Crackling Noises Cause "Epileptic" Seizures

Hi there first time poster here. I wonder if anyone has seen these symptoms or knows what the cause may be.

My parents' cat a grey 20 year old female a mackerel tabby, Greyfur, is having some problems.

If you make a loud quick noise such as clinking two glasses together or grab some aluminum foil, a paper bag or any other crinkly type material she will seem to convulse with each crinkle noise.

If there are three or four sounds in a row she will flinch, a better term than convulse, with each sound.

This was happening only occasionally after she woke up but now it seems to be getting worse. At times she will almost collapse if you forget and ball up a paper bag to throw away.

She doesn't seem to be in pain at all, she can have an episode and then continue on as normal seconds later, even purr and rub up against you as if nothing happened.

She is a very relaxed cat and is taken care of an babied with the exception of never having been to a Vet. Originally she was owned by the neighbours who had a Rottweiler but she adopted my parents and the ownership was official when the previous owners gave the OK.

Anyway I don't want to ramble too much. It's sad to see her this way when it happens but as I said she seems OK. She is old but it would be sad if this was hurting her and had to be put down.

Any thought?

Have you decided that the cat needs to be euthanized when she hasn't even been taken to the vet yet to try to figure out what the problem is? ...that sort of decision seems a rather rushed.

Obviously, and especially because of her age, she needs to go to a vet. She needs a thorough check up done and a senior blood panel. From there the vet can decide more specific testing. It may be some other health problem is bothering her and the noise just makes her feel uncomfortable - hence the flinching.

No decision has been made but the cat is 20 and my parents are in their late 60's and I know what they will do.

Even though they love they cat as if it were a grandchild they are practical and old-fashioned, they would probably have the cat euthanized rather than go through a long process of medical treatment.

They can't really give pills to a cat, I probably can't either cats are amazingly strong! They probably couldn't afford to pay too much since they are on a fixed income. The cat from what I can tell has not been to the vet in years so I wonder if it will be under too much stress going in a car and being around strange animals at the clinic.

I'm not really sure what to tell them, I just thought I'd see if this was a common ailment in cats and see if there was some way to be sure she isn't in pain and if there was a simple fix or some sort of therapy that they could afford and administer themselves.

Dillon was nearly 20 and the last 18 months, he jumped like that, everytime we put a mug down on the coaster, every time someone put their hand in a crisp pkt etc. He had high blood pressure controlled with blood pressure tablets and he had kidney disease, so I assumed it was some neurological problem connected with this. We changed the coasters, didnt do the crisp pkt thing in front of him and made sure nobody made these sharp noises that upset him. He was unable to get up the stairs any more or I would have preferred it for him if he could have been somewhere quiet during the day. If your 20 year old can escape to a quieter room to sleep, that would help.

Interesting to hear, I'll let them know that at least one other cat has the symptoms.

As far as I know she doesn't seem to have an kidney problems, but then again as I said she hasn't been to the Vet. As for high blood pressure there wouldn't be any way to know unless she was tested for that too. Untreated high blood pressure would more than likely lead to kidney problems.

The house is pretty quiet both my parents are retired and they aren't noisy or at least they don't make the noise that bothers the cat.

She also doesn't like going up stairs, her litter box is in the basement and when she's downstairs and hear people near the top of the stairs she'll yowl as if to say "Take me up, you should know better!". But if nobody is there she can go up and down without much trouble.

Other than the flinching she seems fine, she loves to play with her ball, they have tissue paper she absolutely loves, she has her routines, gets lots of sleep in new exciting places. She's a very happy and wise old cat.

Thanks for the info.

Originally Posted by dhughes

I'm not really sure what to tell them

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Tell them to take her to a vet. There's no reason to assume this or that difficulty that might come out of possible diagnoses, when you have no idea how the exam will go. Just take her to the vet first and then decide what you'll do after that. It's entirely possible that there's some simple, inexpensive treatment or that this is something mild (or behavioral). If the cat acts healthy overall, chances are she probably is.

Maybe the cat has an ear infection that could be treated with simple antibiotics. You just don't know. Every pet deserves to get a doctor's visit. And I'm sure if you do a little looking you'll find a vet clinic with low fees or who is willing to receive payment in installments.

there IS a form of epilepsy in humans where sounds sets off seizures but its extremely rare. i have no idea if it affects animals

I just found this thread and since it's been a few years I'm assuming it is not alive anymore :/. My cat is older and is also having sound triggered seizures. I Googled it and found the article in the link below. It is very helpful. 

http://pets.webmd.com/cats/cat-seizures-causes-treatments

Is it anything like either of these videos?




I ask because I only recently learned that some cats react to some sounds in a peculiar way - like they are gagging, will even knock them over (most of these sounds have a crackling element). It is harmless and your description doesn't sound like a seizure.

Otherwise, agree about the vet thing - could be simple.

dhughes said:

Hi there first time poster here. I wonder if anyone has seen these symptoms or knows what the cause may be.

My parents' cat a grey 20 year old female a mackerel tabby, Greyfur, is having some problems.

If you make a loud quick noise such as clinking two glasses together or grab some aluminum foil, a paper bag or any other crinkly type material she will seem to convulse with each crinkle noise.

If there are three or four sounds in a row she will flinch, a better term than convulse, with each sound.

This was happening only occasionally after she woke up but now it seems to be getting worse. At times she will almost collapse if you forget and ball up a paper bag to throw away.

She doesn't seem to be in pain at all, she can have an episode and then continue on as normal seconds later, even purr and rub up against you as if nothing happened.

She is a very relaxed cat and is taken care of an babied with the exception of never having been to a Vet. Originally she was owned by the neighbours who had a Rottweiler but she adopted my parents and the ownership was official when the previous owners gave the OK.

Anyway I don't want to ramble too much. It's sad to see her this way when it happens but as I said she seems OK. She is old but it would be sad if this was hurting her and had to be put down.

Any thought?

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This condition is called FARS
M18 yo grey tabby has it too. Scary to watch and makes me feel guilty if I made the noise that caused it. FARS stands for Feline Audiogenic Reflex Seizures.
Sue