This is my first post here, and it'll be a lengthy one. My cat's name is Zoey, and she is 3 years old in December. She's some sort of Siamese mixed breed.. snowshoe perhaps. About a year and a half ago, she started howling in the middle of the night.. about once a month on average. It was so loud and weird that it'd wake me up from a dead sleep even if she was in the kitchen. I'd jump out of bed and comfort her. She'd then pace around the house meowing nervously for about 30 minutes. I just assumed this was some sort of nightmare or something.
As time went on, she'd occasionally spit up some white foamy looking stuff during these episodes. I brought it up to my vet, and he wasn't sure what was going on. She was put on hairball medicine briefly thinking this might be the problem. About a year ago, she started coughing. Her vet performed xrays and bloodwork. Her lungs were inflamed, and her heart was enlarged. She was put on steroids (predisone) and diagnosed with feline asthma. We changed her litter to a dust free brand. We started using fragrance free detergent, and she was fine within a week or so. She never coughed since, but she did continue her middle-of-the-night episodes. I always thought this was something to do with the asthma.
On June 12th of this year, she had another episode at about 3am. This time though things spiraled out of control. She kept spitting up and eventually fell off the bed. She started convulsing on the floor. She emptied her bladder on the floor. Her legs were rigid. When the convulsions stopped, she went totally blank for about a minute. I didn't know what was going on and honestly thought she had died. I was still half asleep and didn't realize she had just had her first full-blown seizure. I brought her into the vet the first thing in the morning. They told me how rare it was for cats to have seizures and didn't sound convinced she had one. They told me to record it on my phone if it ever happened again. At about 4pm that same day, she had another one. I filmed the entire thing and took her back to the vet right after. She was diagnosed with ileopathic epilepsy and placed on phenobarbital (1/2 pill twice daily).
Fortunately, the phenobarbital seems to fully control her seizures. She hasn't had one since. She also hasn't had any middle-of-the-night episodes. My vet and I both agree that these were mini seizures and nothing to do with the asthma. Zoey used to occasionally foam at the mouth when taken to and from the vet. She also defecated in her carrier once. We believe that these were also mini seizures. She hasn't had any of these issues since on the medication.
In late June/early July, my wife woke up to see Zoey's left eye was swollen. She didn't think much of it because my other cat often plays rough with her. The swelling went down pretty fast. A few weeks later, Zoey's eye was swollen completely shut (happened in a matter of about 10 minutes. she was fine before that). We brought her in. The vet thought she must have gotten stung by a wasp or spider or something. She was given a shot of Benadryl, and the swelling went down almost instantly. A few days later, she started sneezing frequently. This was during the weekend, so we waited to bring her in on Monday. By Monday, the sneezing had stopped, but her left eye was swollen shut again. We took her in, and she was diagnosed with feline herpes. She was given eye ointment, doxycycline antibiotic, and lysine treats (12/day when symptomatic, 6/day when in remission). Her eye was back to normal in a few days. About 6-7 days after starting this medication, she started getting red blisters in both ears. These got worse pretty fast and bled as she scratched them. They almost looked like cigarette burns in each ear. She was given Tresaderm drops for her ears and had to wear a cone until she was healed. The vet took her off the doxycycline and contributed the symptoms to an allergic reaction to this antibiotic. It took about a week and a half for her ears to heal.
Two Saturdays ago, her back left paw was swollen at midnight. It was warm to the touch. I pushed on it all over, and it didn't seem to be painful to her. She was licking both of her left paws a lot. By the morning, it was back to normal size.
Wednesday of that week, she had a vet appointment to check her phenobarbital levels. Her vet said it was the healthiest she looked in a while. The day after, her left eye was swollen shut again. I assumed this was due to the stress of her bloodwork and vet appointment, and it had caused her herpes to flare. I started her on the eye ointment and increased her lysine treats from 6 to 12. She was fine by Saturday.
On Sunday at 7am, her entire face was swollen. We brought her in as an emergency visit. The vet gave her another Benadryl shot, a different antibiotic (Clavamox), and an anti inflammatory. She was back to normal by Monday. On Monday morning, she threw up 3 times. I called the vet, and they wanted to see her. She was taken off the antibiotic and given an antibiotic shot instead. They wanted her to see a specialist/internist an hour away. They were worried she possibly had an autoimmune disease. They also mentioned it could possibly be a food allergy. At 6pm that night, she started getting a red blister in one of her ears that looked exactly like the first episode. I started her on the Tresaderm in both ears, and they both healed pretty quickly. Did she have an allergic reaction to both antibiotics even though they were in two entirely different classes?.. or maybe she was never allergic to the first one, and something else caused it.
Her appointment with the specialist was Wednesday. He seems to think her only problem, in addition to the epilepsy (and possibly herpes), is that she's having an allergic reaction to the phenobarbital. Her bloodwork came back normal there. He started her on Keppra (1/2 250mg pill 3 times daily) and tapered her off the phenobarbital for the next 5 days (today was her last day of phenobarbital). She seems to be itchy under her neck and on her face since starting the Keppra. I mentioned this to him, but he thinks the phenobarbital is causing the itchiness as well. Her right eye is currently swollen above the eye. It just started about an hour ago. This is different than her normal "herpes" swelling and on the opposite eye. He seems to still think she has herpes b/c of the sneezing before the first episode. However, he contributes the swelling of the face and paw and the sores in her ear to the phenobarbital. I'm pretty skeptical and worried that she has something more serious or at least something to do with a weakened immune system. It seems very strange that she'd have asthma, herpes, and epilepsy without them being related in some way.
Has anyone here had anything similar happen to their cat? I've googled quite a bit, but I haven't found anything linking everything she's going through. I have pictures of everything she's been through if that'll help any. I appreciate you taking the time to read this and look forward to any replies/advice you might have.
Thanks,
Jeremy
As time went on, she'd occasionally spit up some white foamy looking stuff during these episodes. I brought it up to my vet, and he wasn't sure what was going on. She was put on hairball medicine briefly thinking this might be the problem. About a year ago, she started coughing. Her vet performed xrays and bloodwork. Her lungs were inflamed, and her heart was enlarged. She was put on steroids (predisone) and diagnosed with feline asthma. We changed her litter to a dust free brand. We started using fragrance free detergent, and she was fine within a week or so. She never coughed since, but she did continue her middle-of-the-night episodes. I always thought this was something to do with the asthma.
On June 12th of this year, she had another episode at about 3am. This time though things spiraled out of control. She kept spitting up and eventually fell off the bed. She started convulsing on the floor. She emptied her bladder on the floor. Her legs were rigid. When the convulsions stopped, she went totally blank for about a minute. I didn't know what was going on and honestly thought she had died. I was still half asleep and didn't realize she had just had her first full-blown seizure. I brought her into the vet the first thing in the morning. They told me how rare it was for cats to have seizures and didn't sound convinced she had one. They told me to record it on my phone if it ever happened again. At about 4pm that same day, she had another one. I filmed the entire thing and took her back to the vet right after. She was diagnosed with ileopathic epilepsy and placed on phenobarbital (1/2 pill twice daily).
Fortunately, the phenobarbital seems to fully control her seizures. She hasn't had one since. She also hasn't had any middle-of-the-night episodes. My vet and I both agree that these were mini seizures and nothing to do with the asthma. Zoey used to occasionally foam at the mouth when taken to and from the vet. She also defecated in her carrier once. We believe that these were also mini seizures. She hasn't had any of these issues since on the medication.
In late June/early July, my wife woke up to see Zoey's left eye was swollen. She didn't think much of it because my other cat often plays rough with her. The swelling went down pretty fast. A few weeks later, Zoey's eye was swollen completely shut (happened in a matter of about 10 minutes. she was fine before that). We brought her in. The vet thought she must have gotten stung by a wasp or spider or something. She was given a shot of Benadryl, and the swelling went down almost instantly. A few days later, she started sneezing frequently. This was during the weekend, so we waited to bring her in on Monday. By Monday, the sneezing had stopped, but her left eye was swollen shut again. We took her in, and she was diagnosed with feline herpes. She was given eye ointment, doxycycline antibiotic, and lysine treats (12/day when symptomatic, 6/day when in remission). Her eye was back to normal in a few days. About 6-7 days after starting this medication, she started getting red blisters in both ears. These got worse pretty fast and bled as she scratched them. They almost looked like cigarette burns in each ear. She was given Tresaderm drops for her ears and had to wear a cone until she was healed. The vet took her off the doxycycline and contributed the symptoms to an allergic reaction to this antibiotic. It took about a week and a half for her ears to heal.
Two Saturdays ago, her back left paw was swollen at midnight. It was warm to the touch. I pushed on it all over, and it didn't seem to be painful to her. She was licking both of her left paws a lot. By the morning, it was back to normal size.
Wednesday of that week, she had a vet appointment to check her phenobarbital levels. Her vet said it was the healthiest she looked in a while. The day after, her left eye was swollen shut again. I assumed this was due to the stress of her bloodwork and vet appointment, and it had caused her herpes to flare. I started her on the eye ointment and increased her lysine treats from 6 to 12. She was fine by Saturday.
On Sunday at 7am, her entire face was swollen. We brought her in as an emergency visit. The vet gave her another Benadryl shot, a different antibiotic (Clavamox), and an anti inflammatory. She was back to normal by Monday. On Monday morning, she threw up 3 times. I called the vet, and they wanted to see her. She was taken off the antibiotic and given an antibiotic shot instead. They wanted her to see a specialist/internist an hour away. They were worried she possibly had an autoimmune disease. They also mentioned it could possibly be a food allergy. At 6pm that night, she started getting a red blister in one of her ears that looked exactly like the first episode. I started her on the Tresaderm in both ears, and they both healed pretty quickly. Did she have an allergic reaction to both antibiotics even though they were in two entirely different classes?.. or maybe she was never allergic to the first one, and something else caused it.
Her appointment with the specialist was Wednesday. He seems to think her only problem, in addition to the epilepsy (and possibly herpes), is that she's having an allergic reaction to the phenobarbital. Her bloodwork came back normal there. He started her on Keppra (1/2 250mg pill 3 times daily) and tapered her off the phenobarbital for the next 5 days (today was her last day of phenobarbital). She seems to be itchy under her neck and on her face since starting the Keppra. I mentioned this to him, but he thinks the phenobarbital is causing the itchiness as well. Her right eye is currently swollen above the eye. It just started about an hour ago. This is different than her normal "herpes" swelling and on the opposite eye. He seems to still think she has herpes b/c of the sneezing before the first episode. However, he contributes the swelling of the face and paw and the sores in her ear to the phenobarbital. I'm pretty skeptical and worried that she has something more serious or at least something to do with a weakened immune system. It seems very strange that she'd have asthma, herpes, and epilepsy without them being related in some way.
Has anyone here had anything similar happen to their cat? I've googled quite a bit, but I haven't found anything linking everything she's going through. I have pictures of everything she's been through if that'll help any. I appreciate you taking the time to read this and look forward to any replies/advice you might have.
Thanks,
Jeremy
