Jerking Cat

goholistic · Oct 21, 2013

I think it's possible that it can be caused by an allergy, but it could also be something a little deeper in the cat's system.

How is Teddy's potassium? Apparently, low or high potassium levels can cause twitching. I've read that high blood pressure could also cause twitching, as well as other imbalances (phosphorus and calcium).

Didn't you say Teddy has early onset of hyperthyroidism? I believe that can cause twitching, too.

worriedsomuch · Oct 22, 2013

After watching the mini seizures or focal seizures on youtube, it seems many cats have them, and some owners have written that there cat was dead soon after, other owners have written that they changed the diet and the seizure behaviour went away.

First, how is your cat doing? Second, where did you read this? In the comments section? Most cats I've seen with this behavior have not died. The only one I saw that died was a black and white cat who was doing something entirely different than the jerking movements Grace does. You have to be careful what you read online. My vet has been frustrated with me because I read so much online and tell him that I think my cat has every disease under the sun and I think he's starting to think I'm a bit neurotic (which I can't deny). I also get tons of anxiety with too much research.. The only thing that's scary that I read was that this could be a sign of brain tumor, if it is indeed focal seizures. However, GoHolistic's cat has had these issues for many years so if it was indeed something like that, she would know it by now. My vet also said brain tumors are extremely rare in cats, moreso in young cats. My vet also said they look at "the horse not the zebra" meaning they try to find the most common problem rather than the more rare issue because it's more likely to be the common thing.

I just saw your video and you have a beautiful cat. I also want to add that Teddy's twitching looks very similar to Grace's. Sometimes she gets those little head jerks. I call those the minor ones and then she gets the more powerful ones accompanied with facial twitching where her face whiskers move. She also gets occasional jerking that tips her head to the side and last night what I thought to be some limb jerking.

goholistic · Oct 22, 2013

Grand mal epileptic seizures are really bad, and I would think that these ones are more likely to cause death. I can't even watch videos of cats having these kinds of seizures. It's too upsetting.

When I was doing research, the definition of a focal motor seizure seemed to fit Boo's twitching and limb trembling episodes. But who knows if its really a seizure at all. Now that I think back, he's probably had these the last 5-6 years. The feline hyperesthesia syndrome, however, is more recent (last 2-3 years).

In the case of Teddy and Boo (both 13 yo), age can be a factor, as some senior cats can develop neurological issues (just like humans).

Grace is young, though, so that throws things off.

skysimone · Oct 24, 2013

Hi all, I have replied with an update on the Boo and his seizures thread.. I believe it was a supermarket main brand of cat food that caused the issue

skysimone · Nov 2, 2013

skysimone said:
15 seconds into the video I have linked, you can see the head jolt.

Please note that ALL other behaviour of the cat is normal

Head jolt first seen Wednesday

October 16th 9.30 am. approx 4-5 times in a 5 minute period.

October 17th 10am, 3 times in 2 minute period

October 17th 10.45pm 4 times in 5 minute period (last 2 times in this video)

You see the first significant head jolt at 15 seconds, and then there is another one shortly after.

Eating, drinking, pooping, peeing normal. No change in appetite.

Eyes and senses seem normal

Jumping and Playing normal. Still jumping onto bench then fridge, and seeking attention

Alert and awake, no odd behavior. Playful as usual

Teddy did vomit up his neomercazole this morning around 10.30am and so I gave him another tablet. I do not think the vomiting is related, as he was vomiting regularly before being diagnosed in Feb, and only stopped vomiting regularly 2 months ago. Thought I'd mention anyways

Hi ladies, an update on the situation.

Friday the 18th I threw the can of Whiskas jellymeat in the trash. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday there were a couple of jerks, but nothing major. By Wednesday the 23rd the symptoms were barely noticiable...

What do I mean by barely noticable?

Instead of thinking 'WOAH my cat's head just jerked'

I was thinkin g'hmmmm. was that a jerk or just an ear twitch'.. I did see him twitch a leg a couple of times, but if I am sitting in an awkward pose for too long I'll need to twitch my leg so wasn't too worried.

The aggressive head spams seemed to have gone.

Wednesday the 30th, a week after seeing pretty much no symptoms, I went to the supermarket and bought human grade cow beef. that was diced mice sized.

I gave the cats 3 pieces to share, and that evening as Teddy was snuggled up to me, his head jerked twice. I could feel it very distinctly and see it in his sillouette.

Thursday, Friday, and again today I've seen aggressive head motions.

I took Teddy back to the vet today and had $320 full blood test and consult.

The vet said he is going to test Teddys thyroid level, as if the Neomercazole is causing his overactive thyroid to become underactive, a symptom of an underactive thyroid is seizures.

The other lady on here with the jerking cat said that her cat had had hyperthyroidism in the past, and that she had the chemo/radiation treatment, it is quite possible that her cats thyroid is now too low, causing the jerks.

The vet and I are hoping that it's just an adjustment of medication.

If Teddys thyroid is too low, causing jerks, but not low enough to cause full seizures, it would explain the behaviour and a change in dose would benefit.

I read online that partial seizures are usually always a sign of something else - ie a symptom of something, rather than a disease in themselves, so I'm hoping that in this case it's a symptom of the meds being too high.

I have to wait til Monday for the blood test results, but Teddy has just been twitching, jerking his leg, while he is sleeping.

goholistic · Nov 3, 2013

Thanks for the update. It's possible that the twitches/jerks are not related to food. Because of how random they are, it makes it much more difficult to pinpoint what is causing them. Do let us know how the text results come out.

skysimone · Nov 3, 2013

I have good news!

I also have bad news

Good news!!! and the other lady 100% needs to read this.

Low thyroid causes seizures. A thyroid that is going low but not at seizure level will cause the jerks, and the head tremors.

One of the ladies in these threads said her cat had the chemo for the hyperthyroidism. Her cats head jerks are going to be the same as mine. Caused by a thyroid that is now too low.

Because Teddy is on thyroid medication, his medication has sent his thyroid down to level 4. Normal is 9-30.

I think Teddys was about 32/33 before being medicated.

The vet said that I need to completely halve the dose of neomercazole, which means a half tablet in the morning, and a half tablet at night.

The vet said the twitching and head tremors should be gone within 7 days.

So it's great news for teddy that he doesn't have a neurological disease of any kind.

SO what is my bad news?

The bad news is Dr Peter said there are 2 kidney enzymes. One of Teddys is up by 3 points. Teddy will be 10 in January.

Dr Peter said he feels it is likely to be early kidney disease, and that he'd like me to provide a urine sample for testing / confirmation

I am praying that Teddy had a kidney infection, and NOT a kidney disease!

The vet did also say a cat dehydrated at the time of testing could show this slight spike, but he said Teddy showed no other signs of dehydration and the cell count is normal. Teddys glucose was increased, but the Dr said that cats glucose can spike if stressed.

BOBBLE HEAD PROBLEM SOLVED.

Kidney situation being tested :/

worriedsomuch · Nov 4, 2013

Hi @skysimone I'm sorry Teddy's issues have reappeared but it makes sense about the thyroid issues causing the problems. I hope that know you have a direction to go in, the issue resolves itself. Grace doesn't have thyroid issues, at least I hope not. I had also heard before that kidney problems can cause jerking as well. Grace has never had blood work done as the vet didn't think it necessary given her overall condition and her age. She hasn't had a lot of episodes this past week with jerking that I saw. However, she has a couple other things happening that I'm hoping are nothing. I hope Teddy's kidneys are okay and thanks for keeping us updated.

goholistic · Nov 4, 2013

I do hope you can get Teddy's thyroid issues under control, and that it helps with the twitching.

Sounds like you are getting to the bottom of this.

I'm sorry to hear about his kidneys.

If it's early enough, there are things you can do to help slow the progression. The FelineCRF website (www.felinecrf.org) is loaded with information.

fiona7 · Nov 14, 2013

I have a thirteen year old Bombay neutered male who has recently started to jerk his head. He is very healthy and doesn't show any signs of distress. His twitching does not seem to be triggered by stress or anything else. I noticed him doing it a few months back and then it stopped. It just started again recently and, guess what... I had just given him a spot-on treatment for fleas. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that there is a connection. His small twitches look neurological to me and chemical pesticides can cause neurological damage! I am not a vet but I would urge any pet owner who is noticing similar symptoms in their animals to find out all they can about the anti-flea/tic treatments they are applying.

abbs · Jan 24, 2015

skysimone said:
I have good news!

I also have bad news

Good news!!! and the other lady 100% needs to read this.
Low thyroid causes seizures. A thyroid that is going low but not at seizure level will cause the jerks, and the head tremors.
One of the ladies in these threads said her cat had the chemo for the hyperthyroidism. Her cats head jerks are going to be the same as mine. Caused by a thyroid that is now too low.

Because Teddy is on thyroid medication, his medication has sent his thyroid down to level 4. Normal is 9-30.
I think Teddys was about 32/33 before being medicated.

The vet said that I need to completely halve the dose of neomercazole, which means a half tablet in the morning, and a half tablet at night.
The vet said the twitching and head tremors should be gone within 7 days.

So it's great news for teddy that he doesn't have a neurological disease of any kind.

SO what is my bad news?
The bad news is Dr Peter said there are 2 kidney enzymes. One of Teddys is up by 3 points. Teddy will be 10 in January.
Dr Peter said he feels it is likely to be early kidney disease, and that he'd like me to provide a urine sample for testing / confirmation

I am praying that Teddy had a kidney infection, and NOT a kidney disease!
The vet did also say a cat dehydrated at the time of testing could show this slight spike, but he said Teddy showed no other signs of dehydration and the cell count is normal. Teddys glucose was increased, but the Dr said that cats glucose can spike if stressed.

BOBBLE HEAD PROBLEM SOLVED.
Kidney situation being tested :/

abbs · Jan 24, 2015

How is Teddy now SkySimone... Is he still having jerks, or has it improved, or was kidney disease diagnosed? I've noticed recently that my 18 year 'little old lady' has been having too, these "hiccup" jerks you have described, and sadly she has recently been diagnosed with CRF and has been put on Semintra medication to lower urine protein, and is now on a royal canin restricted protein, wet renal diet. I'd be grateful for an uodate on Teddy and if you may have any further advice for me? Thanks =^..^=

siold · Jan 24, 2015

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oNotOptimizeForBrowser/> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]My first thought is epilepsy.

Seizures can occur in many different forms.

Try to take a video of your cat having one of these episodes and show it to your vet.

I hope for the best.

Stress wouldn’t stop seizures, but can actually cause them.

Well, I don’t know this is a seizure.
Sometimes Bess jerks for reasons unknown.

Your cat could have allergies.

Please keep us updated.

Seizures aren’t as hard on the cat as they are on the person watching them.

Please continue to keep us updated.

I’m very sorry your cat is having medical problems.

I hope you can get his problems under control.

Barcley sometimes jerks his head.

…

I would love an update!

Jerking Cat

goholistic

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worriedsomuch

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goholistic

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skysimone

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skysimone

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goholistic

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skysimone

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worriedsomuch

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goholistic

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fiona7

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abbs

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abbs

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siold

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