Update on neuro cat - no doubt about seizures now :(

[dontskipthecafe]

I have a 3-year-old DSH who I found as a 6-week-old abandoned kitten at college. He is the sweetest little thing, but he has some issues.

Lumos used to sneeze constantly, leaving snot and ick everywhere. Took him to the vet about a year ago, he had a couple of shots and now that problem has departed, hopefully never to return. I can’t remember exactly what it was, but it appears to be resolved.

Recently, my parents have informed me that he’s been behaving very weirdly at night. He will go into their room and stand on my dad’s side of the bed, quivering and making little squeaky cat noises. He lashes out if anyone touches him when he is doing this behavior, but if you leave him alone, he’ll stop within a few minutes and go back to sweet normal cat.

In the past couple of months, he has also had two seizures. Apparently he’ll lie on the floor, all stretched out and twitching, for about five minutes before he snaps out of it. He’ll walk like he’s drunk for a few more minutes and then he’s fine.

My friend was over recently and she did a couple of the classic neuro tests (he reached for a chair he was moved away from, and pulls his paws away if you grab them) and he seems to pass them okay, but I’m pretty concerned about my baby boy.

Yes, I will be consulting his vet.

[dontskipthecafe]

Oh, something else. He has a tendency to roll around and fall off of things randomly. I’m not sure if that’s just “uncoordinated cat” or something significant. He also sometimes misses when he tries to jump onto things. I’m wondering if maybe he doesn’t have depth perception? He does have a cloudy spot in his left eye.

[DownYonder]

Sorry about your kitty.

I had one for 14 years that I took in as a stray when he was maybe around 1 year old. He was fine until his last year, then he started developing neuro symptoms - weird posturing, etc. We took him to various specialists, but they couldn’t really figure out what was going on. One vet thought he had mad cow disease. Another vet thought he might have a brain tumor. My regular vet said he had feline leukemia, apparently contracted during his life as a stray, and that the disease had triggered the neuro symptoms. He had also started getting quite thin, and after a couple of full fledged seizures, we elected to have him euthanized.

See what your vet says, but based on my experience, I would suspect feline leukemia.

[dontskipthecafe]

[QUOTE=DownYonder;8027793]
Sorry about your kitty.

I had one for 14 years that I took in as a stray when he was maybe around 1 year old. He was fine until his last year, then he started developing neuro symptoms - weird posturing, etc. We took him to various specialists, but they couldn’t really figure out what was going on. One vet thought he had mad cow disease. Another vet thought he might have a brain tumor. My regular vet said he had feline leukemia, apparently contracted during his life as a stray, and that the disease had triggered the neuro symptoms. He had also started getting quite thin, and after a couple of full fledged seizures, we elected to have him euthanized.

See what your vet says, but based on my experience, I would suspect feline leukemia.[/QUOTE]

Oh wow. I’m really hoping that’s not it. He doesn’t appear thin, but I’ve noticed recently that his hipbones are kind of prominent when you touch him. He’s also weirdly heavy for his size, but that may just be that he’s more muscular than my other cats. My friend suspects Twitchy Cat Syndrome may also be a potential culprit.

[Horsegal984]

I’m wondering if feline hyperesthesia may be the reason for the strange episodes and lashing out, it is actually painful to a hyperesthetic cat to be touched. My guy has this secondary to Corona, but his are so few I don’t medicate him.

[dungrulla]

The cat DID have the sneezies, so this would support horsegal’s theory. Fortunately this disorder is mostly-transient and harmless, and if it gets bad there is medication for it.

[dontskipthecafe]

My cat seemed to be doing okay since his last episode that I mentioned here, but now he’s scaring me again.

I heard some thumping in the basement and then he ran upstairs squeaking and weaving before collapsing on the floor. He was flipping around and very obviously seizing, not just twitching. It lasted maybe two minutes, he was drooling and when he finally stopped convulsing he just laid on the floor, breathing really hard with his pupils blown. Eventually he got up and wobbled around the kitchen, squeaking. Seemed to be okay within five minutes, but it scared the living hell out of me.

[Louise]

Has this cat seen a vet?

[dontskipthecafe]

[QUOTE=Louise;8184196]
Has this cat seen a vet?[/QUOTE]

He is going to the vet again this week. Last visit was inconclusive.

[Horsegal984]

If he does it again film as much as possible. And ask your vet to either consult with a neurologist or refer you to one. Jingles for your kitty!

[jen-s]

No suggestions, just jingles! I hope you get good answers very soon.

[shiloh]

Oh, poor kitty…Watching a seizure is very upsetting and frightening. My beloved Tessa had them in her last months and watching her go thru that was awful.

If this cat was a human we would be shoving him into a CT instantly. Just from what I have observed (IMHO) he sounds like classic seizure disorder. I would also wonder about epilepsy or a brain mass. Even an x-ray would be a place to start.

Jingling for kitty!!! Keep us updated.