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Posted by Martisimo on January 20, 2003 at 10:35:16:
In Reply to: strange seizures, vet is mystified! posted by Aretha on January 19, 2003 at 13:36:08:
Sounds very mysterious. My sister's cat had a violent seizure that sounds very much like those you describe, right down to the fact that the cat displayed signs that something was coming before he had the seizure, but he only had one and none since, despite the fact that the emergency room vet fully expected him to continue to have them periodically. He ran the regular complete profile and sent off titers for some fairly rare viruses, which were negative. It's now been a year and it's still unexplainable. The only thing we know is that it was accompanied by a spike in his glucose levels, which were completely normal again when we re-tested a month later.
If it were my cat, and my vet (whom I also think is very clever!) was stumped after running every test she could possibly think of, I would ask her for a referal to a specialist since these seizures keep coming and their aftermath seem very disruptive to your cat's life. I don't know where you live, so it very well could require traveling to a nearby city or university and, of course, specialists cost more than a regular vet...but that's what I would do if it were my cat.
:My 12-year-old house cat has been having seizures for about 4 months. These seizures usually involve rigid legs, thrown back head, and variable amounts of kicking and salivating -- usually lasting no more than 30 seconds or so. At its worst, she has had up to four or five of these seizures in one day, but she has sometimes gone a week or more without one. Each seizure is followed by a near comatose state where she seems unaware of anything around her. Provided she doesn't seize again, she usually regains consciousness in a few hours then, on wobbly legs and seemily vision-impaired, begins compulsively staggering around the house, bumping into things or falling over for lack of balence. Gradually, she regains the ability to walk, jump up on furniture, claw the drapes and other cat-like behavior. We can tell when another seizure is on the way because she starts staring at the walls with a vacant expression and her tongue hanging partially out.
:Throughout (except when she's comatose) she retains a healthy appetite; her skin and coat are in lovely condition; and she's never run a fever or exhibited other signs of illness. (We have another cat who is perfectly normal -- for a cat.) Our vet has ruled out poison as well as other maladies that can be tested through blood or urinary analysis. He thinks that a brain tumor would result in a more progressive sort of disease -- as opposed to the on again off again problem she exhibits. We've treated her with steroids and antibiotics, although neither seems to have had much effect. We've been able to lessen the frequency and severity of the seizures with diazepam, although this makes her almost as listless as the seizures do. I would love to find the CAUSE of these seizures and treat that instead of the symptom, but my normally very clever vet is stumped. Have any of you ever run into this problem??? If so, I would love to hear any theories or read any materials you could steer me toward.
:Thanks VERY much for you input,
:Aretha
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