Head jerking to one side

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Anyone know what this could be? My boy has done this more than a dozen times in the last few hours. He was recently diagnosed with epilepsy but this doesn't look anything like his seizures did. He is on Keppra and we think it is working well.

Any advice until his vet opens Monday?? I am paranoid because he has had lots of health trouble lately!!!

Is there an emergency Animal Hospital or Vet you can call to ease your mind until you see the vet tomorrow. No doubt it's troubling given his health issues.

I'm sorry I don't have experience with this.  I'm sure you'll hear from experienced members soon.  

Best to you.

What other health issues does he have?  Is he having trouble walking or getting around?  Did you try calling YOUR Vet to see if they have a weekend phone number?  If not, did you take him to an Emergency Vet?  I honestly don't have any idea what this might be...could be a side effect of the new medication, could be just about anything.  Did you read up on his meds to see if this was a possible side effect?

My cat had a slight head tilt when he had an ear infection. It came out of nowhere one day. My dog is epileptic so I know what you're feeling, it's a horrible thing to watch them go through.maybe the head jerking is a precursor to a seizure? Is your cat falling down or scratching at his ear? I'll give you a few sites for you to reference, maybe it'll help. But I think a trip to the vet may be in order. Good luck


http://www.petplace.com/article/cat.../symptoms/head-tilt--in-cats-vestibular-signs

http://pets.thenest.com/head-tilting-cats-7540.html

His other health issues besides the epilepsy is that he's anemic, we haven't been able to figure out the cause yet. He also just got over a MRSA infection. Then one morning he was walking all wobbly and falling down. I took him back to the neurologist and that was when they switched his medicine. He may have brain damage from the seizures not being totally under control (he was twitchy even while on meds so they think that was partial seizures).

The wobbliness has gotten better but not 100% (and it's been a couple weeks). He isn't scratching his ears and the neurologist said the wobbliness is definitely neurological, not an inner ear problem. So I doubt this is either. He really doesn't seem to be able to control it, he just jerks to one side (always the right). Sometimes he falls down because of it. He doesn't have any twitching or anything like when he was having seizures.

I am going to call the doctor first thing tomorrow. I didn't take him to the emergency vet because he seems stable and otherwise healthy (he actually has way more energy these last two days than he has had in the last month) so I'd rather save my money to pay for tests he'll need than an ER fee. Plus in my experience, the ER vets don't have a clue about this weird neurological stuff.

I'm so sorry that sounds like alot to go through, poor kitty.
My dog had an anemia condition called hemolytic anemia. Maybe that could be what he has, I've seen quite a few cats on here lately that have been diagnosed with it. It's tough watching them suffer with something like epilepsy. I put my dog on a supplement called DMG , you should look into it, it has helped her alot, after about a month being on it I noticed she had fewer episodes. Also, during her seizure I put ice (in Ziploc bag) on her lower back, believe it or not it shortened her seizures and helped her recover afterwards alot quicker. My vet told me about it and I was pretty skeptical but it has seemed to help a lot. I hope your kitty gets better.good luck

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Poor baby is still having this problem. He jerks so hard he barrel rolls. His neurologist is out of town until Monday. His regular vet doesn't really know what's going on. (She is awesome but doesn't know a lot about these weird neuro problems!)

We noticed that he tends to do it when he's sleepy (but not asleep) and also when he's startled. Very very strange.

Is it possibly an ear or middle ear issue? It seems to me that the one side is bothering him.

Sorry to see this.  If you hold him in your lap does he still do it, can that calm him enough to catch a moment of peace.

You know someone else mentioned that too. If it was his ear I would expect him to be scratching, shaking his head, or tilting his head... He isn't doing any of that. But who knows, I will ask his vet on Monday!!

He seems to do it MORE when I hold him on my lap! Poor guy can't catch a break!!

That's terrible.  I was hoping your arms could provide some comfort.  Are there any other places to take him to get checked out, Monday seems like a long way away.  I hope you get the answers you're looking for.

It almost seems as if it is a mini-seizure....for what I know about it...

Just a side note:

Your baby had MRSA?

That is not common for cats.  I worked my entire life in a hospital. I ended up getting an infection after a bite from Artie...it was after a dental and he was so "high' from the pain meds, that he was purring, rubbing my leg and then just hauled off and bit my foot area. He was hungry and purring. He did not know what he was doing. 

Well, since I also had my work socks on, I ended up with a MRSA infection. I had to have it biopsied at the Emergency Room. I recovered from it, but will always be a MRSA carrier. For any potential surgery, I have to have a culture surgery.

I spoke to my Vet about getting it from the bite. She said it is possible but not likely. I insisted she culture Artie to find out if he had it. Sure enough, he came back positive for it. We do not know who infected whom; because of my

hospital /work  exposures..

My Vet did look into MRSA in cats. She said that it is very uncommon. I researched it and she also told me that MRSA virus does not stay long in cats. They do get over it, in about 2 weeks. I got a very strong antibiotic for Artie, but I ended up not giving it to him. My Vet said that the antibiotic has a lot of side effects in cats and is very hard on their systems...

I am sending you and wishing you all the best for your baby.. hopefully you will see the neurologist soon...(hugs))

His vet thought he would be OK to wait until Monday, but it is so hard!! I feel so bad for him. He keeps falling off the bed and chairs because of it too. I think it's worse when I hold him because it happens most when he's sleepy, and of course he gets sleepy in my lap!

Besides this he seems really healthy though. He has been so sick for the last month and a half... But the last week he's been playing with his brother and I even heard him purr today for the first time since his seizures started! His personality has totally come back, but then this new weird symptom showed up and we're back to being worried!!

artiemom he had MRSA and another type of antibiotic-resistant staph (I forgot the name). But yes, definitely MRSA - I even checked the culture results myself because I was scared we could get it from him (we have a toddler so I wanted to be careful!)

He got it while in the critical care unit at the University of Wisconsin vet clinic. He had a very violent grand mal seizure while there and he completely ripped out all but two of his back claws. They sent him home without any antibiotics which seemed weird to me.

Then about 4 days later he had a fever of 104.1 and was lifeless. They had to put him under and debride it and that was when they took the culture. The wounds were not healing at all, to the point that his bones were exposed. He took Minocyline for 2 weeks and his feet finally healed and they seem totally fine now.

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The jerking is worse tonight, they seem so violent. I'm really worried. I really don't want to wait until Monday

The best thing you can do is to call your vet as soon as the office opens and explain that the head thing is getting worse and that your cat needs to be seen sooner than Monday. If they can't get you in son, ask for a referral to another vet, particularly one who specializes in neurology.

LTS3 his neurologist is out of town until Monday. His regular vet has no idea what this is

There is another vet hospital about 45 mins away that has a neurologist, and if I bring him in the ER the neuro will squeeze him in. I'm going to bring him now!

Well they kept him in the hospital overnight, tried upping his Keppra and giving him steroids and midazolam but he isn't any better. They are going to start him on an antibiotic in case he has toxoplasmosis and they are putting him back on phenobarbital too. They pretty much are taking shots in the dark at this point.

I lost Mr Squiggles about a week ago to an odd neuro problem too, he was walking in circles, disoriented, and had developed a bad heart murmur out of nowhere. We reached the point at the UW vet clinic too where it was just shooting in the dark to try and find a solution. In the end, they figured he had a serious brain infection, a brain tumor, or had throw a massive blood clot and had a stroke. I had to make the decision to let him go.

I really hope your kitty pulls through. Did they suggest a CT, MRI, or spinal tap to you yet?