Update on Binky with Feline Hyperthesia Syndrome

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd give you all an update on my cat Binky who suffers from FHS. She was doing so well on her Prednisolone and Gabapentin until I tried to stop both medications after weening her off. She has never been the same since. This was the biggest mistake as I've posted in the past. I had her down to a 1/4 Prednisolone pill once a day and she was still doing really well on that low dosage but when I tried to stop it, her symptoms came back within 3 days. That was back around the first week of July and since this day, she is still twitching. I started her back on 1/4 Prednisolone and 1/4 Gabapentin twice a day and she seemed to do well with that dosage for the first few weeks but then the non-stop twitching gave back and I've had to increase the dosage now to 1/2 Prednisolone and 1/4 Gabapentin twice a day for the last few days. I do notice that when she's on the Prednisolone she does not shed much at all and her fur is really soft and shiny but she has much more of an appetite and appears to look kind of bloated (water retention?). I'm not sure if the weather has a role in her twitching lately but I live in Toronto, Ontario (Canada) and we are getting into the fall like weather being September and this is allergy season. I wonder if this has a role in her twitching. I have increased her medications back to 1/2 Prednisolone and 1/2 or 1/4 (depending on how bad her symptoms are) twice a day under I get her symptoms under control and then will try to ween her back to 1/4 Pred and 1/4 Gabapentin twice a day. I'm still trying to figure out if this condition is more behavioural or a skin inflammation. Seeing that the Prednisolone helps to control her twitching (when given at the higher dose now) indicates an inflammation. I'm just trying to figure out what is triggering her to twitch now. I'd like to hear from other cat owners who are experiencing the same with their cat(s). What is working for you? I'd really appreciate some comments on what else I could try other than the meds she is currently on. Atopica is scary to me after reading up on it and I did have her on Prozac for awhile but that did not stop her twitching it just made her zonked out completely and she was not her self and slept all the time. Do you think it's worth asking the vet to take a skin scrapping and seeing if they find something? She has to get her blood work done every 6 months now because of the meds she's on and I have to take her in again at the end of October. What else would anyone suggest that I ask the Vet to do? What kind of tests? I don't want to waste money on allergy testing as it would most likely result in the Vet just prescribing the same meds she is on now. The Vet actually told me that I would be wasting my money getting her allergy tested. Any other ideas? Thank you so much. This has been very hard on me lately because I hate seeing my poor girl so miserable

I'm sorry Binky is still having FHS symptoms.
Ritz' symptoms seem to be related to vaccinations, although I haven't totally ruled out dry heat/static as a contributing factor. She gets (got....) vaccinated in January, so the heat is on a lot. I wonder if a humidifier would make a difference?
What food are you feeding her? I fed prey model raw, but she was on PMR before her symptoms became severe. As you probably know there are a lot of theories as to what causes FHS, one of which is sensitivity to additives in canned/dry food. There are single source commercial raw products if you're interested in exploring that avenue.
Stress has also been implicated--and Ritz is a Type A+ personality, little things startle her (drop a lemon peel in the trash can and she startles). I'm using Feliway and L-theanine--worth a shot if you haven't tried these already. I've read Composure treats work well in some cats.
Ritz was on Prozac for about three months and, like you, didn't like the side effects it had on Ritz. I don't know that it helped all that much--by the time I decided to wean her off of Prozac, it was about four months post-vaccinations, and it was warmer, i.e., less heat.
Finally, have you considered taking Blinky to a holistic vet--Chinese medicine might offer a different approach to the problem. Or, a vet who specializes in felines.
I hope this helps somewhat. Good luck. And thanks for the update.

I'm also sorry that Binky is still struggling with this.

Boo has (now had) FHS. He's a senior cat with quite a few issues, and FHS was one of them. Our traditional vet put him on prednisolone for a couple weeks and it made no difference, so we discontinued. To address possible nerve pain, Boo was then put on Gabapentin. FHS symptoms lessened a little, but never really went away on Gabapentin alone, but we do think it helps with his other issues - arthritis, nerve pain from his IVDD - so we continue that.

After a phone consultation with a Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TVCM) vet, Boo was started on several things in an effort to address multiple issues - an oral B-complex, B12 injections, omega-3s, probiotics, digestive enzymes, and a Chinese herbal formula. I also eliminated dry food from his diet and some suspected allergens from his wet food (kind of like a quasi trial diet). He's also on l-lysine for feline herpes, but he's been on this a long time, well before FHS started. Feliway is plugged in, but sometimes we go several weeks without it until I have a chance to get a refill. I don't think it has a significant impact on Boo, but it helps calm Caesar.

After a month or so of this (I can't really recall exactly), his FHS just...disappeared.  I have no idea what helped or if it is a combination of things since everything was kind of started all at once. I don't normally do things this way. With Sebastian, everything gets introduced slowly.

I second the recommendation to try out a holistic vet if you can, especially one certified in Chinese medicine. They do go about things a different way, talking about the ying and the yang within the whole body and that the balance and energy is off, which is manifesting as FHS in Binky.

Hi Ritz and GoHolitstic – Grab a comfy chair this is kind of long lol

Thank you for the great replies. A few things I wanted to mention….Binky has been fed many different types of holistic and high quality types of canned cat food and does not like any of them. The only one she likes is a brand called Almo Nature and to be honest, her favourite is the Tuna or Tuna & Shrimp. She will eat (tolerate) the chicken which I give her every morning but she gets Tuna every night. She also gets a little Orijen as her dry food. On occasion, she also eats a freeze dried food (mixed with water) from New Zealand which is really good quality but they don’t always carry it at the pet store near where I live. I have tried the tough love in terms of feeding her more protein based (not tuna) type cat food (I’ve tried them all and have paid a fortune for them) but she just leaves it all in her dish and will not eat it. I am going to try once again later today when I go out to buy her only meat/chicken type cat food (human grade) and maybe mix just a little tuna in with it. I do like the Almo Nature because it has good ingredients and no fillers. Also, it has a lot of water content which Binky loves to slurp up as soon as I put the food down to feed her.

As far as noise and stress, Binky has always been a very curious cat and actually loves to explore all the noise from garbage trucks, highway noise, planes flying through the sky as she is always on the balcony and I live in an area where it’s always quite noisy and she seems to like to explore the sounds – does not scare her at all. One thing I do wonder is, I read somewhere that cat’s that like to shred things such as cardboard boxes, paper towel, and paper are more likely to have behavioural issues. My cat loves to shred, chew and spit out paper towel and cardboard and always did from when she was a kitten.

One important thing to mention here is, before Binky was spayed at 41/2 - 5 months old (not sure her exact age as she was given to me from someone who could not care for her), she was a normal, happy, playful kitten with no issues. When I went to pick her up from the vet after the spay, they warned me to be careful as she had become very aggressive and may try to attack me which I thought was insane. Binky was never the same after her spay. As soon as she recovered, I noticed right away there was something wrong. Her behaviour had completely changed. She would try to attack my hand whenever it came anywhere near her and she did not want to be touched/handled at all (she had no problem before the spay with this). She also over-reacted to everything and got over excited to the point where she would start making this weird growling sound and lung at you if she was sitting ontop her scratching post which has 2 levels where she can sit or lay on.

Then to make matters worse, I was cleaning my apartment every weekend with chemicals and using nice smelling laundry soap to clean the bed linens and blankets that she slept on. I also bought a few large carpets for my apartment and covered my balcony with carpet all containing chemicals which Binky laid on every day. Then she would groom herself. All the times I dyed my hair and she was breathing in all the chemicals also added to this toxic mix (even though I had all the windows open. I’m sure she was breathing in and lots of chemicals over the 4 ½ years I’ve had her which caused havoc with her immune system over time. I really truly in my heart of heats believe this is what caused her FHS. Of course I have stopped using things that have chemicals in them but the damage is already done and seems it’s irreversible. In terms of heat and dry air in my apartment, I also wonder if this is a trigger because when the winter comes and my building puts on the heat in the apartment which the tenants can’t control, it get very hot and I have to keep my humidifier on all day and night. In the summer, she seemed better and did not twitch as much if at all from June to mid August (keeping in mind she was still on a low dose on Prednisolone). Now from the end of August, her symptoms have been really bad. Her twitching is being controlled with the higher doses of her 2 meds but even on them, she is still twitching but it’s not as severe or as constant.

I wish there was some kind of treatment where they could flush her system out with something. I have thought about Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine vet but Binky will not let anyone touch her especially now since she does not feel good because of all the twitching. I don’t think it would hurt for me to inquire about Chinese Meds as maybe this would make a difference. I’m just not sure how this would work Binky already on her regular meds from the traditional vet. Do they contact her current vet and discuss what need to be changed in her care/meds? When I take her in every 6 months for her blood work, she has to be sedated and then they have to reverse the sedation which is so hard on my poor girl. They keep her at the vet clinic all day for this.

The only thing her last blood results showed was higher than normal electrolytes however, the vet did not seem concerned as he did not mention it I just happened to notice it myself. I’ll be honest in saying (with tears in my eyes), that this has been so hard on me seeing my poor girl so irritated and miserable that I have on occasion wondered if she does not even want to keep living this way and I am not someone who would give up on my baby but damn it’s so hard to watch her when the symptoms are so bad. She can’t get comfortable, she runs and jumps on my bed or quickly lays down jerking her hind legs as though she is trying to shake out whatever is making her twitch. Sometimes when I look into her eyes she has this look like she’s miserable but then after she gets her meds and they kick in, she wants to play and seems better. Her eyes look a bit bloodshot (red) behind her iris/pupils something I never noticed before. I’ll have to ask the vet about this when I take her in for her next blood panel and exam at the end of October.

I love my cat so much and would never actually give up on her unless of course she was really suffering physically. But how do we know? She eats well, she plays with her toys, loves to sit on the balcony and chase all the bugs/flies that come on the balcony or that get into the apartment – she will literally run around chasing any flies or spiders that happen to get in this is what she loves to do.

One question I’d like to ask, do any of you have regular blood work done on your cats? Is there any elevation in anything? Do you think it’s worth asking the vet to either do a skin scrapping or possibly even a biopsy in the muscle tissue to check for anything? Once again, I doubt this would make a difference for anything as she would still most likely need the same meds currently being administered but I wonder if they would be able to determine anything that I’m not aware of.

Thank you Ritz and GoHolistic for your comments and suggestions, it means a lot to me that we can share our stories and hopefully help others out here. I’m so happy to hear that your cat is doing so well GoHolistic.

Thanks for the update.
I do not have regular blood work done on Ritz, but her symptoms are much less severe than Ritz. (As I speak, she just chased a moth. Free entertainment.)
I think a skin scrapping would be less intrusive than biopsy.
Are / have you used a humidifier? I forget: have you tried raw feeding? Even if a tiny bit of raw is mixed with her commercial raw.
I personally believe that is you have tried the traditional medicine route, you should try non-traditional. (And, what is non traditional today may be traditional tomorrow; and, vice versa.)
I think you should seriously investigate holistic/Chinese medicine. A holistic vet will work closely with your normal vet; the holistic vet will want complete records from your regular vet, including blood work. I would take Binky in, explain to the HV that she doesn't like to be touched, perhaps as an introduction. To get Binky use to a new vet (desensitizing).
You might also try a homeopathic vet. The one I use does readings remotely. Ditto, animal communicator. (The animal communicator was more useful than the homeopathic vet, but I know other posters have had a lot of success with homeopathic medicine.)
As long as Binky is enjoying some aspects of her life, and before exploring alternative medicines, I wouldn't consider final remedies.

PS: electrolytes can vary depending on many factors, one of which is hydration.

@AdventureMe, Almo Nature is not supplemented, correct? Meaning no vitamins and minerals? If so, you have to make sure that no more than 15% of her diet is unbalanced, or else it can lead to nutritional deficiencies.

You may be able to work with a holistic vet / Chinese medicine vet long distance. They usually like to make sure you work closely with your regular vet, and may want copies of records and sometimes pictures. Your vet and the holistic vet should work together. They don't necessarily have to talk to each other, per se (at least in my experience), but each one needs to know what the other is doing. Sebastian is on prescription Western meds (prednisolone, Cerenia, etc.), prescription Chinese herbs, other natural remedies, and perhaps homeopathics soon. As @Ritz  said, you may be able to just send the holistic vet copies of the blood work results after Binky has them done at the regular vet. It wouldn't make sense to put her through all that with both vets.

My personal experience with Sebastian and his chronic pancreatitis is that I am determined and willing to explore whatever options are available to me in order for him to be well. I have now consulted with six vets (three local and four long distance) over the course of a year. My seventh will likely be one that specializes in homeopathy. Of course, this is all dependent on what is feasible within your means.

Boo, my [prior] FHS kitty, does get blood work done every six months or so. Nothing out of the ordinary just yet, but he's got a slew of "symptoms" that don't lead to any one thing. Perhaps it's just old age.    Thanks for the kind words. I certainly wouldn't say he's "doing so well'. While the FHS may have gone away, he still has issues.

Hi Ritz and GoHolistic,

For the past few days Binky seems to be doing better. I increased her dosage of the Prednisolone and Gabapentin around 2 weeks ago as we were into allergy season and after talking to a few other pet owners, this time of year is bad for animals who suffer from allergies which may have triggered Binky's bad and constant twitching. One thing I know from my experience with the Prednisolone is that you have to be patient and consistent with the pill times. I give Binky  her meds the same time every morning and evening. I also find that when her symptoms are really bad and I have to increase the dose a little, it has to build up in their system and it usually takes up to 2 weeks for my cat to feel better. This is from my experience anyways. The one year anniversary of when she first got FHS is coming up next month which makes me so sad. I did start using a humidifier a few days ago and have it running 24/7 which may also be helping somewhat.

In terms of the food I'm feeding her the Almo Nature, after readiing your post GoHolistic, I realize it does not contain any vitamins or minerals. The ingredients are only tuna and water sufficient for processing. I'm glad that I do try to give her other foods even if she only has a bite or 2. She does also get a good quality dry food. I am going to do some research on what kind of food I can prepare at home for her that is not too time consuming as I work quite a bit. I'm not comfortable with feeding her completely raw and my apartment gets very hot because the tenants are not able to control the heat in their apartments. They already have the heat turned on even though it's a warm week weather wise where I live. I will cook (poach) her food. I just need to find some good recipes and I also need to know what food, veggies, etc..cats are to eat and what not to give them. 

Ritz and GoHolistic, do you give your cat(s) digestive enzymes? If so, what brand? Also, what dosage are you giving Sebastian for the Prednisolone? Have you tried Milk Thistle to detoxify the liver? I'm not sure I feel comfortable giving Binky anything other than her traditional meds but I do worry about the Prednisolone since she will taking this for the rest of her life. I'm also interested in maybe looking into a detoxifying kit  but I need to find out more about this. I just find that if I ask my vet about anything other than pharmaceutical meds, he will most likely say to consult with a holistic vet which I'm still thinking about doing.

Thanks once again! 

I give Ritz probiotics, have for several years, largely because I fed prey model raw.
I recently changed products to one that is powder form only.
Honestly I don't know that is helps/hurts her digestive problems. She throws up about once or twice a week, depending on whether she is able to get a snack mid-day (when my sister is off work she gives her a snack) or if the commuter bus gets home late. (Ritz goes 11 to 12 hours without eating.)
I don't know how it would affect her FHS, not saying it does/doesn't, but don't understand how/if it does.