Cat Seizure

Hello, I'm new to the forum.

We have 4 female cats, 2 that are 3 or 4 (Cally and Midnight), one kitten that's about 5-6 months (Cookey) and one who just turned 15 today (my wife has had her longer than she's had me. ).

Well today, the 15 year old, Pleiades, had what I can only describe as a seizure. She has never had anything like this before, that we are aware of. We heard what sounded like two of the cats fighting/playing but she was alone. She was spinning around and her body seemed to be twisting. This lasted for a few seconds (seemed like forever, but was probably 15 seconds at most). After she was moaning and a little dazed maybe, but didn't loose consciousness. In a minute or two she seemed fine.

She's an indoor cat, never has gone outside farther than a few feet from the door in her 15 years. No recent change in diet or environment, except for the new kitten a few months ago. About 10 years ago we thought we would loose her as she stopped eating for a few days, but she pulled through and hasn't had any health issues since.

Of course, the next step would be to get her to a vet, but our schedule means that won't likely happen until tomorrow at the earliest, more likely Monday. Of course, if something else happens we'll have to figure out how to get her in somewhere sooner.

In the mean time, anyone have any thoughts on what it might be, what we should do for her or watch for? Not exactly sure what I'm looking to hear, but I figured it can't hurt to ask.

Welcome to TheCatSite.

Yes, you are right the first thing you need to do is get her to a vet. He/she can then advise you if medications may be needed.

I know something like what happened to you can be frightening, but you need to be careful also, that your baby doesn't scratch or gouge you inadvertantly.

You may want to have a blanket nearby, to just cover her if needed, but please, don't leave her alone.

Please let us know how your baby makes out???

The same thing happened with my 20 y/o Lucy; a healthy indoor cat her whole life, then one night she had a seizure. I know how scary this can be.

You may want to have a blanket nearby, to just cover her if needed, but please, don't leave her alone.

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I began to keep a towel near Lucy's favorite chair to wrap her in ( on one occassion she literally flopped 12 feet across the room before I could get to her). Our vet really didn't want to do a lot of testing on Lucy because of her age; his best guess as to the cause was either a brain tumor/lesion or a kidney problem. Since your kitty is only 15, your vet will more than likely want to find the cause of the seizure. In some cases tho, from what I've read, the vet may just tell you to keep an eye on your kitty.

I wouldn't worry about not getting her to the vet until next week unless she starts seizing more. Lucy literally had 1 seizure a month for 14 months. A couple of days before we lost her they began to come hourly. Hopefully, Pleiades will be ok until you can have the vet check her. Sending loads of (((healing vibes))) to your precious girl.

Welcome to the forum! I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with the waiting aspect. If she continues having them, it's better to be safe than sorry. In late August, my 2 1/2 year old kitty Morgan started having seizures. They were related to brain lesions possibly caused by toxoplasmosis, according to the vet. She passed away 2 days after the seizures started of acute pneumonia, also from the toxo, from what we could figure from the necropsy results. I'm not trying to scare you so much as let you know it could be something that needs medical attention. I would definitely try to rearrange your schedule and at least call your vet for advice. Watch for any breathing difficulty and gait changes.

I had a cat that had a seizure for the first time around the age of 15. Although the vet said that it can sometimes be a bad sign the cat was fine afterwards and did not have another seizure for a couple of years. He might have had 3 or 4 seizures altogether over the next 4 years but ultimately he died at the age of 19 from a combination of heart disease and kidney problems. You should definitely discuss it with your vet though.

Hello and welcome!
I am sorry to hear about your poor kitty, seizures are not only scary to witness but sad as well. Squeeker is only 8 months old but has been having seizures since he was 2 months old. I have him on 2 different types of medications and although he has suffered some brain damage from them, and he is uncoordinated when he tries to run and play , he is still a happy little kitty. I would suggest getting your kitty to the vet ASAP, if uncontrolled the seizures can get worse and eventually they end up with severe brain damage. I am certainly not trying to scare you just trying to help you understand the process and the effects that can happen if left untreated or treated too late. I am sure that you are doing everything you can for your poor kitty, just be careful when she does start to seizure that you do not get injured in the process, seizures can vary anywhere from a small facial/body twitch to what you described as a grand mal seizure, with the screaming and the violent thrashing about. As a vet tech of 7 years I have seen many pets with seizures who do just fine, so please don't get discouraged yet, you just need to figure out the main cause of them. I am keeping you in my thoughts and will hope to hear an update on your poor kitty soon!

Coming back from work today, we had a little scare. We couldn't find Pleiades anywhere. Thankfully she came out from wherever she was hiding and she seems to be fine. We don't have a regular vet, so we'll need to find one and get her checked out, but so far it seems to be an isolated incident.

Thanks everyone.

I am glad to hear it was just one, but please be careful they can show up at any time, so I would try and find a vet as soon as you can and get Pilades checked out. It could be she is having them while you are at work to please keep that in mind. Seizures are not a thing to be messed with. I will continue to keep you in my thoughts and pray for no more seizures.

Lordly, I hope you well with the your baby.

We have one male cat that at the age of 16months starting having seizures. He had one grandma seizure and several smaller ones with a week. Our vet was so good to us(my hubby took him and was scared the vet would yell at hime{our vet cares very much about his patients}). We have always known that Dakota was "differnet". He was always clumsy for a cat, never walked like a cat(feet have never printed within it's front feet print) and just as lovie as any sweet child can be. He still have very tiny ones but is off all meds for now. He is very sweet and loving.......and still brings in the bird or small creature to be find in my bathtub....<sigh>

Fluffee

Yeah, I understand that they could be happening while we are gone. I'm not sure how to tell. She appears normal now. We will be asking our friends with pets for vet recomendations.

Hi! My cat is about 16 months old and have seizures since Nov 2005. She is on medication but she just had 3 more seizures in the last 4 days. So I am taking her to the vet again tomorrow. The first couple of times is on her side but then after being on medication, every time she has one, she hopes up and down, rolls over. The other day, her fit started on one end of the sofa to another, then to the floor, then all over the floor and also urinated. I try to keep her from hitting any hard objects and tried holding her in a blanket. But the convulsion is so immense it is difficult. The vets here in Hong Kong, I feel they don't know too much about it so I am having trouble locating any good vets in Hong Kong. Just today, after her fit, she had problems with one of her eye. It was swollen and watery and she just won't open it for a few hours. If anyone has any suggestions (even herbal medicines), please help.

I am sorry to hear that your kitty is having trouble again. I wish I could tell yo I had an answer for you that the vet in Hong Kong does not, but unfortunatly seizures are a hard thing to treat. I am taking Squeeker in on the 17th for another neurological exam and see if he is getting worse, we just moved into our new house and he is experiencing stairs for the first time, well let's just say it is not going too goos, he falls down them and bounces up them, only to fall a few steps back each time. I will certanly ask for you what else might be available for you to try if you let me know what you are already doing for your kitty. Let me know. In the meantime, take care and I hope her/his?? eye gets better.

Thanks so much! She is still having seizures, the SPCA just called today and said that there is not much they can do. Since she is still young, if she keeps eating her phenobarbitone, she will have problems with her liver later on. I am giving her some natural medicine alone with the pheno which is suppose to relax and calm her. I am going to try another natural med when I get it this or next month. It is suppose to directly help with seizure problem cats.

My cat had a seizure just like you described when she was 16. It is the only seizure I saw her have. I found a broken up pine cone that had metal based coating on it that made it burn a bright color when burned. I thought she might haven eaten part of the metal to cause this reaction in her. When she was 20 she started to have some sort of nueroligical episodes where she was circling and because of the time between the two I don't think they were related.
Hopefully that will be the only episode your kitty has.