Hello. I have come to this site many times over the years and found a wealth of information and helpful people here, so here I am again looking for any input. I've read about every medical article there is out there so I would love some "average" human input. I have 5 cats, they are my world. The oldest, Bill, is a 5yo neutered male. I have had him since he was a very young kitten and got him from a trusted friend. He has had no major health problems in the past. However he has always been a bit "weird" for lack of a better word. Different than any other cats I've had, he's never liked to be held, scratched, or touched for long periods. Almost like he is hyper sensitive. I give him his space and occasionally he'll come sit in my lap and enjoy head pats. Anyway, 3 days ago, he had a full blown seizure that lasted around 30 seconds. I have never seen a seizure in a cat before, but it was unmistakable. He was sitting on the back of the toilet watching me do my makeup as usual, when his whole body went rigid, he fell to the floor, limbs stretched and stiff, and violently shook while foaming at the mouth. As soon as it started it seemed it was over. He "came to", and acted totally fine. Went to eat his food, was purring and playing. His behavior was completely normal after that including eating, drinking, and using the litter. I freaked out, everything I looked up online said 1 short duration seizure may not be cause for panic, if it doesn't happen again. I said I would wait and see what happened by Friday (tomorrow) and take him then. But then, today as soon as I got home from work he had another one.
So I took him to the animal hospital, they did $600 worth of tests, and were completely stumped. He had no obvious signs of poisoning, no head trauma, xrays were good, blood work and urine were all normal. They said for me to take him home and I'm coming back on Saturday when they will have a specialist vet in to discuss if it has happened again, and if so whether to do either more extensive (and expensive) tests like a CT or MRI, or to just put him on an anti-seizure regimen. I am just beside myself. It was horrifying to watch, I felt so helpless. I am racking my brain to think of ANYTHING external that could have caused it. He hasn't been outside, his brothers are all fine, I keep a fairly clean house with no easily accessible chemicals or toxins. I give him Revolution monthly and have for the last 3 years, and he is due for his next round this weekend. I did order their last bag of food off of Amazon instead of getting it at Walmart like normal, so I have thrown that bag out in case for some crazy reason that is the cause. So now I'm pouring over medical articles and any information I can find on cats with seizures, and everything says its extremely rare for cats to have them at all, and even more rare for them to have without an obvious cause like poisoning or trauma. I did read that epilepsy in cats has an average age onset of 4 years old, which he just turned 5. But would epilepsy happen that rapidly with 2 seizures in 3 days? It seems unlikely, but again I don't know. I am scared to leave him alone so I've taken off work tomorrow to wait for the Saturday vet. Hopefully we can find answers but it looks unlikely. So any advice, experiences, input, or just a kind word would be much appreciated. Thank you.
So I took him to the animal hospital, they did $600 worth of tests, and were completely stumped. He had no obvious signs of poisoning, no head trauma, xrays were good, blood work and urine were all normal. They said for me to take him home and I'm coming back on Saturday when they will have a specialist vet in to discuss if it has happened again, and if so whether to do either more extensive (and expensive) tests like a CT or MRI, or to just put him on an anti-seizure regimen. I am just beside myself. It was horrifying to watch, I felt so helpless. I am racking my brain to think of ANYTHING external that could have caused it. He hasn't been outside, his brothers are all fine, I keep a fairly clean house with no easily accessible chemicals or toxins. I give him Revolution monthly and have for the last 3 years, and he is due for his next round this weekend. I did order their last bag of food off of Amazon instead of getting it at Walmart like normal, so I have thrown that bag out in case for some crazy reason that is the cause. So now I'm pouring over medical articles and any information I can find on cats with seizures, and everything says its extremely rare for cats to have them at all, and even more rare for them to have without an obvious cause like poisoning or trauma. I did read that epilepsy in cats has an average age onset of 4 years old, which he just turned 5. But would epilepsy happen that rapidly with 2 seizures in 3 days? It seems unlikely, but again I don't know. I am scared to leave him alone so I've taken off work tomorrow to wait for the Saturday vet. Hopefully we can find answers but it looks unlikely. So any advice, experiences, input, or just a kind word would be much appreciated. Thank you.