This is long and complicated - thanks in advance for those that read all the way through. I'll try to include everything...
Nelson is 3.5 years old, male neutered Sphynx. I adopted him from the SPCA in August, FIV and Felv negative, utd on vaccinations. I had him scanned for HCM in November and the result was equivocal, he needs a recheck in May. He is on a raw diet, supplemented with Alnutrin and additional taurine. On no other meds. Had CBC and chem-6 in December for eye surgery and all blood work was normal. Other than possible FHV, he has been a very healthy boy. He gets 500mg of Lysine daily and no other medication.
He had a seizure on Monday. I wasn't even sure if it was a seizure - he climbed onto the ottoman in front of me, slowly rolled over on his side and glazed over for about 30 seconds and his whole body tensed up. He seemed dazed but snapped out of the trance when I offered him treats. I figured it was an isolated incident.
Skip ahead to Thursday evening, he was coughing, gagging and having difficulty breathing. I had a dog that passed away from bloat, and it was similar to that - he seemed to be trying to vomit and nothing was coming up. When he hid from me, I knew something was terribly wrong because he does not hide, ever. So, off to ER we went. The ER vet heard slight wheezing in his lungs and x-ray showed enlarged pulmonary vessels and slightly enlarged heart. Everything else looked normal, color was good, he was alert, though still not acting like himself. He stayed overnight for observation and nebulizer treatment.
When I picked him up this morning, he was back to himself again. ER vet recommended 1 week follow up with regular vet.About 2 hours later - he had another seizure. I immediately took him to my regular vet who did another x-ray. This time his lungs are clear, so the nebulizer treatment fixed that problem, but he does have the "valentine heart", a tell-tale sign of HCM, especially when combined with the breathing problems (which we originally attributed to some scented litter I just bought in a pinch).
Vet can't find a correlation between the seizure and the lung problems. (The first seizure happened before I switched litter) Doing tons of blood work, thyroid, glucose, heartworm, liver, etc.
About an hour ago, he had a 3rd seizure while he was in the middle of eating dinner. When it was over, he went straight back to his food dish. Then he had what I would describe as a "half-seizure" like just the back half of his body was seizing while he was walking around. When that was over, he climbed up on the couch and started "making biscuits".
I'm terrified! I know I need to wait for the blood results, but if anyone has any insight... I called the vet after the 3rd seizure and now he's thinking epilepsy, but that wouldn't explain the breathing problems. Could the stress of the breathing issue be setting off these episodes? He's not a stressful cat. He purrs and headbutts everyone in the vet's office. And what of the HCM? As far as I know, seizures are not related to heart problems...or can they be?
Nelson is 3.5 years old, male neutered Sphynx. I adopted him from the SPCA in August, FIV and Felv negative, utd on vaccinations. I had him scanned for HCM in November and the result was equivocal, he needs a recheck in May. He is on a raw diet, supplemented with Alnutrin and additional taurine. On no other meds. Had CBC and chem-6 in December for eye surgery and all blood work was normal. Other than possible FHV, he has been a very healthy boy. He gets 500mg of Lysine daily and no other medication.
He had a seizure on Monday. I wasn't even sure if it was a seizure - he climbed onto the ottoman in front of me, slowly rolled over on his side and glazed over for about 30 seconds and his whole body tensed up. He seemed dazed but snapped out of the trance when I offered him treats. I figured it was an isolated incident.
Skip ahead to Thursday evening, he was coughing, gagging and having difficulty breathing. I had a dog that passed away from bloat, and it was similar to that - he seemed to be trying to vomit and nothing was coming up. When he hid from me, I knew something was terribly wrong because he does not hide, ever. So, off to ER we went. The ER vet heard slight wheezing in his lungs and x-ray showed enlarged pulmonary vessels and slightly enlarged heart. Everything else looked normal, color was good, he was alert, though still not acting like himself. He stayed overnight for observation and nebulizer treatment.
When I picked him up this morning, he was back to himself again. ER vet recommended 1 week follow up with regular vet.About 2 hours later - he had another seizure. I immediately took him to my regular vet who did another x-ray. This time his lungs are clear, so the nebulizer treatment fixed that problem, but he does have the "valentine heart", a tell-tale sign of HCM, especially when combined with the breathing problems (which we originally attributed to some scented litter I just bought in a pinch).
Vet can't find a correlation between the seizure and the lung problems. (The first seizure happened before I switched litter) Doing tons of blood work, thyroid, glucose, heartworm, liver, etc.
About an hour ago, he had a 3rd seizure while he was in the middle of eating dinner. When it was over, he went straight back to his food dish. Then he had what I would describe as a "half-seizure" like just the back half of his body was seizing while he was walking around. When that was over, he climbed up on the couch and started "making biscuits".
I'm terrified! I know I need to wait for the blood results, but if anyone has any insight... I called the vet after the 3rd seizure and now he's thinking epilepsy, but that wouldn't explain the breathing problems. Could the stress of the breathing issue be setting off these episodes? He's not a stressful cat. He purrs and headbutts everyone in the vet's office. And what of the HCM? As far as I know, seizures are not related to heart problems...or can they be?
