**Help, my cat had a seizure**

Hello, everyone, I'm new here I have a 5 year old male cat. Hes part Maincoon and Siamese. Over the past two years I have witnessed him having four seizures. Its been a year since he last had one, but just the other night it happened again. I took him to the vet they ran tests on him and said that nothing impeticular was causing these seizures. He was diagnosed with epilepsy. Although he has these seizures he comes out of them fine and they last about 30 seconds or so. I was just wondering if any other cat owner has experienced something like this of can relate.

I' ve never heard of a cat having a seizure, but I think this is serious. May be you should consult a vet?

I can my 16yr old had a few ... took her to the vet and he did some tests.. said nothing wrong ... said i could sprend a few 1000 dollars for test s at the university .. opted not too I have vet money not transplant money...she is still here, no sesuires for over a year

Hi Kelly,

Welcome to the forum. I had a poodle that was diagnosed with having epilepsy and she started having seizures just as you described. As time went by her seizures increased to where she was having 2 or 3 a week. The vet put her on phenobarbital and she did just fine.

I believe in Compuserve's Cat Forum there's a thread about a cat that was having seizures. You might want to check it out.

Good Luck
Ellen

Actually the diagnosis of epilepsy is what is causing the seizures. You can get medication from the vet to help control the seizures, or at least mininmize them to a degree. I am surprised your vet did not prescribe meds for your cat.

Hugs & Welcome to you and your furry! Best of luck I have not had any experience with this, Belly rubs to your boy! He sounds beautiful!

Because the seizures are so infrequent and short the vet would not prescribe phenobarbital. If and when the seizures become more frequent and/ or longer lasting then the vet will presibe the medication. Just like any other medications there are side effects, no use having the sleepy lethargic cat for siezures lasting once a year or so. You should keep a log of the siezures and take it to the vet next time she is taken in for her anual check-up so you and your vet can keep track of them.

Must be different then with dogs? My cocker spaniel when I was growing up had epilepsy. The attacks weren't fequent but the vet put him on meds right away? He lived a very long time- to long actually. He was blind and deaf before my dad finally could let go of him.

Even with dogs anymore we don't put them on it right away, and cats also don't always take to meds as easily as dogs do.

I had a dog that had seizures, but it was because of heartworms. They did a reverse, and he was having 2-4 seizures a day. Everytime we went out, and he got in sunlight, and everytime he came in and drank a lot of water. Certain things triggered his seizures. When they did a heartworm reverse, they think a heartworm might have died, and was lodged in his brain, and that was causing the seizures. The vet prescribed him phenobarbital, and he was doing great. It helped a lot. He got kennel cough, and we read online that you can give them Robitussin, and I asked my vet, and she gave me the wrong dose, and didn't bother to tell me what kind, and we got him cough and cold, which was a non-drowsy formula, and it counter-acted the phenobarbital, and he was literally "high", like on drugs, for a while. Thankfully, my Thunder died, and no longer had to suffer. I miss him very much, and I love him very much. The reason I'm telling this story, is so that in the future, if your furbaby is put on phenobarbital, be careful what you give him. I wish you all the best! Good luck! I'll pray for you and your furbaby!

Also, you might want to observe and see if anything triggers his seizures.

Originally Posted by Kellybel

Hello, everyone, I'm new here

I have a 5 year old male cat. Hes part Maincoon and Siamese. Over the past two years I have witnessed him having four seizures. Its been a year since he last had one, but just the other night it happened again. I took him to the vet they ran tests on him and said that nothing impeticular was causing these seizures. He was diagnosed with epilepsy. Although he has these seizures he comes out of them fine and they last about 30 seconds or so. I was just wondering if any other cat owner has experienced something like this of can relate.

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yea i have a 1 year old male cat and he started having seizures the other day...he had 2 full attacks which lasted about 30 seconds if that..then he had 3 more where he would cry out and then just stare at me with his tongue out BUT he didnt fall over and get stiff like the 1st 2....i was so scared and called every vet and of course they all wanted tons of money upfront just to look at him but yet they said that his conditions was considered an emergency....i dont get it .....anyway the next day he had NO seizures at all and seems to be good ....i dont know if maybe he was sick or he ate something nasty outside since he does go outside....all i know is he scared me and i wish i had the money to take him to the vet.....and i am really upset that i went all the way to the vet emergency clinic to fill out an application for credit since i didnt have tons of money upfront....and of course i got denied i have too much credit out right now which i knew but i brought my cat thinking maybe they would look at him to make sure he wasnt dying ...the lady said did u bring your cat.....and i said of course.....she said u dont have 90.00 so we can just look at him..im like no shes like u dont know anyone that can co sign for u....im like NO ....never once did she look at my cat to see if he was okay...just left him in his cage i thought that was really wrong!!

but im glad hes doing good!!

They don't give meds to cats with infrequent seizures as the effects of the meds can be worse than the seizure itself in long-term. Epilepsy in cats is also a diagnosis of "unkown cause of seizures." Hope has this as well. She had 2 seizures in 2 days and has never had any since. The bloodwork showed up nothing other than muscle trauma and high liver function as the result not the cause of the sizure.

Its scary isn't it? Its so unnerving and though they don't last long, it can scare the crap out of you. My girl will become listless for about 24 hours afterward as she recovers and then will be fine. We think it was birth trauma as the cause. You can spend a lot of money to determine if there is a brain tumor but most likely with infrequent seizures this is not the case. My girl has a slight neurological disorder that shows up in an eye twitch as well.

Heck yea Its Scary!!......The 1st Time My Cat Did It I Picked Him Up And Threw Him On The Bed And Started Yelling His Name I DIdnt Know He Was Having A Seizure Because He Never Had One Before....I Honestly Thought He Was Dead When He JUst Fell Over ......And Everytime I Heard His Little Crys When He Was ABout To Have One I Just Wanted To Cry Its The most Saddest Thing Knowing Theres Something Wrong And I Cant Fix It......
I Am So Glad On The Other Hand That The Seizures Didnt Keep Going On Untill The Next Day....And I Did Kinda Figure There Was SOmething Wrong As In Him Being SIck Because He Had Diarreah 2 Days Before he Had The Seizures Then 2 More Days After He Had The Seizures .....Now Hes Fine And Goes Outside Again...Maybe He Ate Something Bad...Im Not Sure.....But Its Defiantly Not A Fun Experience ....

That does sound like he ate something toxic... The first time my girl had the seizures I thought she somehow got poisoned. If he is outdoor then you have a problem of possible antifreeze, rodent/pest killers, among naturally occuring toxins. Its scary! My girls inside so I ruled out toxins but that in itself was hard.

Otis was on a medication that became toxic for him and he had seizures. The first time he had one I didn't even realize it I just found a wet spot on his blanket where he had been sleeping. Eventually I realized there was a serious problem and brought him in. He got better and then seizured again in the night and then went into a coma-like state. The next day he came back to and hasn't had any seizures since. He was a little slow for about 2 months after the seizures but seems to be getting back to normal now. I think epilepsy just means seizures of unknown origin so really it could be anything. My vet said the key thing to look for is defecation or urination outside of the box if they don't pee outside of the litterbox normally. If he does have a seizure just sit there and comfort him, there's not really much else you can do. Don't try to open his mouth either b/c his muscles can tighten and bite you. As long as he doesn't have them often you things should be alright

I would take him to another vet for a second opinion. I can't imagine how scary that must be for you to witness!!

yea he seems to be doing great now as far as the seizures go...but today all of a sudden he got diarrhea again and that just stopped 2 days ago ...uhh im so confused!!....but i also gave him milk today he LOVES milk....maybe that did it?....is milk bad for cats?

Heres A Pic Of My Kitty Hes 1...His Name Is Jasper

Originally Posted by jasminelynn

yea he seems to be doing great now as far as the seizures go...but today all of a sudden he got diarrhea again and that just stopped 2 days ago ...uhh im so confused!!....but i also gave him milk today he LOVES milk....maybe that did it?....is milk bad for cats?

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Yes, cow's milk is not good for cats and can cause diarrhea. Lots of cats have a lactose intolerance. Also adult cats do not need milk. If you want to give them milk as a treat, buy the milk especially for cats at the pet store or give goat's milk.

i had a diabetic cat that cunvulsed and had seizures tha most scariest thing i think