Any Ideas...

"She is not biting at herself, her tail is not rapidly twitching and she is not running about crazed"

The above is a quotation from another thread..but it reminded me of what my cat, Max, used to do.
It happended mildly during his first year..starting at about 8 months old...tapering off till the next summer...then it happened with vigor about 4 times...just absolute terror in his eyes...running like something had bitten his behind and was still attached...and after about 20 minutes he calmed down. He also gave loud yowls.
In his 3 year..it happened mildly a few times...and that was it...never happened again.

I asked the Vet about it at the time....and he didn't have any suggestions. Someone mentioned the moon's fullness...but why would it start and stop and not happen every month...and why mostly in the late summer and fall?

Max was vaccinated and was an indoor cat.

Thanks for any ideas!!

There are lots of reasons. Sometimes fleas can cause that reaction--perhaps he had a flea allergy? You may want to look at the article for feline hyperesthesia as well--it may provide more insight.

Thank you....he didn't have fleas....I'll go look at your suggested site. It was just very weird....it was like he was spooked or something. He would get like that when I took him out on a leash...when a truck, motorcycle, (something loud) went by. Eventually we just didn't go outside...he was happy just to look out the window..which suited me fine, as well.

Thank you again!

cloud_shade...I just went to read about the feline hyperesthesia and holy cow, the symptoms matched exactly what Max was doing...only thing is....his episodes were just a few times..maybe 4 times the first year....and maybe 2-3 milder episodes the next year.....then it disappeared all together.....

It's interesting what the site said about the causes....he was always on Vet recommended foods...and that sometimes qualifies as low quality...I noticed the the aritfical preservatives could be too blame as well as other ingrediants found in the Hill's diet that the Vet suggested. He wasn't always on Hill's...but Iams, Nutro Max Cat....all foods that the Vet thought were good. After my own research, my cats are on Wellness food and equivalent. I told the Vet that I wouldn't let them eat Hill's due to my feelings about the (lack of) quality in the food especially for the price of it!!!

Thank you again for the suggestion.....I won't ever know what caused those episodes, but that's a fair explanation.

Cloud_shade......I went back and read other articles for the causes, symptoms and treatments for the feline hyperesthesia......what makes me so angry...is that I told the Vet in extreme detail about Max's episodes and frequency...and the Vet blew it off as perhaps changes in the moon phases.......and because I put my trust in his judgement....I put it out of my mind as something not to be concerned with. Heavens, Max could have had any one of those causes...and no bloodwork was ever done.

My Max passed away in March for no discernable reason...and it still breaks my heart. Now, to read that some bloodwork and a bit of care and concern on the part of the Vet could have ruled out any disease...or caught any disease that Max would have had. Perhaps it contributed to his early death at the age of 5 yrs and 1 month. I'll never know.

I have changed Vet's for other reasons, and I'm glad. Now, I will take the bull by the horns and expect my new Vet to listen to me and my suggestions.
We have a new kitty...who will be getting bloodwork at every annual Vet visit.....so at least there is a record/baseline to use in case anything goes wrong.

Thank you so much for leading me to those sites.

I'm sorry you dealt with a vet who was unresponsive. Unfortunately, there are many of those vets out there, and people often don't know what questions to ask or they feel intimidated into not asking any questions in the first place. They put their trust in the vet, but unfortunately not all vets deserve that trust. I am lucky in that I found a great vet. She doesn't always know the answers, but she is always willing to do research and to listen to my thoughts on research that I have done.

I think that most causes of sudden death are related undiagnosed heart disease--it's often called the silent killer since it frequently has no symptoms. That could be a possibility with your kitty--the crazed behavior could have been due to mini strokes related to a heart condition. When one of our cats died of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, he went very quickly--some cats appear to die in their sleep. Often the condition can be diagnosed through necropsy. While some peopel are creeped out by the idea of necropsy, I found it comforting to know what really happened to my cats when they died of unknown or uncertain causes.

I'm glad you've found a new vet. Yearly bloodwork my get a little expensive, but it isn't a bad idea. I have it done about every six months on my senior cat, and my boyfriend insisted on having bloodwork run on my younger cat when I adopted him. It was a good thing we did, as he had a high white blood cell count, which was eventually cured with some antibiotics (we never could find the source of infection). Without the bloodwork, I would not have known he was ill.

Thank you Cloud_shade for your words of comfort. Unfortunately I was away when Max died....so a necropsy was out of the question...but I think I would have had it done. I do believe that his passing was related to his heart..because he had no other symptoms...and was as happy and playful right up to the night before he died. Believe me, I grilled everyone who had contact with him during my absence.

I don't know if every annual check-up will get bloodwork..but certainly at least every 2nd year. Perhaps if Max had some...we would have been alerted..maybe not...but I'll live with not knowing the rest of my life.

This website is so informative..I'm so glad that I found it...I'm just sad at how I found it....but I know that Max is happy and healthy at the Rainbow Bridge and he doesn't mind if I cry a bit when I think of him... ...he's so special to me.

I'm glad that I changed Vet's...I also have a 12-yr old...and her annual check-up consisted of listening to her heart and giving her the vaccinations..and that was it!!! I was shocked. I knew it was time to change. My new Vet gave her a thorough senior check-up with blood work and even tested all her joints for mobility issues..which she has. She wants to see Phoebe every 6 months as well.

Good health to your kitties...I hope they stay healthy and happy for many years..