Freya has weird neurological/mental issues

Tigger's Mum

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Yes, a steam cleaner can clean without any chemicals beyond what's in your water.
Even better if you can filter it first as that takes a lot of chemicals out of it. Where I live we have really hard water and it's a killer of kettles. My latest kettle is only 3 years old and is leaking round the base. We're not bothering with another traditional electric kettle but going for a water dispenser that dispenses both hot and chilled water (it's expensive at £200 or $250) but has an inbuilt filter in it which will take out most of the chemicals and limescale. I drink a lot of bottled water so it will pay itself back over time.
 

IndyJones

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Even better if you can filter it first as that takes a lot of chemicals out of it. Where I live we have really hard water and it's a killer of kettles. My latest kettle is only 3 years old and is leaking round the base. We're not bothering with another traditional electric kettle but going for a water dispenser that dispenses both hot and chilled water (it's expensive at £200 or $250) but has an inbuilt filter in it which will take out most of the chemicals and limescale. I drink a lot of bottled water so it will pay itself back over time.
Get a water softener. Here the water is crazy hard. Water softener is a standard household appliance here and every house on municipal water has one. They do work quite well, just have to remember to fill it with salt every so often. I hate how hard water leaves my skin dry and dirty feeling after a shower. Soft water leaves skin soft and clean feeling. It also extends the life of water heaters (tankless in particular), coffee makers, and other water using appliances.
 

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The symptoms she is showing really aren't consistent with exposure to household chemicals as far as I know. I think Anthony is being careful.
For my cats, I use Dawn dish soap to clean the litter pans as it rinses very well. Dishwasher detergent is very toxic as is laundry soap. And what is awesome here in the US is that the fire retardant used on almost everything fabric and otherwise in houses is suspected of causing hyperthyroidism in cats. My cat is of course hyperthyroid.
 
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The symptoms she is showing really aren't consistent with exposure to household chemicals as far as I know. I think Anthony is being careful.
For my cats, I use Dawn dish soap to clean the litter pans as it rinses very well. Dishwasher detergent is very toxic as is laundry soap. And what is awesome here in the US is that the fire retardant used on almost everything fabric and otherwise in houses is suspected of causing hyperthyroidism in cats. My cat is of course hyperthyroid.
I, too, suspect that what is triggering her symptoms is some kind of external stimuli, like a noise, a light, a smell, or internal, like hormones.

Freya fully returned to herself on Sunday, when she was loving, playful, alert and hungry as usual.
If my theory about hormones is correct, I'm expecting another period of "mental blackout" by the end of the month.
Meanwhile I'm trying to avoid any over-stimulation, like not petting her when she doesn't ask me for, speaking to her in a softer voice, keeping a strict routine, etc.

Last week the vet prescribed me the phenobarbital with the indication to start it right away. I bought the drug, but never opened the box, and I think I will never do.
 
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Antonio65

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And what is awesome here in the US is that the fire retardant used on almost everything fabric and otherwise in houses is suspected of causing hyperthyroidism in cats. My cat is of course hyperthyroid.
Don't know how much and often fire retardants are used in items over here in Europe.
Once I read that one of the suspect material for HT in cats was the inner coating of wet food cans. But who knows... My cat was HT, she's at the Bridge now (her death was unrelated to HT).
 
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Freya is still doing fine without medicines, she's eating as usual, is playful and loving.
It seems that everything is as it should be... BUT...

It seems to me she's more vocal than she was before. When she pees in the litter box she isn't covering it anymore, she leaves this puddle of urine right there, when she was very careful at covering it until a week or so ago. She never did that before.
Her urine has a strong smell.
She's eating the same food she used to eat. Her urinalysis was fine a week ago, apart a slightly lighter specific gravity.
 

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I'm glad to hear Freya is doing well. Keep in mind that petite mal seizures, like grand mal seizures can be spaced out over time with weeks or even months passing between events. Not saying that's what is going on, but to
let you know it's possible and to suggest caution if she has favorite sleeping places high up. You might want to put cushions around the base of the cat tree in case she did have a seizure while on it and fell off.

Our cat did not receive seizure medicine for his grand mal seizures because they were infrequent -- once every month or so and because the vet was afraid fighting the pills down him, and it was a two person job, could trigger a seizure. (This was due to his individual temperament not a general cat temperament thing.) We were fortunate in that he didn't like going any higher than chair seats and we had a sweet little pittie who kept an eye on him and would come get us when he had a seizure.
 
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I'm glad to hear Freya is doing well. Keep in mind that petite mal seizures, like grand mal seizures can be spaced out over time with weeks or even months passing between events. Not saying that's what is going on, but to
let you know it's possible and to suggest caution if she has favorite sleeping places high up. You might want to put cushions around the base of the cat tree in case she did have a seizure while on it and fell off.
Thanks for the input.
Anyway I have never witnessed any seizures in the last 14 months, never an episode when she fell on a side or had an accident. She is just confused and lost, but she is mostly keeping to do the same things, like eating and using the litter box. Sometimes she just has to figure out where her stuff is. The only thing is that she doesn't play too much and is less affectionate during those periods because she doesn't recognize most of what surrounds her for a few days.
The only very bad and scary episode was the one in March last year.

I've been told of another pet in the same condition, with moments during the year when it feels lost, disoriented, and it lives in a world of its own for a few days.
Its the pet of an experienced vet, who is doing nothing at all, no drug, no tests.
 

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First I'm not a vet or a doctor or a medical person. What I speak to here is observation in cases diagnosed by the medical profession, not me.

"seizures in the last 14 months, never an episode when she fell on a side or had an accident. " this describes a grand mal seizure in people and cats (the only grand mal seizures I've personally observed.)

This "She is just confused and lost," describes the petite mal seizures I've observed. The two additional things I noticed in the person was that she would walk around in circles talking as in a conversation. I asked her about it when she came out of the event. She said, "I see people I know when I'm having an episode and we talk. I understand they aren't really there." She was speaking of people who were currently alive. She did not find it frightening. It did leave her a little tired afterward, but didn't affect what she was doing. Since she didn't take the seizure medicine she didn't drive and only cooked when someone else was in the house.

The person who had grand mal seizures didn't describe anything he saw or experienced when in them, except that he didn't find them distressing. But, he was a person who found very little frightening or distressing. He did take medicine to prevent the seizures.

Not arguing, just offering you information you may not have.
 
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How fortunate you are to have a vet who admits he was wrong. When will he do the surgery? Because it's really unfortunate that this happened with her since going into heat seems to make her angry instead of sweeter.
 
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Well, he didn't say they were wrong, and neither he said I was right... :lol: that would be asking too much :lol:
He just told me the result of the test is a clue of an ovary remnant.

He didn't say anything about the surgery, he said they want to try the hormonal stimulation and see if a scan can reveal the precise position of this remnant, and then they will think about the surgery.
He agreed with me that we'd better leave Freya alone for a while and let her relax.
Also, he agreed with me with not starting the phenobarbital therapy yet. He said I am right with waiting if it is really needed.

Rather than making her angry, the heat seems to make her confused and out of place.

I'd rather say, it's fortunate that my cats has (or had) a dad like me who always advocated for the right tests/scans/treatments whenever they had an issue and my vets didn't know what to do or want to intervene.
 

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what is the hormonal treatment? Will it make the 'piece' that was left in go away, or stop producing the hormone? If the latter, it would be one way to make the vet feel confident about the surgery -- he'd have proof of what he was removing.

And that's good this is being discovered. However, you might want to keep in mind the descriptions of petite mal and grand mal, because with your history of finding cats with problems you're going to be sent one with the condition, because that's the way this stuff works. <wink>
 
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what is the hormonal treatment? Will it make the 'piece' that was left in go away, or stop producing the hormone? If the latter, it would be one way to make the vet feel confident about the surgery -- he'd have proof of what he was removing.
It's a hormonal stimulation. The vet should inject a drug that stimulates the ovary (or its remnant) to produce a hormone and the scan should reveal its position, so the vets know where to put their hands.
In the document I attached in THIS POST , page 4, you will read about this (in Italian, but it can be easily translated online).

And that's good this is being discovered. However, you might want to keep in mind the descriptions of petite mal and grand mal, because with your history of finding cats with problems you're going to be sent one with the condition, because that's the way this stuff works. <wink>
Of course, I will keep my eyes wide open ;)
 

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UPDATE:

The vet just called me with a preliminary result of the LH test on Freya's blood, and according to this preliminary report, it seems that the chances of a ovary remnant in her body are rather high.

Just like I suspected since last year in October.

It's so boring to be always right... :rolleyes:
My old cat Hector had a ovary remnant but she was so tiny that I never went through with surgery for it. She had some false heats but nothing I couldn't handle.

Apparently it's quite common in smaller cats. She was only 8lbs at her heaviest.
 

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I was just thinking, because this post reminded me of when SG was in heat and there were 10+ toms who took up residence in the front and side yard. I'm thinking that that first time when Freya raced around the house and you got hurt, maybe what scared her where the tom cats shouting challenges at each other.

The toms infuriated SG and she would lunge at the windows swearing when she saw them. Then she'd call her dog, who would come stand at the window. At that point the toms moved a few yards away from the house but they didn't leave until after the heat was over. We got used to their screaming and fights. Cat fights are so much sound and fury.

Tom cat spray is strong and the smell might be distressing Freya. If you've never dealt with tom cat spray, get gallons of white vinegar and just pour it on the spot. I know some people think white vinegar will kill plants, but I can honestly say it never killed any of mine. If you have a really delicate plant you might not want to use it.
 
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My old cat Hector had a ovary remnant but she was so tiny that I never went through with surgery for it. She had some false heats but nothing I couldn't handle.
I wonder if false heats can lead to the same issues as the normal heats, namely potential cancers.

Apparently it's quite common in smaller cats. She was only 8lbs at her heaviest.
As far as I know, in the US vets spay cats when they are very young (as young as 4 months old), hence tiny cats. This could cause lots of similar cases.

Freya was 6.3 lbs and 10 months old when she was spayed.

I think it's more common with incompetent vets. I suspected that something could have gone wrong when I brought Freya back home and saw the incision. It was longer, not straight and less precise than the one my other cat had the year before, and I thought it was made by an inexperienced vet...
 
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