psychomotor or focal motor seizures

stephanie42

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piglet has recently started having what i believe to be psychomotor seizures.  when my old cat taylor 
 started showing symptoms of kidney failure, he began having psychomotor seizures.  he would snap at nothing, usually on the ground but occasionally in the air, his back and neck and ears would twitch a lot, he'd shake his head, and he'd 'clean aggressively'. that's what we'd call it; when taylor had one, i'd say he's cleaning aggressively again and one of us would go to calm him down.  i hated calling it a seizure because i didn't know it was a sign of renal issues; i thought he was hitting the catnip too hard :(

over the last couple of days, piglet has begun exhibiting signs of psychomotor seizures.  she'll be resting comfortably and then suddenly get up with a strange, vacant look in her eyes.  her back, neck, tail, and ears will twitch almost violently and she'll start jumping around, off of the couch, run around a bit, jump back up.  piglet will sometimes clean aggressively as well, like seriously cleaning a haunch or her leg or whatever is in reach.  sometimes she'll meow, and it's a very short, nervous, worried sounding meow.  they only last about 15-20 seconds for now, but i'm concerned it means her kidney function has degraded again.  i don't really have the expendable cash to have blood drawn again - we just did it three weeks ago.  and piglet's still eating and drinking and using her litter box - acting normal otherwise.

we haven't recently changed her food, litter, anything.  i can't note anything different that we or piglet has done recently that would cause the seizures.  any ideas?
 
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vball91

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I didn't know that these types of seizures were a symptom of renal disease. The behaviors seem somewhat like FHS (Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome).
 
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stephanie42

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http://zimmer-foundation.org/sch/cse.html

"Renal Encephalopathy.  Seizures may also be precipitated by kidney dysfunction.  Renal encephalopathy or uremic encephalopathy may occur in patients with kidney failure, or patients who have recently undergone kidney transplantation or dialysis.  Several mechanisms are thought to induce seizures in these patients including increased circulating hormones that act as neurotoxins, vasculitis secondary to increased circulating urea, hypercalcemia leading to mineralization of neurons, and neuronal dehydration. (5)   Patients with renal encephalopathy will show signs consistent with renal failure such as increased drinking, increased urination, weight loss, anorexia, and lethargy."

yup.  i'm trying to calm her down when it starts happening, but i'm nervous.  i'm not sure if this means piglet's getting sicker :(
 
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