Should I get a second opinion?

Hey, I'm new here and I'm glad I found this place. I'm excited to chat with all you kitty lovers!

In the mean time, I have a question.

I've been going to this same animal hospital for a while, but they're kind of being not so nice to me at the moment. I had a kitty who had a tumor and she had to be euthanized, but we had did everything we could for her in the mean time and we racked up a bill of 1,000 dollars. We've been putting money towards it every single pay day.

Now, I have a cat named Haze. For the last 2 or 3 years now, he's been aggressive. We have 4 cats, and he grew up with all of them. He's been attacking them to the point where he's given them abscess and they've needed surgery. Sometimes he's alright, and other times, he's very angry around them and if you try to get near him when he's got his sights on them, you're pretty much fair game. 

Last week, he did something odd. He started to cry, and then it looked like he was going to puke up a hairball or something, but nothing came up. He then fell over and got tangled up in some wires, and we didn't know what to do. We pet him to try and calm him, and he just kind of went stiff and stuck out all his paws. We thought he was dead! I called the vet right away and brought him in. They listened to him and said it seemed as though he was having difficulty breathing, and they were going to do an x-ray. When they got the x-ray back, they couldn't see anything wrong but didn't feel comfortable leaving it at that, so they sent the x-ray out to a specialist free of charge. For the moment, they figured it was a seizure. I got a call back today asking how Haze was doing, and I told the vet that he's been a bit more aggressive but hasn't done anything seizure-like at all. They told me that they found some fluid in his lungs, but that it was nothing to worry about. For the aggression, they said they could give him anti depressants or a female hormone injection.

Now, this doesn't sit right with me because a) he pretty much looked dead and b) he was having a hard time breathing and c) he now has some fluid in his lungs? They also told me that they had no idea where the fluid came from.

He's been acting fine since the seizure-like incident, and if you go near him and listen to him, it doesn't sound like he's having a hard time breathing. But the vet could hear it through the scope. And how is having fluid in your lungs not something to worry about?

What if he is sick and this is what's causing his aggression?

Have any of you been in this situation? What do you think? I feel personally that even though I'm paying them off when I can, that they don't want to do anything for him because of the bill I have left.

Should I go to another animal hospital and get a second opinion or just leave it be like this vet told me?

It does sound like a seizure, they can be pretty dramatic.  His behavior change along with the seizure does sound like something neurological.  I would be concerned about the fluid on his lungs as well.  I would be looking into getting a second opinion preferably from a cats only vet.  That doesn't guarantee that they will be very good but I think the odds are better.

I've never liked the idea of treating symptoms without trying to find the underlying cause and there is still the fluid in his lungs.  I especially don't like the idea of using female hormones that could cause all kinds of problems.  I have heard of using anti-depressants in cats but I would want some idea of any possible physical cause for the behavior change.  A behavior change that could be treated with an anti-depressant also doesn't cause a seizure.

I have a seizure disorder, not the kind that his sound like - mine are mostly complex partials and atonics (the opposite of the stiffening-up kind - muscles suddenly relax). But seizures can definitely affect behavior and intensify emotions, especially anger. I feel angry and agitated in the days preceding a seizure, and during some seizures I would clench my teeth so hard I thought I might break them. My neighbor told me I clenched my fists throughout one series of seizures he witnessed.

Also, I grew up with a dog who had epilepsy. She was definitely a 'snappy' dog.

So yea, it definitely sounds like it could be seizures you're dealing with. I'd definitely get a second opinion though if you think your outstanding bill is compromising his health. I also just saw a post on here somewhere about Feliway? - sometimes that can be used to ease tensions between cats.

If this was my cat I'd be worried too and wouldn't feel happy that the vets weren't looking in to it more, running bloods and neurological checks. It does sound like a seizure but could possibly be something else.  There are so many causes of seizures too, I can't understand why the vet wouldn't ask you about doing more tests or observation.  It is certainly not right.  If there is something neurological going on that could be affecting his behaviour but it may be he's always been aggressive.  If it has been a change over time that could be more significant.

Many years ago I lived in an  apartment where we'd taken in a stray .  He was a young thing, very cute but wild.  About 3 months in we started to find poop on the stairs in the apartment, then a few days in to that he was in the sitting room one night and started to walk round in circles, his head tilted, and his eyes moving rapidly from side to side.  Then he fell on  his side like you described and was incontinent.  We knew it was a seizure and realized he must have been having these for several days but we hadn't seen them.  We got hold of an emergency vet (who was amazing and waved ALL charges) and he did an initial examination. They kept our little boy in for over night obs'  (it was about 10pm when we took him in), did numerous blood screens, and called us up the next day with their results.  

Sadly for our boy things were not good and we were told it was a virus he probably picked up in his homeless days and it had caused neurological damage.