Seizure or stroke? (BooBoo)

BooBoo lost consciousness this morning. He had finished his breakfast (1/3 can of Friskies Buffet) and was going around finishing up the other kids' breakfast from their plates. And suddenly, just like that, he was flat on the floor. Rick was working on washing breakfast dishes; he looked down and there Boo was, curled up in a fetal position, and stiff as a board. He picked him up and started yelling for me. And a couple minutes later, Boo came to and wanted to get down out of Rick's arms. Rick put him down and he walked over and crawled under the couch (that is his comfort area; he feels safe under the couch). 

I called the vet and got a 2:00 appt. Rick came home at noon and as he opened the front door and started walking up the steps into the living room, Boo came out from under the couch and went into the kitchen for his lunch (a handful of Hills TD nuggets). He ate lunch, then scarfed what he could from the other plates (his standard routine). Walked into the living room, jumped into the bay window, gave himself a bit of a bath, and took a nap. In other words, complete normalcy.

We took him to the vet. Everything is fine, completely normal. No lumps, a bit of raspiness in his lungs (he has sinus problems). Nothing untoward. The vet doesn't want to medicate, based on one attack of whatever-it-was. We are to start documenting anything that we see. The vet gave him a steroid shot (which helps both the arthritis and the sinus problems) and we came back home.

A couple of weeks before this, Boo was lying in Rick's lap. Suddenly his head started to shake. Rick put him on the floor and he sat there with his shaking head. He tried to use a rear leg/paw to scratch his ear a couple of times. And then.....it was done and he was back to normal. Just that quickly. We checked his ears for mites or anything we could find. Nothing. He has very clean ears. Vet checked his ears this afternoon; they were fine.

We don't know how many times this has happened because we work and we're not home with the cats all the time. It's possible that he's had some problems that we didn't know. It's possible that he has fallen. He does fall from time to time. He is 19 years old (as of February) and he has arthritis in his body, pretty much his legs, but he also has some spinal issues, too. We give him a Dausuquin capsule in his breakfast every morning. We have a set of steps for our bed and he does use them.

Does anybody have any idea what this could be? He is 19 years old, suffers from bad sinus problems and arthritis. He is deaf. Other than that, though, he's in pretty good shape for an old guy. Blood work is good, heart is good, kidneys are fine, liver seems fine. There is nothing wrong with him, other than old age.

Thank you.

ETA: I need to mention that this freaked Mollipop big time. She tried to smack him while he was on the floor. Rick picked him up and started walking with him. Molli actually followed Rick, yelling about it. That freaked out the other cats and the whole episode wasn't pretty for anybody.

Oh my god Pam, poor BooBoo. I lost my childhood cat to a major stroke. It was really nasty - he was paralysed completely on one side, and passed shortly after.

I'm just thinking...have you looked at epilepsy? My old lab developed mild epilepsy in later life. Her seizures were pretty similar to what you're describing. She be out for a bit, twitching etc, then come to, be dazed and disorientated very briefly, then snap back to normal like nothing had happened. She wasn't even considered bad enough to medicate, but it is pretty manageable even if it needs meds.

I hope you can get to the bottom of what's going on with Boo soon

Agreed with Columbine, seems like he has seizures. If it were a stroke, he'd be much worse off. It may very well be epilepsy. 

Thanks. The vet said he does not think it is epilepsy.....I specifically asked him that question. He says that, as a rule, most epileptics are dogs, although the occasional epileptic cat can be seen. He also said that, as a rule, epilepsy will show up much earlier, not at 19+ years of age. 

Honestly, though, from what Rick described (I was in the basement on the treadmill), it sounds very much like a seizure. If that's true, he will have more of them and we will have to document.

But if you can think of anything, I'd be very interested in hearing your opinions.

If it had been mini strokes I'd expect him to be showing progressively less coordination/mobility. I'd also think that there'd be some sign of heart problems in an exam...but then, I'm not a vet.

I would say that just because epilepsy is unlikely, it doesn't mean it's impossible. I had a horse with narcolepsy once, and that's incredibly rare. Keep a diary of episodes, adding as much detail as you can. If you get the chance, film one or two. Actually seeing what happens might help your vet diagnose the problem.

Lastly...and I really hesitate to say this...its possible Boo has a brain tumor that's causing these seizures. I really hope it isn't that, but it's the only other cause I can think of.

Oh no! How scary! I'm so sorry this happened. Might sound like a weird question, but did Boo seem particularly hungry after the episode? When I was researching neurological issues for my Boo  , I read that cats who have seizures tend to be hungry after an episode.

Like others have said, it really could go either way. At 19 years old (wow!), I'd venture to guess it would be something more on the lines of something a senior cat would get, like a stroke or tumor.

No heart problems that the vet picked up on. The vet says he is in excellent condition, especially for an older cat. 

Rick honestly thought that Boo had died yesterday. And then he saw him breathing. He was as stiff as he could possibly be. No puddles of urine, nor did he move his bowels during that time.

We didn't think about a brain tumor or anything like that. I wish now that I would have posted this prior to our appt yesterday because I would have asked the vet. Not that he could say anything just by looking at him; I realize he'd have to run some tests. 

He was not hungry at all after the episode. He awakened in Rick's arms, squirmed around to get down, Rick put him on the floor and he walked around to the back of the couch and crawled underneath. He was still there when I went to work yesterday morning.

After we came home from the vet appt yesterday afternoon, he walked out of the carrier and crawled under the couch. Rick brought him out for dinner, but he wanted nothing to do with food at all last night.

This morning, he was raring to go. Meowed at us for breakfast like nothing ever happened. He ate well (but he missed his dinner last night) and then meowed at me to open the pantry door to get his treat machine out. I brought the machine out and set it on the floor. He turned the wheel, the treats dropped down and and he ate.

It's like nothing ever happened.

ETA: My SIL said that, sometimes when people have strokes, the worst of the stroke effects may not show up for about 24 hours of so. Obviously, she doesn't know if that's true with cats as well. But she said to keep an eye on him this morning. He was fine. No problems. I really don't think it was a stroke.

That must have been a frightening experience. I have no idea what it could have been if his heart is okay, but am sending mega for Boo.

How scary!


My niece's cat had a similar episode last year. They had lots of tests done and didn't find anything. The vet thought it may be a seizure. It hasn't happened since.

Sending some :cross: and and

My 15 year old dog had seizures starting a year before she died. The vet explained it was probably a leaky heart valve, one side goes to liver, one side goes to brain. She was put on meds to help minimize the severity of them, they still periodically happened. He explained one day she would not come out of it, and one day she didn't so I had her PTS. The last year on meds she was foggy, had accidents in her sleep(got her a cage and rubber sheets) but otherwise enjoyed food, going outside etc

Oh poor Booboo. And how frightening for you all. I have no advice to offer, having no experience with such behaviour, but I feel for you.

Aw Pam - I am so sorry and how scary for you and Rick. Remember my Henry (dog?). He has episodes such as that - mostly at night though - and would just lose consciousness for under a minute and freeze up. No shaking during them but he would lose control of his bowels/urine. Then he would recover, be a bit tired for the day, but otherwise appear as if nothing ever happened. I am thinking it was a seizure of some sort for your dear Boo Boo. Sending along loads of vibes for Boo Boo and big hugs to you and Rick. It is so hard when our furkids become elderly with these types of health issues - the worry and concern. Hang in there and keep us posted. BOO BOO :rub:

Oh, how scary for you. I'm so sorry Pam.

Oh no....((hugs)) to you, Rick and BooBoo....

sounds like a seizure. If it was worse then BooBoo would not be able to walk or have signs of something being off.

I know my last cat of 18 yrs of age, had a huge seizure/stroke. She went crazy around the house, hiding under and 8 x10 rug. The Vet did find many things wrong with her. We had to put her down.

My cousin just had her 5 yr old in a somewhat similar situation. He ended up screaming, and then vomiting non stop, and lost the use of his hind legs.

The Vet hospital said it was a major stroke along with a very severe heart murmur which their own Vet never picked up on. Her poor cat had fallen out of cat tree several   months earlier. That must have been either a stroke or a heart attack. Again, the E-Vet advised to put him down because it was so bad.

My point being: I think if it was something other than a seizure, then you would know about it.

(((hugs))) and   to your family.....

okay..so in humans as we age we develop dementia or brain encephalopathy and seizures can occur with that

as well as personality change suppose it could be the same for cats.

kidney failure causes increased toxins in the blood can lead to seizures..

or sometimes its just atypical and doesnt reoccur

seizures scare the crap out of everyone..

you know what my mother had a ?stroke ?TIA saturday night with no permanent damage

and they cant explain why nothing is showing up on the scans!!!

she is on blood thinners though,now.Aspirin ?

That is so scary.  I am so glad you were able to replace his beloved treat machine.

That is so scary and worrying @Winchester  .  

A close friend of mine lost her cat recently at about 19 years of age I think: he was a lovely cat that I first met when he was about 6 months old.  He suddenly started having epileptic seizures around 3 or 4 years ago.  He had other issues like thyroid and arthritis but the epiliepsy was what worried my friend as she liked to know someone was with him most of the time once the seizures started.  He did very well on medication for the years she had him after the diagnosis.

I can't address the loss of consciousness, and the stiffness, but the shaking of the head worries me.  I went through an episode a few weeks ago with one of my boys.  He tried to jump from my cedar chest to the foot board of our antique Eastlake bed, and missed.  (He had done this successfully dozens of times before).  He fell to the floor then let out a blood-curdling scream.  My husband and I jumped out of bed and tried to find out what was wrong.  He could only seemingly move his front legs, and we thought he might have broken a leg or his back.  Then I noticed that his head was shaking and he seemed to be having a spasm.  I had to hold him to keep him from crawling under the bed while my husband got the carrier.

The vet diagnosed a 'vestibular disorder'--which research turned up was actually fairly common.  One pupil was larger than the other, and his head still shook some.  They kept him overnight for observation, and among other things, administered a two week lasting antibiotic shot in case there was a low grade infection going on.  I brought him home the next day, with instructions to keep him inside and bring him back for a check up on Friday.  This had happened on a Monday.

To make a long story shorter, by the end of the week, my boy was a lot better, and the vet thinks he had a low-grade inner/middle ear infection that the antibiotics took care of.  For more detail, here is the thread  where I asked about this:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/297386/vestibular-disorders-in-cats

And yes, the other animals in the household were upset as well. 

My very best wishes for BooBoo and you.   

Thank you so much, everybody for responding to my post. We are very worried about him, even though now he seems to be fine. It's like nothing ever happened to him. He's spending time in the window in the living room, on Rick's lap, on my lap, with his treat machine (Denice, I am so glad we gave him a new machine; he just loves that thing. It's the best thing we could have done for him.). Last night, I felt somebody "nosing" around my lower back; I looked around and there was Boo, trying to get my attention. I rolled over and gathered him up. He curled up at my stomach and went to sleep.

We will document as best we can anything that happens in the future. Had Rick had his wits about him the other morning, he would have at least try to get some pictures. But he was shocked and didn't even think about it at the time. 

AngelinaCat, I will say something to the vet about a middle/inner ear infection. Boo did get an antibiotics shot as well as a steroid shot on Wednesday afternoon. Those shots help with his allergy problems and his arthritis problems, too. I'm glad your kitty is doing so much better. 

I honestly do not think it was a stroke, but I am not a vet. However, our vet doesn't think it was a stroke either; he is thinking seizure. But without tests, there's not way to tell what kind of seizure or why he had it/them. And since it's happened only once (that we truly know of), he is hesitant to run a bunch of tests on him yet.

On one hand, he is 19+ years old and he has had a very good life. On the other hand, he is Boo. He is our Boo. So we're just not sure what to do. And I know that doesn't make a lot of sense.

We will see how things go. Thank you so much. 

Not knowing is always the worst position to be in. On the other hand, I don't know how much testing (especially if invasive) I'd want to do on an elderly animal. So long as he's happy in himself, and the seizures aren't frequent, I'd be very tempted to just let things be. I hope it was just a one off.

I don't know how much sense I'm making either. I suppose I'm saying try not to stress too much. He's happy, and absolutely himself, and that's what counts. Stay well BooBoo