I think Neffie is having seizures!

jugen

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Last night dh and I were in our computer room, all of a sudden Neffie comes in, sits by me and starts seizing. It only lasts about 5 seconds and if I wasn't paying attention I'd have never noticed it. She was fine a little bit after it and went on about her business. I wondered if it was a fluke since she has a heart murmur and thought that might have had something to do with that since I've never seen her do that EVER since I've had her before. But today I was playing with her on the table with our laser pointer and she started to seize again. I know a vets visit is in order, but I was wondering if anyone could shed light as to why all of a sudden she's having them? Is it stress from being the lowest cat in the house and being the target of the alphas sometimes? Or could it be her heart? I feel so bad for her. Being an epileptic myself, I understand how she feels when she's having she seizures, and then she's a little confused for a few minutes after that but fine after that. I've been watching her to make sure she's not seizing up just because and so far it's been just those two times that we know of. But, like I said, if I wasn't really paying attention, I'd have never known about the one.
Sorry this is so long, but I am really worried about her. I will be calling the vets tomorrow and hopefully they can take her right after I get off work.
I want anything and everything done to see what's going on inside my little girls neurological system. I'm so worried....Please send vibes that she's going to be ok?
 
artgecko

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I have a cat with seizures as well... I adopted him from the humane society here last february as a "healthy" 3 year old. He also has a heart condition, an enlarged heart.

My vet said that with cats, they usually don't find a cause for the seizures and that if the seizures get to severe/frequent, that they can perscribe medication. However, as I understand it, whether to go on meds or not is a BIG decision as once you start them on the meds you have to keep it up or their seizures can get worse...

What type of seizures is your cat having (severe/grand mall, or minor/petit mall)? My cat has the grand mall, complete with spasms, throwing his head around, eyes rolled back, frothing and loss of bowel control (a recent development).

From what my vet said, the most important thing you can do is keep track of what time and what date the seizure occurs, how long the actual seizure lasts, and how long the "disorientation" lasts. Also keep track of what the cat was doing beforehand, etc. as that may be a clue to what is triggering the seizure. In my cat's case, the seizures always occur after he has been sleeping...So, we theorize that it might be related to the lower heart rate during rest + his enlarged heart and maybe getting less oxygen to his brain, but this is only a theory.

After his first seizure, the vet gave us valium for him... She said that after a seizure the brain's threshold for normal electrical activity is lowered and can make them more susceptible to seizures... The valium heightens the brain's tolerance level for said electrical activity back to normal to help prevent seizures immediately following the first one. In my cat's case, because of the heart condition we had to lessen and then stop the vallium because of the side-effects.

Other than my experiences above, some folks have noted their cats having seizures due to poisoning, so you might want to check around the house and make sure that she hasn't gotten into anything.

HTH,
Art
 
mews2much

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I had a Manx that had them everyday. I still have the scars from her. She had Epilepsy. I hope your Cat will be ok. I loss manx at age 11. My Manx had the bad one. Her back legs would paddle and she pee on herself.
 
sillyitiliangrl

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I knwo how you feel my Chestnut had a severe sezire 5 days after I adopted him. He only had the one (that I know of) and it was really bad, grand mal. I came to find out he had a horrible case of round worm that was causing him to be anemic, which we are hoping was the cause of the seziure.

Hope your kitty feels better ASAP!
 
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jugen

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Originally Posted by artgecko

I have a cat with seizures as well... I adopted him from the humane society here last february as a "healthy" 3 year old. He also has a heart condition, an enlarged heart.

My vet said that with cats, they usually don't find a cause for the seizures and that if the seizures get to severe/frequent, that they can perscribe medication. However, as I understand it, whether to go on meds or not is a BIG decision as once you start them on the meds you have to keep it up or their seizures can get worse...

What type of seizures is your cat having (severe/grand mall, or minor/petit mall)? My cat has the grand mall, complete with spasms, throwing his head around, eyes rolled back, frothing and loss of bowel control (a recent development).

From what my vet said, the most important thing you can do is keep track of what time and what date the seizure occurs, how long the actual seizure lasts, and how long the "disorientation" lasts. Also keep track of what the cat was doing beforehand, etc. as that may be a clue to what is triggering the seizure. In my cat's case, the seizures always occur after he has been sleeping...So, we theorize that it might be related to the lower heart rate during rest + his enlarged heart and maybe getting less oxygen to his brain, but this is only a theory.

After his first seizure, the vet gave us valium for him... She said that after a seizure the brain's threshold for normal electrical activity is lowered and can make them more susceptible to seizures... The valium heightens the brain's tolerance level for said electrical activity back to normal to help prevent seizures immediately following the first one. In my cat's case, because of the heart condition we had to lessen and then stop the vallium because of the side-effects.

Other than my experiences above, some folks have noted their cats having seizures due to poisoning, so you might want to check around the house and make sure that she hasn't gotten into anything.

HTH,
Art
Click to expand...
Thank you all for your responses.

So far there hasn't been any "trigger" for them as far as we know. Like I said, the first one was last night when she came in the computer room, sat down and started seizing. The second one was today when we were playing with the laser light on the table and she had another one. They were not grand mal seizures thankfully, just small ones. She's fine afterwards, no seeming lasting affect on her. At least nothing noticeable.
We've had her for a year and she's never had one before now. It's really unnerving. Right now she and I are ingrossed in a game of mouse mouse, which intails her bringing me her mousie and me throwing it down the stairs for her to chase. So tomorrow I am calling the vet, and having him look at her to see if he can determine a cause of the sudden seizures.
As far as poisons go, I am SUPER careful with anything that could be potentially poisonious, basically I buy things (cleaners) that are natural and if they accidentally lick them it wont hurt them, and anything I need that might, I have locked in my laundry room in cabinets. So I don't think that she could've gotten into anything like that.
Oh yeah another thing, she's starting to overgroom her backend again. Her legs and part of her backend were pretty bald when we got her because of overgrooming and now she's doing it again. I just thought it was because of Cali being introduced back in Nov, but now I am wondering if it isn't something more.
 
glitch

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Yeah, I would definatly have her checked out by the vet! The over grooming thing is weird... But the seizures are scary!! Hopfully it is something that is easily treated!! Please let us know how the vet goes!
 
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jugen

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Thank you

Neffie has a vet appt today at 2:30, I'll let you know what they tell me. anything I should make sure they check out and look for??
 
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jugen

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Ok, I'm back.
Neffie has a small list of things wrong combined into one thing they make her have seizures the vet says.
First she has her now bad heart murmur, that the vet let me hear and it sounds really bad, then there's the kidneys that are building up toxins because they aren't getting enough blood because of the heart problem but that isn't a HUGE problem yet it's just starting to become a problem, then there's her overgrooming due to stress, and finally there's her skittishness. That's what we are starting with I guess. He gave me Ovaban to give her. A half a pill every other day for a week, then one whole one a day weekly until gone. I can't find any information on this drug. It's worrying me. What I do find says it's for dogs only. What's up with this? Should I give it to her? is it safe for her or not?
I'm concerned about giving her something for dogs only, but I can't find anything that gives me a reliable amount of information on it.
The vet says if this doesn't work, we can try something else, but for now we should get the skittishness down and that'll help with the heart stress, and in turn should help with the kidneys, which should help with the seizures.
Please help me figure out if this is ok to give her? He said it was for dogs, but it is ok for cats, but I can't find anywhere that says that.
 
artgecko

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Hopefully the drug will calm her without lowering her heart rate...that was our problem with the vallium (made him very dopey acting).

It's odd, my cat also overgrooms himself, but the vet thinks it might be a food allergy. AND he is also very skittish. The meds that the vet gave us to increase his heart rate (an allergy med also used in people) made him extremely skittish and we had to take him off of it as it was having a cumulative effect (he got jumpier every day and still have some residual skittishness due to it).

I'd call the vet back, if you can, and double check to make sure that it is safe for cats as well. You should probably be able to wait on it for at least one day if you need that long to contact him.

Maybe if you can get the kidney and heart issues under control, that will help with the seizures.

HTH, and good luck!
Art
 
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Ovaban is a very old school medication. A lot of vets dont use it anymore because it doesn't seem to help a lot. Nowadays, more vets use amitripyline, buspar, diazepam, or other similair medications.

By the way. has your vet done a thyriod test?

LOTs of vibes that your baby starts feeling better.
 
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jugen

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Originally Posted by Shorty14788

Ovaban is a very old school medication. A lot of vets dont use it anymore because it doesn't seem to help a lot. Nowadays, more vets use amitripyline, buspar, diazepam, or other similair medications.

By the way. has your vet done a thyriod test?

LOTs of vibes that your baby starts feeling better.
Click to expand...
No, How would I go about getting one done for her? Thanks for the vibes for her btw.
 
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Its a simple blood test that your vet can do. Many older cats can develop hyperthyroidism which can cause heart murmurs among other things.

My cat Jennifer has hyperthyroidism. She had not shown any noticable symptoms of the disease. It wasn't until I took her in for her yearly check up, that we discovered she had a grade 4 heart murmur. The vet recommended checking her thyroid. Sure enough, she was hyperthyroid. We started her on tapazole and at her last exam, her heart murmur had decreased to a grade 1.

It may be something to think about...
 
kittkatt

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I have no advice to offer regarding the seizures, but I would definitely double check about giving her any meds that are meant for dogs only. I almost had a near fatal catastrophe with my cats, when the (former) receptionist at my vet's office gave me the wrong flea stuff that was specifically meant for dogs. If the instructions on the label state for dogs only, there's a reason for it. I wouldn't take a chance.
Try calling another vet for a second opinion, or maybe do some research online to find out more about the drug: that's what I did when the receptionist gave me the wrong flea stuff, and thank the Lord that I did - otherwise I would have lost all my furbabies!


I hope your baby will be okay, and that it's nothing too serious!


~KK~
 
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jugen

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I gave her the meds last night and watched her like a hawk. She didn't react out of the ordinary so I think she'll be ok. It's a half a pill every other day for a week and then a pill once weekly. The total pills is 7 so we'll see how it goes, if something changes, back to the vets she goes no questions asked.
 
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