAT WAY THEY CAN SEE FOR THEIRSELF WHAT IS GOING ON WITH HIM.

[Lucky Rescue]

I don't know and am just thinking out loud. Is there any possibility that he got a shock somewhere in the home? Cats will sometimes chew on wires, or maybe there is an exposed wire somewhere?

Get down on hands and knees and go all over whichever room he was running from and check to see if there is anything that could have hurt him.

Poor boy!

[Mambito67]

Thank you both for your thoughts and suggestions. I hate to admit it, but the ghost idea has crossed my mind. It is not something that I usually would believe (and I am still not sure that I do), but I have heard stories of animals being able to sense things that we cannot.

He did come out from under the bed tonight for about 1 minute to chase a ladybug, but then ran right back under. My vet is open for a half day on Saturdays, so I am going to call tomorrow and see if then can get him in. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again

[shannon1233A]

My daughter has a cat and lives in the upstairs of a townhouse. Her cat started exhibiting the same behaviours and daughter couldn't figure out the sudden fear and change in personality. One day she came home from work early as she was sick. She found the 2 kids from the other apartment in HER place, tormenting the cat! She immediately took them to their parents/landlord, who of course couldn't understand why she was upset..they were just playing with it. GOD, they were tormenting it! She had her locks changed. Could anyone have access to your place when you're not there and be tormenting/scaring/ hurting kitty? Just a thought, but it has happened to my daughter.

[lezzpezz]

This is a point of view from a person who has owned a cat that experienced severe seizures. I adopted a kitten with a head injury caused by being thrown from a car while tied inside a bag containing several kittens. "Beau" got the brunt of the impact and had a huge bump on his head, so the witnesses to this cruel act brought him into the vet clinic where I worked. Of course, no one claimed him, so I did

Within a short time, he began experiencing seizures. There was no mistaking one when he had one. He would literally begin freaking out, running around in circles, shrieking, digging his claws into the carpet and spinning around. He would drool profusely and lose control of his bowels and eventually, would come out of it and be totally wasted from all of the energy he had just expended. It was hard to watch, but not much I could do except try to calm him. He ended up on valium 2x per day and eventually, he went into status epileptic seizures and had to be put down. I lost count after about his 20th seizure. That was the hardest day I ever had at that job.....He was only about 3 years old, but I gave him 3 good years and that gives me some comfort.

I was told that it is rare for cats to have seizures and that they only occur if the cat has had a trauma to the head, for instance, and this was the case with Beau. There are other causes, but head trauma was the one that mattered in my case. University of Guelph Veterinary Department wanted to study his brain after death, but I just couldn't handle that at that time. I was pretty young and naive and just wanted poor Beau to RIP.

I think that you could have blood work etc. done to determine if your cat is epileptic and why. Could you possibly go to a veterinary school if there is one in your area, and let the students under the guidance of the professors, run the tests? It would be much less expensive and would assist the students and the school in learning more about cat epilepsy. If I had considered this back then, I would have allowed the university to learn from poor Beau. At least it would have helped others, and perhaps even Beau :sad:

By your description of the cats' behaviour, I would say that there is a good possibility that your cat may be an epileptic. Worth ruling out. Good luck

[Mambito67]

Thank you all again for your advice and thoughts. Winston has been back to normal since Sunday afternoon, but I have made an appointment with the vet to have bloodwork done. He is scheduled to go 8/13. Hopefully this will help determine what has been going on with him.

I will update as soon as I hear anything new. Take care

[Mambito67]

I brought Winston to the vet this morning, and the doctor believes that he is having seizures, as I had suspected he might be. Unfortunately, there is really no test to run or perform to diagnose this though. He said based on the symptoms we described, it sounded like a classic case of feline seizures.

The good news is that he has only had 2 in the past 3 months, which the vet said was good. They can be treated with Phenobarbitol(sp?), however my vet is recommending that we just keep our eye on him for now since he is not having them too frequently. The meds can also make them very groggy and I would hate to do that to him if it can be avoided.

I am sad, but at least I know now what is going on with him. The vet also said that these kind of seizures are usually genetic, so I must admit I am feeling a bit upset with the breeder we purchased him from. I will be sure to let them know what is going on with him, as they may want to stop breeding his parents if they are carriers.

Take care.

[chico2]

Mambito67,I am glad you got some answers and I agree,if the seizures are not too frequent,I too would not give him Phenobarbital,they have many sideffects.
I've had similar problems with my cat(10yrs old)he vomits,cries,collapses and pants,but recovers quickly.
It has happened maybe 6 times in the past 3 yrs and I still have no answers
My cats go outside with me and it only happens when he's outside...could be anything from toxic plants to neighbors insecticide.He's been fine for quiet a while now,he's otherwise a very healthy big cat.

[Karin]

The Phenobarbitol will only make him groggy while his body is adjusting to it, once regulated he should be back to normal. Please talk with your vet about this drug, the benefits far out-weigh the results of not controling the seizures.

[chico2]

Karin,I am only speaking from experience with one of my sons,who at age 2 was diagnosed an epileptic,phenobarbitol caused him a whole set of different problems,maybe cats react differently..