Hi all! Hopefully someone will be able to help me get to the bottom of this!
First the basics:
My cat, Mr. Kitty, is a brown tabby and will be turning 3 next month. He's cuddly when he wants to be, he can be sassy, he's playful, and talkative. We've never had an issue with him health wise.
However, last Thursday there was a considerable shift in his behavior. Thursday morning went along as usual, he sat curled up in a ball and watched as I got ready and was perfectly content. Later that night we noticed that his back was twitching, he had "airplane ears", his ears and tail would flicker and he was aggressively licking himself. After he would be done cleaning himself he'd rush off and stay close to ground as if he was afraid of something. He would find a spot in the room and just sit there until another attack came. Later that night as I slept, which he usually sleeps with me or finds a hiding spot in the house, he was incredibly active. He was running and jumping on and off my bed. He tried to settle and sleep on my bed, but that didn't last long. He has never in the 3 years we have had him ever exhibited this kind of behavior where he appears to be constantly on cat nip. His symptoms seem to match with FHS, Feline hyperesthesia syndrome.
However, while he was madly cleaning himself he wasn't cleaning as harshly as some symptoms say or videos portray. He doesn't even seem very sensitive to touch. We also noticed that he had a considerable increase in dandruff which is something we've seen for the first time. We went to the vet the next day and he was clear, he had no fleas, ticks, nothing. The vet also noticed the amount of dandruff. We've ran the humidifier and started giving him wet food as to help his skin.
Luckily in the past few days he has started returning to his normal self, he's talking more, laying around more and looking out windows. I should also mention he never lost his appetite and always used the litter box. He seems to come out more in the open, which he is less afraid of as the day leaves and evening comes. He still continues to hide underneath my bed and when he stays still it seems he is less likely to have an episode, his episodes come less now and seem to be less aggressive. He still cleans himself with great force, but he's stopped licking in the areas FHS says he should and he also never attacked his tail.
We're going back to the vet again, even though his symptoms appear to be improving. I'm just at a loss between if he truly has FHS or should I assume that he probably has an allergy of some kind and he's only itchy because of the dandruff.
I'm sorry this is so long, any feedback is appreciated and I know I probably left some things out. Like that he is an indoor only cat.
Thank you!
First the basics:
My cat, Mr. Kitty, is a brown tabby and will be turning 3 next month. He's cuddly when he wants to be, he can be sassy, he's playful, and talkative. We've never had an issue with him health wise.
However, last Thursday there was a considerable shift in his behavior. Thursday morning went along as usual, he sat curled up in a ball and watched as I got ready and was perfectly content. Later that night we noticed that his back was twitching, he had "airplane ears", his ears and tail would flicker and he was aggressively licking himself. After he would be done cleaning himself he'd rush off and stay close to ground as if he was afraid of something. He would find a spot in the room and just sit there until another attack came. Later that night as I slept, which he usually sleeps with me or finds a hiding spot in the house, he was incredibly active. He was running and jumping on and off my bed. He tried to settle and sleep on my bed, but that didn't last long. He has never in the 3 years we have had him ever exhibited this kind of behavior where he appears to be constantly on cat nip. His symptoms seem to match with FHS, Feline hyperesthesia syndrome.
However, while he was madly cleaning himself he wasn't cleaning as harshly as some symptoms say or videos portray. He doesn't even seem very sensitive to touch. We also noticed that he had a considerable increase in dandruff which is something we've seen for the first time. We went to the vet the next day and he was clear, he had no fleas, ticks, nothing. The vet also noticed the amount of dandruff. We've ran the humidifier and started giving him wet food as to help his skin.
Luckily in the past few days he has started returning to his normal self, he's talking more, laying around more and looking out windows. I should also mention he never lost his appetite and always used the litter box. He seems to come out more in the open, which he is less afraid of as the day leaves and evening comes. He still continues to hide underneath my bed and when he stays still it seems he is less likely to have an episode, his episodes come less now and seem to be less aggressive. He still cleans himself with great force, but he's stopped licking in the areas FHS says he should and he also never attacked his tail.
We're going back to the vet again, even though his symptoms appear to be improving. I'm just at a loss between if he truly has FHS or should I assume that he probably has an allergy of some kind and he's only itchy because of the dandruff.
I'm sorry this is so long, any feedback is appreciated and I know I probably left some things out. Like that he is an indoor only cat.
Thank you!
