next up for Tim - possible FHS?

Hi everyone,

I know I am probably posting in the wrong sub-forum and this may get moved, but I thought I would start here because Tim eats mostly raw food and I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for the knowledge in this sub-forum. I am afraid Tim is exhibiting signs of FHS and I am interested in hearing from others who have dealt with FHS in their own cats. Details about Tim follow.

As many of you know, Tim has been through a lot. At one time, he was supposedly one step away from megacolon and was on cisapride. He was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which ended up being an incorrect diagnosis. He suffered from asthma, frequent vomiting and diarrhea, and urinary crystals. The poor cat was a mess. Over time, we changed his diet and resolved most everything. Once we weaned him off cisapride, we got him on raw and he's been doing very well. He still seems to have a sensitive stomach, but we are able to manage this with a strictly controlled diet.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have noticed Tim engage in some erratic behavior. At first, we thought he was finally feeling good and wanted to play. But he seems more freaked out to me. His tail twitches a lot and he licks and paws at it like he's never seen it before. Once or twice he has chewed on it hard enough to growl at himself. Then he gets up and runs like something is after him. And sometimes he hides under tables. He does this mostly in the evenings, after he's eaten. Just last week, he had one attack in the morning and he started one this morning that I was able to stop with gentle petting and talking. I was hoping to post a video of a mild attack he had last night, but do not currently have accounts with the supported formats.

I have done some reading, and some thoughts about FHS include vaccines, diet, allergies, and stress. Here are a facts about Tim:

• Vaccines: Tim has not had vaccines since summer 2013. I have not seen any evidence of fleas on him or Abby in quite some time, so I think their last flea treatment was then, too. My husband is very sensitive to fleas, so we would know if the cats had fleas.
• Diet: Tim eats 85% raw. His foods include primarily Rad Cat Turkey, Primal Pronto frozen rabbit, and Primal Pronto frozen turkey. He eats a small amount of smallbatch frozen raw rabbit, Instinct canned rabbit, Primal Pronto freeze-dried beef and salmon, Primal Pronto freeze-dried turkey, Lotus Just Juicy canned pork, and Lotus Just Juicy canned turkey. Sometimes he steals a bite of Abby's canned turkey (Nature's Variety Instinct LID or Pure Vita turkey). For treats, he eats Pure Bites freeze dried turkey and Wysong Dream Treats in rabbit.
• Allergies: I have to wonder if there may be a seasonal element. I remember Tim was a little twitchy around this time last year, and he seemed to be on the verge of overgrooming. But then it stopped. I wonder if it's a spring thing, especially since it really warmed up here recently and, after some rain a couple of months ago, there is a lot more plant growth than this time last year.
• Stress: Tim is a nervous cat by nature and does not like change. It's a long story as to why, but my husband and I have found ourselves spending a lot of money on the house recently, with a lot of workers coming in and out. We are stressed about the nonstop bleed from our savings and perhaps Tim is picking up on that. Plus all the workers in the house recently.

What I have done recently: In case it is stress, I plugged in the Feliway diffuser that we were not using. Just before all the behavior described above started, Tim became really aggressive with Abby. Not sure if it's a coincidence, but Tim has not been nearly as aggressive with Abby since I plugged in the Feliway. I also resumed regular play time a couple of days ago. I had slacked off on that due to being overloaded at work, but am now making the time.

What I plan to do in the short term: I had stopped feeding Lotus Just Juicy daily because Tim was acting slightly off when I did. It was just a small amount each day (his "bedtime snack" of one ounce or less). But then we ran into the refusal to eat the Primal freeze-dried turkey, so I got back on the Lotus. Is it a coincidence that Tim started eating this daily less than a week before I started noticing the erratic behavior? So I plan to stop this food again and see what happens.

Finally, I know we need to rule out anything medical. Abby and Tim are due for annual exams with their new vet, who practices a blend of traditional and holistic. They are due in April, but depending on how things go with Tim over the next day or so, I will likely get them in later this week or early next week.

Sorry for the length. It seems I cannot help myself when writing about Tim. I would appreciate hearing about what has worked for others with cats with FHS. Truly, because Tim has been through so much already and he's not even 6, this just breaks my heart and makes me want to cry.

Ritz has FHS. About two years ago in January 2013 her symptoms increased dramatically after she had Rabies and FCV/FPV/FPR (cold) vaccinations. I took a video and showed it to the vet, who agreed Ritz had FHS. I put her on Prozac (liquid, flavored), starting at 1 (?) ml, then reduced it to around .7, then weaned her off of Prozac entirely. It had some bad side effects (she just wasn't herself and slept a lot) and it didn't really help her symptoms all that much. The symptoms eventually declined significantly; she still has about one or two episodes a week. But she never self-multilated; like Tim, she ran up and down the hall trying to escape what ever she thought was making her skin twitch; her tail seemed to have a mind of its own so she would chase it; and she simply twitched. The vet I had at that time said it bothered humans more than it bothered the cat; I disagree.
It seems her symptoms are worse during the winter. I don't know if that is because that is when she gets her vaccinations (no more, however) or because the air is dry so there is more static in her fur, or, well, who knows! But her fur is very smooth and I've never heard/seen a static discharge. (I am foster/may be adopting a male cat who has lots of static in his fur.)
As you may know, vets are not sure what causes FHS in cats. Best guess is neurologic in nature, which is why in extreme cases anti-seizure drugs are used. A cat won't die from it, but I still wish Ritz didn't have it.
I was feeding raw even before the symptoms occurred (prey model raw). For unrelated reasons, I contacted an animal communicator, who 'felt' Ritz was sensitive to certain organs and protein. I eliminated them (like pork) but the number/degree of episodes stayed the same. Ritz does NOT like to be petted during an episode. I just reassure her, it's okay, honey, it's okay. And eventually she calms down and jumps on my lap to sleep/cuddle.
Ritz is prone to stress-induced UTIs; she had a rough beginning (abandoned when around five months old, survived a 20" snow storm).
I too use Feliway. I have used without success calming agents like Bach's Rescue Remedy and Jackson Galaxy's Stress Stopper. I have also used homeopathic remedies, also did no good. But that's just Ritz; you might consider it after consulting with your vet.
I am now working with a holistic vet; we're not sure how/if we're going to treat Ritz' FHS. I would be more aggressive in finding treatments if her symptoms were more severe. She did tell me there is now a Feliway for homes with multiple cats. I don't know if it is available on Amazon, I ordered it from my holistic vet. Will try to pick it up this weekend.
Good luck.

@AbbyNTim, how have Tim's BMs been?

Boo also had FHS symptoms. He never growled, but had the severe twitching and running around like a mad man. Boo had other issues concurrently, and we addressed three things at the same time - 1) food allergies, 2) pain (from IVDD/arthritis and possible colon spasms), and 3) further efforts towards his chronic constipation. All of which we did to address these three things have helped and his FHS is gone...still gone.

Is Tim on a B-complex supplement? If not, that is one specific thing I will mention to discuss with your holistic vet. I do think that FHS can have a lot of different causes, but I've done a lot of head scratching over the possible relationship between vitamin B deficiences and hyperesthesia.    If it doesn't help, no harm done. You can simply scratch that one off your list. 

@Ritz and @GoHolistic, thank you both for your replies!

Thank you both so much for sharing. I am writing down what you both mentioned so I can discuss when we visit the vet. Even if I do not move up the appointment, I plan to show her the video and discuss this behavior. I have continued to track things with Tim, though not nearly as obsessively as before, so I have a few things to discuss with her.

Ritz, I agree with you that it bothers the cat. Tim seems really freaked when this happens. Almost like he is looking around for something, or like he does not recognize his tail as his. The couple of times he growled at himself, it seemed like he was surprised that it was his own tail. I am hoping this is rare and he does not graduate to self-mutilation. Both my husband and I have looked over him very carefully and we do not see any signs of that. I am sorry that nothing has seemed to relieve Ritz's symptoms, but I am glad they are not more severe.

GoHolistic, Tim's BMs are pretty good. As he eats mostly raw food, we did see the expected decrease in volume and frequency. I am tracking, though not like I used to, and he's mostly every 36 hours, though on occasion he goes every morning for a few days and on occasion he will go up to 48 hours before his next one. I try to listen when he's in the box and based on the time interval between the dig and the cover-up, it sounds like all is working as it should. Sorry for all the detail, but considering all we've been through, I can't help it. Also, I promised Tim he would never have another enema and dig out. To keep that promise, I need to make sure he is holding up his end of the deal. Tim is not on any supplements besides his daily probiotic, daily PlaqueOff, and, now that we are in shed season, my blend of powders meant to mimic Vet's Best hairball remedy (we never stopped it, but I gave it only a few times a week). I have often wondered about the vitamin Bs for other reasons and may try his calming chews, which contain vitamin B-1. I am very glad that Boo's FHS is gone!

An update on Tim.

I do think Tim's possible FHS issues are stress-related. First, the week I originally posted, I started using the Feliway diffuser during Tim's "awake" hours. Right away, we noticed much less aggression towards Abby. That right there is enough to keep it on during those times. Second, I have been gradually reducing calories due to the very warm weather and eliminated the "bedtime snack" a few nights. Both cats became agitated, so I resumed the bedtime snack and am reducing calories from both breakfast and dinner instead. Third, we are doing some repair in our laundry room and that room was off-limits to the cats. That happens to be one of Tim's favorite rooms because he can sit on the dryer and look out one window, then move to the washer and look out another window. He was meowing at the door to get in on a daily basis. We cat-proofed the room as best as we could and let him have partial access when there isn't active work going on, so he is at least able to sit on the dryer and look out one window. Finally, we are all playing much more than before. With all of these changes, his morning episodes have decreased and his evening episodes seem less severe and don't seem to freak him out as much. He's still going after his tail, but not quite as roughly and he's not getting up and running away as much.

I think Tim's possible FHS issues are stress-related because last weekend we were gone all day on Saturday and set up the automatic feeders for the cats. The only way this works is to physically separate the cats, otherwise Tim eats all of Abby's food. Tim doesn't really like being separated from Abby and I forgot to leave the Feliway on for him during that time. Later that night, after we got home and all was back to normal, he went after his tail pretty roughly, rough enough that it sounded like he was getting into a fight with himself. And on Sunday, he went after his tail more than normal during the day, though not as roughly as the night before, no growling, no running. We've not had any more of those growling episodes since last Saturday, though the tail chasing is a daily thing and I have noticed flank twitching on occasion.

I definitely plan to discuss this with the vet when we go in a couple of weeks. I was able to get a couple more videos of him, so I can show her instead of rely on describing. I plan to discuss B-complex supplementation to see if that might help. I am giving him a small portion of a calming chew, which contains thiamine (B1). Even though I believe the episodes are stress-related, there may be another element and I would like to be able to give him some relief, if possible. Not to mention it bothers me to see these episodes. Otherwise, Tim is doing great and he is much improved from last year at this time.

Another update. Tim's symptoms, while not completely gone, dramatically decreased in the past couple of days. The only thing I changed was eliminating a full daily dose of Plaque Off.

After Tim's visit to the animal dentist last September (and Abby's exam and cleaning with our new vet), we decided to be more vigilant about caring for their teeth. We were attempting daily toothbrushing, and I had read favorable reviews of Plaque Off, so was giving them a tiny partial dose daily- essentially, one-half scoop shared between the two cats. As the cats were resisting the toothbrushing, I increased the Plaque Off, until a month ago, I started giving each cat a full scoop every day. The dose for animals up to 25 pounds is one-half to one scoop daily, so I was definitely at the upper limit (Tim weighs just over 14 pounds and Abby is just under 10 pounds).

Along with Tim's FHS-like symptoms, Abby was becoming more jumpy and seeming more hungry. We'd had a hyperthyroid cat before and I recognized some of those symptoms. I figured we would know for sure when we had our annual exam, which is scheduled for later this month. Then I read something on this site about Plaque Off, iodine, thyroid, and something clicked in my head. I stopped the Plaque Off effective Sunday and within a couple of days, Tim's episodes decreased and Abby is not quite as jumpy. I will continue to watch them and when all seems back to normal, I will resume the original small doses of Plaque Off. And right now, it is taking two of us to brush their teeth: my husband holds the cat, while I brush.

So while both cats are doing well, I think I will have a lot of things to chat about with the vet at our visit.

Thanks for the update. What a good detective you are!