Both cats backs twitching and flicking ears and paws

[Agehrke]

November 2021 (3 months ago) I left my 2 cats in my friend’s care for 2 days over Thanksgiving - I came home to find my 1.5 year old male cat’s back twitching a lot - he seemed very stressed and confused, licking and biting as if he had fleas or mites. I scheduled an appointment with the vet for the following week and treated both him (Tony) and my 2yo female cat (Frankie) with advantage. Tony’s issues somewhat subsided by the time I took them to the vet - they didn’t find any fleas and found their ears to be clean and told me to take Tony to a neurologist believing his back twitch to be neurological and not something they could help with. When I brought them home his twitching/scratching/irritation became even worse (I assumed from the stress of the visit) I then paid $200 for a neurologist to tell me he needed to go back to the vet for basic blood work, X-rays and a skin scrape before I jumped to neurological conclusions. So I did all of the above (minus X-rays) and again they found nothing wrong. In the meantime my other cat Frankie started to exhibit similar issues just less intense/frequent (twitching back, head shaking and scratching, flicking her paws and aggressively licking her irritated coat.) The vet prescribed Tony with gabapentin to calm his twitching and prescribed both cats revolution- told me to treat them with three doses each incase it’s some sort of mite they couldn’t find with the skin tape test. (They wouldn’t do a skin scrape because they said they only do that if there are lesions on their ears). I’ve now treated them with one round of revolution and they only seem to be getting worse. I’ve now booked an appointment with a dermatologist for this upcoming April to see if this is some sort of allergy considering both cats are exhibiting similar issues and aren’t from the same litter. I’ve spent $1k and haven’t gotten any answers so I’m hoping to post about this experience before dishing out another $1k to see if I can get better help/advice online then I seem to be getting with my local vets and specialists.

 

[vansX2]

November 2021 (3 months ago) I left my 2 cats in my friend’s care for 2 days over Thanksgiving - I came home to find my 1.5 year old male cat’s back twitching a lot - he seemed very stressed and confused, licking and biting as if he had fleas or mites. I scheduled an appointment with the vet for the following week and treated both him (Tony) and my 2yo female cat (Frankie) with advantage. Tony’s issues somewhat subsided by the time I took them to the vet - they didn’t find any fleas and found their ears to be clean and told me to take Tony to a neurologist believing his back twitch to be neurological and not something they could help with. When I brought them home his twitching/scratching/irritation became even worse (I assumed from the stress of the visit) I then paid $200 for a neurologist to tell me he needed to go back to the vet for basic blood work, X-rays and a skin scrape before I jumped to neurological conclusions. So I did all of the above (minus X-rays) and again they found nothing wrong. In the meantime my other cat Frankie started to exhibit similar issues just less intense/frequent (twitching back, head shaking and scratching, flicking her paws and aggressively licking her irritated coat.) The vet prescribed Tony with gabapentin to calm his twitching and prescribed both cats revolution- told me to treat them with three doses each incase it’s some sort of mite they couldn’t find with the skin tape test. (They wouldn’t do a skin scrape because they said they only do that if there are lesions on their ears). I’ve now treated them with one round of revolution and they only seem to be getting worse. I’ve now booked an appointment with a dermatologist for this upcoming April to see if this is some sort of allergy considering both cats are exhibiting similar issues and aren’t from the same litter. I’ve spent $1k and haven’t gotten any answers so I’m hoping to post about this experience before dishing out another $1k to see if I can get better help/advice online then I seem to be getting with my local vets and specialists.

Seems as you've been given alot of run around. Has you home ever been flea bombed? If not, perhaps your place could be still infested with fleas.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

This is a bit odd. I'd have expected something environmental, since it started while you were away. Or behavioral, since you were away. But it should have decreased by now, and it is in both cats, leaving me in a bit of a quandary. However, until you can track this down, I can suggest buying plain, unblended chamomile tea bags at the grocery store. Brew a cup, and chill it in the fridge. Give each cat 1-3 teaspoonfuls, via syringe or medicine dropper, three times a day. It is gently calming, without sedating. Be sure to tell your vet that they are taking it, if he prescribes anything for them.

 

[Agehrke]

This is a bit odd. I'd have expected something environmental, since it started while you were away. Or behavioral, since you were away. But it should have decreased by now, and it is in both cats, leaving me in a bit of a quandary. However, until you can track this down, I can suggest buying plain, unblended chamomile tea bags at the grocery store. Brew a cup, and chill it in the fridge. Give each cat 1-3 teaspoonfuls, via syringe or medicine dropper, three times a day. It is gently calming, without sedating. Be sure to tell your vet that they are taking it, if he prescribes anything for them.

Yes I suspected the same - my new theory is that it could be an allergy to something in the home - perhaps incense, litter or house plants or they’ve developed an intolerance to dry food (since I’d left a big “emergency” bowl of this while I left them in my friends care). I’ve tried removing/changing all these things, but not seeing any improvement. Thank you for the chamomile advice. I do have calming l-theanine treats and we give Tony 0.6 gabapentin day and night.

 

[Agehrke]

Seems as you've been given alot of run around. Has you home ever been flea bombed? If not, perhaps your place could be still infested with fleas.

I’ve never flea bombed my home (didn’t know it was a thing!) the only time we’ve had fleas was when we first brought Frankie home (she was stuck in a car engine on our street) and we gave her several flea baths and treated the home with natural flea repellant spray from our local pet store. This was about 1 year before we adopted Tony from Care Rescue LA. The vet and neurologist haven’t found any evidence of fleas or flea dirt so it seems unlikely but I will look into flea bombs - if they’re safe and cost effective I’d be open to extra reinforcements! Considering throwing out and replacing all my rugs at this point!

 

[vansX2]

I’ve never flea bombed my home (didn’t know it was a thing!) the only time we’ve had fleas was when we first brought Frankie home (she was stuck in a car engine on our street) and we gave her several flea baths and treated the home with natural flea repellant spray from our local pet store. This was about 1 year before we adopted Tony from Care Rescue LA. The vet and neurologist haven’t found any evidence of fleas or flea dirt so it seems unlikely but I will look into flea bombs - if they’re safe and cost effective I’d be open to extra reinforcements! Considering throwing out and replacing all my rugs at this point!

When I Lived in Florida, I was forced to flea bomb my home as well as have my Maine Coon flea dipped by the Veterinarian . A flea bomb is a Aerosol Spray that is set off in Your residence. All windows must be shut. And the residence Evuacted for several hours for all the flea larvae to be killed. No pets can be left inside during the extermination . My current Cats are strictly indoor Cats , so There has been a need for this measure.

 

[Margot Lane]

…did you politely ask if your friend maybe did something out of the ordinary, whilst sitting your cats? Perhaps a naughty treat or exposure to…well I can’t think what. Perfume? Scented candle? Does your friend work in some industry w/ chemicals? (Just going out on a limb here…).

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Speaking of overlooking the obvious! THANK YOU, Margot Lane !

 

[Agehrke]

…did you politely ask if your friend maybe did something out of the ordinary, whilst sitting your cats? Perhaps a naughty treat or exposure to…well I can’t think what. Perfume? Scented candle? Does your friend work in some industry w/ chemicals? (Just going out on a limb here…).

I did! She does have a very large dog - Aussie mountain doodle - so I thought she could have transferred fleas from him, but he didn’t and doesn’t have fleas. He’s also been around my cats from time to time. She’s well aware of the situation with my kitties and would tell me if she suspected anything coming from her time taking care of them. I’ll be applying the next dose of revolution this week. Crossing my fingers

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Keep us updated, please! I'll keep thinking about this...

 

[Agehrke]

I gave them their second dose of Selarid two weeks ago and they haven’t gotten any better. Today we were out on the patio for a while as it was a beautiful day today and my cat Frankie who’s had much less frequent and severe episodes had a more intense one tonight. Vigorously shaking her leg/paw, head/ears. She looked scared. We haven’t been giving her gabapentin but felt she needed it tonight. I’m wondering if it could be from something outside given how long we were all out there today. We live on a second story with a large patio overlooking a large tree that’s home to squirrels and doves. I have many house plants as well but don’t see them chewing on them. We got a new neighbor as well who has a cat that they meow at through the patio wall. Just giving all the details possible for any clues. We will probably be taking them to the derm in a month.