Hi Shari, I read Coco's story and had to respond. My cat, Toby, has been in a similar situation. Toby is 15 years old and is a Maine Coon mix. His full name is Sir Tobington, attached a picture of his majesty
Toby has been relatively healthy his whole life, but we have been keeping an eye on his thyroid levels since he has been looking like he is getting increasingly hyperthyroid. Back in 2019 we attempted to start him on hyperthyroid medication (methimazole) but he had an adverse reaction and stopped in. In the meantime we have been just keeping an eye on it.
A couple months ago (November 2022), Toby went completely limp and couldn't move his body or even lift his head. It was determined that he had a stroke due to hyperthyroidism. He was hospitalized for about a week on an IV drip so that he would get the proper nutrients to survive. He slowly recovered and gained strength. We brought him home after a week in the hospital and he was able to walk but his use of his back legs were limited. We limited his area of the house that he could access so we could keep an eye on him. I even slept on the floor next to him so I would be aware of any movements or if he needed help using the litter box.
Immediately he started showing signs of moderate to intense twitching during sleep. But only during sleep. The vet determined that they were seizures but it was not the normal epilepsy type seizures since they are only during sleep. We also can 'wake' him from them by saying his name or touching him, which is also not normal for a typical seizure. The seizures range from just the 'paddling' movement of his limbs to violent leg kicks that send him flying off the bed or couch.
We started by giving him gabapentin but the amount that he needed to stop the seizures was causing him to be too sedated. We decided to try phenobarbital next. He has been on this medication for about a month now and we are having mixed results. It seemed to work well at the beginning but we've seen a decrease in the effectiveness. We are waiting for lab results now to test the serum levels to see if we need to increase the dose.
We are still struggling to see how this will settle out, if it will settle out, and if Toby will ever walk normally again. He used to be so playful and loving but now he gets so discouraged since he is not coordinated anymore and is afraid of us because of all the meds he is taking. We see hints of his personality but it is so hard seeing him like this.
Would you please provide an update on how Coco is doing? Have you been able to stop her seizures?
