CATS MAY SUFFER STRANGE SEIZURES caused by everyday household sounds

http://pussingtonpost.com/cats-may-suffer-strange-seizures-caused-by-everyday-household-sounds/


I posted this to a thread, but given the number of threads with kitties with weird "seizures" and tremors, I thought it deserved its own thread.

In the post, is a link to the article in The Daily Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/p...ts-suffering-from-Tom-and-Jerry-syndrome.html

...Vets are investigating an apparently new phenomenon whereby pet cats are suffering seizures triggered by everyday sounds around the house.

As well as the sounds of newspapers and crisps packets, the animals have also been observed having the reaction to the clicking of a computer mouse, the tapping of a boiled egg and even the sound of a tin of cat food being opened.

The bizarre phenomenon - likened to the cartoon Tom and Jerry - has also been triggered by the popping of pills from blister packs, the dropping of metal items on tiled floors or ceramic bowls and the hammering of nails, as well as the sounds of owners slapping their foreheads or clicking their tongues.

The new research began after International Cat Care (ICC), a feline charity, began receiving reports from owners across the country reporting the strange behaviour in their pets. The charity passed on the accounts to a specialist veterinary centre, which is now investigating the issue, along with researchers from the University College London. The experts at the organisations believes the reaction is similar to reflex epilepsy in humans.

The vets, from Davies Veterinary Specialists, based near Hitchin, Herts, are now seeking more cases, so they can investigate what trends are behind the reactions, to establish if some cats are more prone and some sounds more likely to trigger the response. Appeals are being posted in the ICC’s Cat Care journal, as well as major veterinary publications.

Click to expand...

There's more to the article - such as the events do not seem to be related to the volume of the noise.

Thank you for sharing this. Most animals have what is called a seizure threshold (people included) and certain sounds, lights, patterns, and at times even movement or smells, can trigger a seizure. Certain medications can lower a creatures seizure threshold and make them more susceptible to seizures (in humans antidepressants have been shown to do this, not sure about cats and dogs though).

I always find these types of articles interesting, as I have a diagnosis of Independent Generalized Seizures, but mine are mostly complex partials (loss of awareness), simple partials (thumb twitching), and atonics (my left leg will suddenly collapse without warning, causing me to almost hit the ground) - no tonic clonics. As crazy as it may sound, my seizures seemed to coincide with certain solar and geomagnetic events. I still keep a log today, and apparently other people with seizures have noticed a correlation.

For example, if you scroll down to the 'Satellite Environment Plot' graph, whenever the blue line on the Electron Flux graph would zig-zag, I'd have a seizure.

Today's Space Weather:

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/today2.html

I'd also have seizures at the onset of geomagnetic storms. We're actually having one right now.

Space Weather Alert Archives:

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/alerts/archive.html

'Beta-gamma' sunspot today too:

Space Weather Sunspot Page:

http://spaceweather.com/

I know some people seizure in response to the sunlight flickering through the trees as they're traveling down the road, so I find it interesting that cats seem to have their own 'triggers'.

Actually, after reading some of the replies within those articles, some people are convinced this phenomenon is somehow linked to the increase if wireless signals in recent years. Gets you thinking for sure...

My 21 year + old cat started having seizures last April (2013).  The first one that I witnessed was definitely triggered by the sound of the computer mouse and/or keys clicking.  It was a Grand Mal seizure and I immediately took him to the vet.  They found nothing wrong with him except slightly elevated kidney labs...chronic renal failure consistent with his age BUT not high enough to cause a seizure.  When I told them about the sound being the trigger, they kind of looked at me funny but made no comment.

Due to his age and CRF the vet does not recommend putting him through all of the testing, as it would be more stressful and dangerous to his health.

Since that first seizure we have noticed that he is very sensitive to sounds...like aluminum foil being crumpled., the sound that a plastic water bottle makes when you grab it,  the opening of vertical blinds, tapping the wooden spoon on a pot when cooking, or even kissing his sweet head loudly.   Most of the time he will just display a twitch but if the sound continued he would go into a Grand Mal seizure.  He has had one last month and another last night, both related to the sound from someone opening the vertical blinds.

I keep trying to figure out what has changed and I realized that we now have a "wireless" surround system in the living room, a "wireless" router, "wireless' phones and cell phone.  In fact the day of his first seizure I had been setting up my laptop and notebook and  cell phone to work with my "wireless" printer.  Could the all of this "wireless" technology be somehow lowering our boys seizure threshold and making him hypersensitive to everyday sounds????   At present we have unplugged the "wireless" unit for the rear speakers of the surround sound and we will observe and see if his sensitivity is decreased.  I pray that if indeed this was the problem that the damage is not permanent.  I guess there is really no way to be sure but he is worth giving up these modern technological wonders for.

I found several articles online related to this topic. 

One by a man who has seizures and has found that the wireless technology has increased his seizures.  I wonder if this invisible force is having an effect on the rest of us too, but not as immediate or as visible as it is in people who suffer with seizures.

Another article was in a UK newspaper and spoke of "sound induced seizures" in felines...they call it Tom & Jerry Syndrome..it is an autogenic seizure - caused by sound.  It has been named Tom & Jerry Syndrome because the seizure behavior resembles a behavior from one of their cartoons.

It is more common than most people know and they are doing a study and were requesting people to bring their cats that have experienced a sound induced seizure in to be studied. I look forward to seeing the results of that study.

Anyway if anyone else has experienced this, it might be worth your while to limit and/or turn off your wireless, for your pets sake and maybe even for your own.  Good Luck.

It was interesting to read that your cat was bothered by the computer mouse, I notice with my elderly cat that he did not like "clicking" noises and would lower his head as if the sound was hurting him and sometimes he would have a seizure. The clicking of the scissors cutting up some chicken for him  clearly bothered him so I put him out of the kitchen when I was doing this.  He seemed to be more noise sensitive although he was going deaf.

He had been having seizures for the last three years of his life.  He was 19.

My old guy Kima seems to have hearing loss also...and yet certain "sounds" can give him small seizures and if they are repetitive he will have a grand mal seizure. If he is sleeping the sounds do not seem to "register" with him.  He sleeps on my pillow at night and I can feel his little jumps now..even without any sound triggering them, but these are very minor.  Its the big ones that concern me. 

I wonder if there is an association with their hearing loss????  I am going to research if anyone else has experienced this phenomenon.

Its difficult because there are some things that you cannot do quietly but we are trying hard to provide Kima with a minimally stimulating environment..Trouble is that he is such a people cat that he has to be around us unless he is napping.

I'll post any other info I find.

Thanks for the feedback...good to know I am not alone with this experience....