8-year-old cat with seizures

[ginny]

Hi all.  I'm new here.  I have 6 cats: a mama kitty, 4 of her offspring, and one from another mama kitty - all of whom i began feeding on my back porch years ago.  They were all feral.  My kitty Nat is 8 yrs old.  He is one of the 4 siblings.  I witnessed his first seizure about 6 weeks ago.  He was sleeping at the back door and then got up and turned 4 circles and had a long drool hanging out the side of his mouth.  I knew this was a partial seizure. Two days later he and all my other kitties had their rabies vaccinations. I told the vet about Nat's partial seizure two days before.  I insisted on the Merial Purevax (after reading about the reasons why Dr. Pierson recommends it on catinfo.org.) so that's what she gave them.  Two days after his rabies shot, i witnessed him having a grand mal seizure.  He was asleep under my bed.  I heard what i thought was fighting between him and another cat, but saw that he was running in circles, then came running out from under the bed sideways and fell down, rolled, continued 'scampering' and ended up twitching all over with his back against the toilet where i had hopped up on quickly for safety.  I was crying and shaking, turned my iphone video on and caught about 2 seconds near the end of the seizure.  From start to finish it must have been about 15 to 20 seconds as i barely had enough time to react and to get my iphone camera on.

Since then he has had more seizures, mostly grand mal, which have increased in frequency but not in duration.  One day he had 6 seizures between 7am and 1pm.  He has since been put on phenobarbitol twice daily, and rectal diazepam gel (lucky me!) was added twice daily.  I've tapered him down to once daily and then every other day.  He had valium Monday and Wednesday night, none since.  He had a seizure early Tuesday and Thursday morning AFTER the valium, but oddly he had no seizure the nights i didn't give the valium.  I told the vet this so she said not to give him any more unless i witness a seizure.  It's been extremely difficult giving him the valium so he hasn't ever had a consistent dose.  His last known seizure was Thursday morning but he might have had one today because i smelled pee (he urinates with his seizures but so far has not defecated.) 

He's become extremely afraid of me even putting the phenobarb in his ear (transdermal) and i haven't given him his dose since Thursday.  Today i had to buy a fishing net so i can catch him and give him his phenobarb, since i know you can't abruptly stop giving it.  Giving him his meds is traumatic to him and to me as well.  But since i don't know why he is having seizures (the vet thinks it is a tumor going on history) and i can't afford a CT and spinal tap, i can only give meds to help.  My vet has said to keep a seizure log, which i have been doing, and to note even what the weather is like on that day.  She thinks barometric pressure can have a negative effect.

Nat has always been kind of sneezy.  He sometimes has a runny right eye too.  This has been an occasional problem for him for years though, it's not new.  One morning last week i heard him coughing for quite a few minutes.  I read where someone else's cat who has seizures had that same kind of coughing.  Now i'm wondering if maybe the coughing might be a heart symptom.  Maybe Nat's heart may be responsible for his seizures?  He coughs/sneezes a little bit after his seizures too.  

I'm sorry this is long.  I've probably lost a few of you.  I've given all this history to ask if anyone has tried any kind of homeopathic therapy (drops added to cat's drinking water) that works for seizures?  I found some website where it is offered and read a number of testimonials about it working so well that no pharmaceutical meds are needed.  But i can't find the website!!  

It is so traumatic trying to give Nat his ear cream that i am looking at alternatives.  I'm also trying to get him and the others off dry food altogether.  Nat is a dryfoodaholic.  He LOVES his kibble.  But thankfully he loves canned food too.

I'll stop for now.  I'm sorry for rambling.  I appreciate any advice you can give me.

 

[ginny]

Quick update:

Just attempted and failed to catch Nat to give him his phenobarb.  All of them started running when they saw the fishing net.  I can't do this any more.  It's not worth the risk of getting shredded to ribbons by panicked cats on the run.  It's no quality of life for him to live in fear of me when he once loved me.  He's missed 2 days of pheno now.  I give up.  It's only a matter of time now.  I'm really sad.

((

 

[whollycat]

Ginny, I have no advice, but was wondering if a moderator could move your posts to your own thread instead of it being on the tail end of this old post.

I'm sending you comforting hugs...hang in there, sweetie. Hopefully someone that can help will see this.

 

[jcat]

I've moved these posts so that you have your own thread; hopefully someone will be able to give you some helpful advice.

 

[tarasgirl06]

No way should you have to apologize for "rambling" when you are extremely concerned about your loved one's health and wellbeing!  Unfortunately I do not have any helpful advice, but Nat is in my *PRAYERS* and so are you.  

 

[rafm]

Honestly, quality of life is more important that quantity, IMO. If he isn't going to receive the meds any longer, don't let him suffer seizure after seizure until the one that kills him. Take him in and let him go peacefully. There is absolutely nothing wrong with letting him go. You've given him a wonderful home and lots of love, give him the final gift of peace.

 

[white cat lover]

My kitty Lola is on Pheno for seizures. She's had them since she was a kitten. I have a compounding pharmacy compound the pheno into liquid form. She also hates being medicated, but we make it work. I make sure to confine her to a room, play, medicate, play - then she's released. Eventually it became a 'fun time' for her.

Once I got her on meds for awhile, she has been seizure free for awhile now. Once in awhile she has a 'breakthrough' seizure, but they are very rare/infrequent.

 

[nerdrock]

I have a dog with epilepsy, it got really bad there for awhile. One thing that really helped was switching her to a food that had as close to 5% (or less) sugar, it's really hard to find a kibble like that. The best thing was switching to a raw diet, which pretty much stopped her seizures all together. 

Of course, all of it will depend on the cause of the seizures. Meds and diet changes can help, but not in every case. 

I'll see if I can find a food that's close to that amount of sugar for you to try.

 

[ginny]

Thank you Whollycat <3

 

[ginny]

Thank you Jcat

 

[ginny]

Thank you for understanding Tarasgirl06 and for your prayers! 

 

[tarasgirl06]

Absolutely!  *PRAYERS* continually for your sweet boy.  While there's life there's hope -- don't give up.  Looks like there are some good suggestions from some other posters here -- and among them, the one for an all-natural diet is interesting.  It's complicated to feed this, as cats require additional vitamin and mineral supplements in just the right amounts and combination; but I know of several cat lovers who swear by a raw diet and say their cats thrive on it.  

 

[ginny]

RAFM, I agree that quality of life is more important, but why be so quick to assume he is suffering? People who have grand mal seizures say they feel/remember nothing, that it is hard for those who see it though.  I've already been told by someone close to me to "put him out of his misery" and i didn't appreciate it one bit.  I will decide what is right for him.    

 

[ginny]

Hi white cat lover.  I am still trying to find the right approach to Nat to continue giving him his pheno, but he's scared of me now.  I recall seeing some kind of homeopathic drops you can add to kitty's water bowl that helps.  Now i can't find that link!  Do you - or anyone else - know about or ever heard of anything like that?  

 

[ginny]

Hi Nerdrock, i really wish it could be something so simple as switching his diet.  I am willing to try anything.  Back in December i tried weaning all 6 kitties off their dry kibble (after reading "catinfo.org") and on to wet food only.  Nat, and a few others, are hardcore kibble lovers, unfortunately.  He resisted and stopped eating as much, then began throwing up green bile.  I took him to Banfield because of the vomiting that weekend (because i didn't want the expense of ER Vet) and his blood work was fine.  The xray did not show any intestinal strictures.

[Incidentally, the vet at Banfield kept insisting i let her give Nat a rabies shot.  She even got exasperated at me for refusing, since they did not have the Merial Purevax brand in stock.  Now, i'm wondering if she gave him their rabies shot anyway and just wanted my permission after the fact.  I did not know at that time that a sick cat should NOT have a vaccination at all.  So why didn't she know that? My vet regrets giving him the Purevax seeing that he began having (witnessed) grand mal seizures following that shot.]

Please share with me your experiences and tips regarding how you got your dog to accept raw food.  I think it's a great idea, and so much easier in the long run than having to medicate daily.  

 

[ginny]

Tarasgirl06, thank you for your words of encouragement "where there's life, there's hope".  Thank you <3

I hope raw food helps.  It makes sense.

 

[jcat]

I recall seeing some kind of homeopathic drops you can add to kitty's water bowl that helps. Now i can't find that link! Do you - or anyone else - know about or ever heard of anything like that?

Are you thinking of Rescue Remedy? Also available here and at Amazon.

 

[nerdrock]

Hi Nerdrock, i really wish it could be something so simple as switching his diet.  I am willing to try anything.  Back in December i tried weaning all 6 kitties off their dry kibble (after reading "catinfo.org") and on to wet food only.  Nat, and a few others, are hardcore kibble lovers, unfortunately.  He resisted and stopped eating as much, then began throwing up green bile.  I took him to Banfield because of the vomiting that weekend (because i didn't want the expense of ER Vet) and his blood work was fine.  The xray did not show any intestinal strictures.

[Incidentally, the vet at Banfield kept insisting i let her give Nat a rabies shot.  She even got exasperated at me for refusing, since they did not have the Merial Purevax brand in stock.  Now, i'm wondering if she gave him their rabies shot anyway and just wanted my permission after the fact.  I did not know at that time that a sick cat should NOT have a vaccination at all.  So why didn't she know that? My vet regrets giving him the Purevax seeing that he began having (witnessed) grand mal seizures following that shot.]

Please share with me your experiences and tips regarding how you got your dog to accept raw food.  I think it's a great idea, and so much easier in the long run than having to medicate daily.  

I have been looking to see if I can find a kibble that you could use, but so far I haven't had much luck (I really haven't had that much time, I can do further checking at work on Thursday when I'm working at the pet store). If you call up manufacturers they should be able to give you the sugar content of the food easily. As close to 5% (or lower) is better than higher. It's not something that's really been studied in pet nutrition, but it's part of the way that a lot of people use to help control their epilepsy. So far, it's worked great for my dog. 

As for transitioning to raw, I've been really lucky and all of my pets have taken to it right away so I'm probably not the best to give advice about that. If you search around in the Raw Feeding forum, you should be able to find the information. Carolina, LDG, FeralLvr and many others have been really helpful for that and provide great tips (sorry if I missed anyone!). 

 

[whollycat]

My kitty Lola is on Pheno for seizures. She's had them since she was a kitten. I have a compounding pharmacy compound the pheno into liquid form. She also hates being medicated, but we make it work. I make sure to confine her to a room, play, medicate, play - then she's released. Eventually it became a 'fun time' for her.
Once I got her on meds for awhile, she has been seizure free for awhile now. Once in awhile she has a 'breakthrough' seizure, but they are very rare/infrequent.

Ginny, this is a super idea about having a compounding pharmacy compound to a liquid form. Most pharmacies nowadays do this and have tasty flavors that kitty should accept. Your vet can request this and might be able to suggest a pharmacy too.

 

[ginny]

I do have Rescue Remedy on hand already and i will add a few drops to their water to see what happens, but it was some kind of homeopathy capsules and drops.  It would be so great if i can get Nat to accept medicine that helps in his water.