Possible Feline Hyperesthesia

Two days ago, my 2 year old kitty (Winnie), began behaving strangely. I came home from work and my boyfriend said that Winnie was acting crazy and running around like she was seeing things. She's a very active and playful cat so I thought nothing of it until I witnessed the behavior myself. 

It starts with the skin on her back, just above her tail, twitching and rippling. Then she'll run around as if something is chasing her. She'll stop and frantically lick the area and then she'll take off running again. It's as if something is chasing her and biting her.

I checked the fur and skin there and there are no signs of a rash or bite marks. Everything looks normal. 

Yesterday I noticed that it's not only her back that's twitching anymore. Now her tail and ears twitch and sometimes her paws will "jump" or twitch for no reason.

It's really strange. She's always been a very healthy and happy kitty and this just started happening out of no where!

After doing some research, I'm almost positive that this is Feline Hyperesthesia.

I believe Winnie is part Siamese, but I'm not sure because she was given to me by a neighbor.

Also - the last week has been very stressful for her. Because of an emergency situation, I've had to move in to my boyfriend's tiny one bedroom apartment. I brushed her and gave her a bath before transporting her over here so she was probably at a peak level of stress when she arrived. There are boxes everywhere and it's not the ideal environment for a cat. This will be temporary and we'll be moving again in two months to a nice house.

Please help. This is breaking my heart. She seems miserable and she can't seem to get any peace. She just seems down and cranky all of the time now. Not her normal playful self at all. I can't afford to visit the vet right now, and it seems like there wouldn't be much that they could do anyway.

Does anyone have any suggestions for helping her relax and calm down?

Will this get worse? Or can Feline Hyperesthesia go away on it's own?

I know it's not what you want to hear but you really need to get Winnie to a vet as soon as you can. It's easy to try and self diagnose but you want to be weary of doing that. Winnie's symptoms could be a sign of something as serious as Feline Hyperesthesia, but it could also be her way of responding to the stress of the move. Dealing with stress can be as easy as getting a Feliway calming diffuser but you don't want to risk overlooking something potentially more serious. 

I totally understand that funds are tight and a vet visit isn't really in the budget right now but with a little ingenuity I'm sure you can find a way. There are some really good suggestions here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/155462/cant-afford-a-vet-please-read . It may also be worthwhile asking a friend or family member for a small loan, or calling around to local low cost clinics. 

Anytime there is a significant change in your cats behavior you want to err on the side of caution. Hopefully it's nothing serious but only a vet can confirm that. 

Sending vibes that you can get Winnie in soon and that everything is okay! 

Hello and Welcome! Here is an article on Feline Hyperesthesia and I hope it sheds some light for you. http://www.thecatsite.com/a/feline-hyperesthesia

I would also recommend a vet check if you are not seeing her calm down very soon. Stress can cause multiple behavior issues but not necessarily this type of behavior. If you have any empty boxes from your move then I would set them up for her to play in. I recently moved and my cats just love hiding and playing in the boxes. Let us know how things are going. :cross:

Okay - I think I'm definitely going to bring her to the Vet, but I'll need a few days to find some money. I'm a full-time student with very little income. I really do take great care of both of my kitties though. They're both spayed and have all of their shots and I'm always on top of their well-being. It just so happens that this is an extremely rough time for me financially.

I was wondering if there's anything specific I should request from the vet? I've continued doing research on Feline Hyperesthesia and I've watched videos on YouTube of the symptoms and it is absolutely what's going on with her. She is exhibiting ALL of the symptoms of this disorder - nothing more, nothing less. 

It seems that there's a debate out there on whether this disease actually exists and I've read horror stories of Vets diagnosing it as something else. I've read stories of cats being over medicated and I even read one where a vet amputated a cat's tail! I like my vet a lot, and I trust him, but I've never gone to him with something so obscure and debated. 

Any advice on what I should do to prepare for her visit?

There isn't a lot of space in our new apartment, but I'm doing the best I can to make it comfortable for her. I've read that playing with your kitty can help with the effects of the disease, but there really isn't any room to play. I've pulled out one of her favorite toys (a big plastic circular tube with a ball inside) and she actually began to play with it, but seconds later she had another episode and started running around, terrified, as if something was chasing her and biting her rump.

I also stopped feeding her Fancy Feast. I usually feed my cats natural food, but stopped about 2 months ago because of money problems. I just went back to grain-free, organic canned food. No change in her behavior though.

She just seems miserable. Not a playful happy kitty at all. She's normally the sweetest, funniest cat. I have friends who don't really like cats, but they love Winnie because she has they greatest personality. She's normally like a puppy. Just a sweet, cuddly, talkative little lover. Now all she seems to do is lie still with her eyes open. It seems as though as soon as she moves or becomes active that these episodes start happening again.

Sorry to rant. I'm just really worried and nervous with everything that's going on. Please let me know if you have any advice for when I bring her to the vet. She will likely get in on Monday. I'm just worried about unnecessary medication and treatment and if there's a point where I should put my foot down and stand my ground with my vet. He's a great guy and he's been extremely kind and compassionate in the past. He does however, often try to sell me things I don't really need (like kitty toothpaste and toothbrushes and unnecessary vaccines for indoor cats).

Also - FYI - She hasn't seen the vet in over a year, so it's not a reaction to a vaccine. She was eating Fancy Feast and Iams canned food for 2+ months, but I just switched her back to the natural stuff. She's now eating a can of "Simply Nourish Chicken Stew, grain & gluten free" a day and a can of "Blue Freedom Grain-Free Natural Chicken Recipe" a day.

It's possible the diet change may help. Sometimes that is all that is needed for a cat with FHS. Fancy Feast has a lot of chemicals in it, it may be in part, along with the stress, what started the FHS issue in the first place. It will take time for the improved diet to have positive effect, but I'm glad you have her on a wet diet, and I'm glad you've upgraded her.

As for the vet, there is certainly plenty the vet cat do, give her a complete check up, see if anything else is bothering her physically, take a urine sample, do blood work, prescribe a short term of medication to help her have some relief. While diet change sometimes helps, often medication is needed.

To help reduce stress install some feliway plug in diffusers. Get some Rescue Remedy and put a little in her food, or rub it on her face, every day. Establish a routine at home, so everything happens at the same time every day. Keep everything at home calm and quiet. Don't give her any more baths. What did you wash her with?

Is there any chance she has been bitten by a flea.

Welcome to TCS. I hope your girl is feeling better soon.

Definitely no more baths for Winnie, lol. At least for a long time. 

I see no evidence of her having a flea bite. She's been an indoor cat her entire life and I've never seen a sign of fleas. I grew up in a home with a flea problem and I'm well aware of the signs. I've thoroughly checked her skin as well and I don't see anything.

I bought some "Calm Down" liquid apaisant from PetSmart and I put a teaspoon of it in her water. I'm not sure if it's done anything yet and I don't really know if it's B.S. or not, but I'll try anything at this point.

I think I'll go in and look at the plug-in diffusers today.

I also saw a thing called "ThunderShirt" which is a kind of "sweater" or harness you put on your kitty. It claims to be "the best solution" for cat anxiety and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with it?

The difficult thing for me right now is routine. I'm scheduled to graduate with my Bachelors degree in 3 weeks and I have a part-time job. I recently had an unexpected turn of events happen, which gave me 3 weeks to find a place to live, pack and move (I had been living in my old place for 3 years) and everything is very chaotic. I will do my best to set up a routine but it's difficult when sometimes I'm scheduled to work at 8AM and somedays I have class until 10PM.

FYI - I know all of this has been extremely stressful on my cats, but what I find odd, is that the last two times I've traveled out of state for the holidays, my boyfriend has brought my cats over to his place while I'm gone. That way they don't get lonely and he can keep a good eye on them. So it's not as if Winnie has never been here. She's stayed here twice, a week and a half each time. And when I returned from out of state and came here to pick her up, she was a perfectly happy go-lucky kitty.

Anyway, It's only because of all of this that I've realized that I am not the only one under an incredible amount of stress lately My kitties have always been so resilient. I never thought twice about how hard this might be on them. I felt bad and I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I never thought all of this might be affecting their health. 

I'll do my best to figure out some sort of routine until Monday when I can get her to the Vet. 

Anymore advice/encouragement/thoughts/comments/answers/etc. are much appreciated in the meantime!

Thank you so much for your responses so far! I truly appreciate all of this!

The EXACT same thing started happening to my kitty last night.   Did you go to the vet?  What has happened since?  Is Winnie still having the episodes?  I am beyond worried about my baby too!