Hyperesthesia Kitty

[Alldara]

Well putting away holiday items is outside of routine. I wonder if it could be a dust allergy.

 

[stephanie junca]

Well putting away holiday items is outside of routine. I wonder if it could be a dust allergy.

Yes, he has dust allergies. He is on Claritin for this. But, we didn't do this on Wednesday as well and he also had a pretty bad day then.

 

[Eurocat]

Hi - so sorry to hear that.
I know how frustrated and scared I got when my new little semi-feral kitten started repeatedly scratching herself open in various places for about 4 weeks and all tests came back negative. This in itself was a long story - but in the end it seemingly turned out to have been a combination of issues and has never recurred (touch wood).
I think it‘s great you‘re exploring all avenues and I’d just continue approaching this in many paths parallely as you‘re already doing:
Check his food and environment for allergens (could there maybe a problem with the cat litter?)
Check or reduce as many medications/treatments as possible that may be contributing to the issue.
You mentioned in one post that when your husband plays the guitar it seems to help - so it must be a distraction. Could taking your kitty out for a walk on a harness be a further distraction (and movement is good for nervous energy?)
Do you have any unknown animals that roam around the house that could be triggering him?
And by the way - congratulations that you‘re expecting a baby!
Here too just as a thought which could be way off - but do you think there possibly could be any correlation between your pregnancy and his behaviour?
I’m just mentioning this because a friend‘s very cuddly cat started growling at her intermittantly in her very early pregnancy which continued until the baby was born. Once he actually saw the baby apparently he stopped the growling and then after a bit of initial sceptical hissing at her son he did become very accepting (and later affectionate) towards her son, but did start getting stressed with the crying. They then moved to a larger house, with more space for him to retreat and a garden, which solved the issue.
The cat - who was very much her cat - obviously realized something had changed with the pregnancy (smell, heartbeat, energy - who knows what cat’s pick up) which made him insecure.
As before - crossing all fingers that things improve

 

[stephanie junca]

Do you have any unknown animals that roam around the house that could be triggering him?
And by the way - congratulations that you‘re expecting a baby!
Here too just as a thought which could be way off - but do you think there possibly could be any correlation between your pregnancy and his behaviour?

We do have strays that come and go through our backyard but they mainly come through during summer. We installed a new fence and that seemed to keep most out of our backyard. We have a camera in our yard that picks them up when they do come through and the last one was I believe in September.

Thank you! ... I honestly wondered if there was something to me being pregnant and him starting to act up as it started around the same time when we found out I was expecting. I googled about it and most articles I read said they wouldn't be able to know until about the 3rd trimester. I am at the end of my first trimester still. We go to the vet next week so I will ask her then to see what she thinks. That is as far as I can recall the only big change that has happened in the past few months. We havent changed our routines or schedules though and havent brought in new baby things yet even though people are kindly giving us things already... we have been keeping them in our storage outside.

 

[Joxer]

We do have strays that come and go through our backyard but they mainly come through during summer. We installed a new fence and that seemed to keep most out of our backyard. We have a camera in our yard that picks them up when they do come through and the last one was I believe in September.

Thank you! ... I honestly wondered if there was something to me being pregnant and him starting to act up as it started around the same time when we found out I was expecting. I googled about it and most articles I read said they wouldn't be able to know until about the 3rd trimester. I am at the end of my first trimester still. We go to the vet next week so I will ask her then to see what she thinks. That is as far as I can recall the only big change that has happened in the past few months. We havent changed our routines or schedules though and havent brought in new baby things yet even though people are kindly giving us things already... we have been keeping them in our storage outside.

You could see if certain sounds are triggers, even if they're things you can't hear (as a human). Maybe he tends to start attacking himself right after the heat comes on, and the culprit is a noisy furnace blower (if you have forced air heat). Or the refrigerator compressor. Cats can hear very high frequency sounds, far beyond the range of human hearing, so some sort of mechanical device could be the culprit. Or maybe a close neighbor has installed one of those high-frequency sound "pest" deterrents.

One of my cats is terrified of the sound of adhesive tape being pulled off a roll. She'll dash out of the room and hide whenever I'm taping up a box to mail something. None of my other cats have ever been bothered by that sound. Even the littlest things can be triggers.

 

[stephanie junca]

Sad news. Yesterday Lugosi was in a non-stop loop of growling, hissing and attacking his tail. I woke up as usual in the morning, fed him first and then fed the rest of the animals (including us humans). The dogs were in the backyard at this time. I was in the kitchen when he started so I went to try and relax him. He was ok for a second and then one of the dog's wanted to come back in so I let her in and Lugosi ran out the door growling and hissing. He was out there attacking himself non-stop. It was terrifying to the say the least. I'm sure our neighbor's could hear him screeching and growling out there. He finally came back to the door so we let him in and it was just incessant self-attacking. We wrapped him in a sheet and put him in his carrier to hopefully restrict his movement but he continued growling, hissing and self-mutilating in there. We came really close to taking him to the Emergency vet because it went on for hours. I put him in one of our bathrooms to hopefully give him some calm time while in his carrier but we could hear him continuing in there. My husband and I had to leave for a few hours to do some errands so we put some more towels in the carrier with him with this calming spray that I have because we just did not know what else to do. When we came back all was quiet luckily so we went to check on him. He came out with a bloody tail of course but was happy to see us. He purred and rubbed against us and then within a minute he began attacking himself again. We put his tight shirt back on to restrict his movement a bit and cuddled him on the couch and he finally subdued and fell asleep. He was mostly ok the rest of the evening but around dinner time he had a short episode. He actually started hiding in our closet after that. Today he had two short episodes, did not eat at all and has just been hiding in our closet the whole time. The closet has always been where our kitties hide when they don't feel well. Something about the darkness plus its location in the house seems to be a good place for them but it always has let me know they don't feel well. He is not well. I am even more concerned after this weekend if that's even possible. Since I can't scoop his litter right now I always ask for a pee/poo report from my husband and he's noted huge clumps of pee in there. I am thinking of getting another blood panel done for him to check his kidney values when I take him to the vet this week. I have lost two kitties to chronic kidney disease and one had aggressive behavior when they were with high levels.

Thanks for reading. It's nice to write this out in a place where I know people love their kitties as much as I do.

 

[Alldara]

Good idea. For you.

I wish we had more ideas.

 

[stephanie junca]

Thanks. We'll see if anything comes up. He is only 3 years old so I never thought it could be relating to kidneys. His last blood panel came back clear last year but that was done almost a year ago now. Anything can change in a year for our feline friends I have learned. My other two who had CKD started showing signs when they were both 14. One I was able to prolong her life for another 3.5 years with sub-Q fluids, prescription diet and meds. But the second unfortunately was not a candidate for the treatments due to heart disease and GI lymphoma. He passed pretty quickly after diagnosis. But the last 6 months, he had bouts of aggression towards his kitty sister and myself.

 

[Alldara]

I just wrote on another poster thread actually about grumpiness due to arthritis pain and tooth pain in my (now late) cat Nobel. How we didn't catch these things even in regular exams until they were there for awhile. It was a regular dental cleaning x-ray that caught the two cracked teeth.

And K Kflowers reminded me that they had a cat who was 1 with arthritis that was caught via x-ray as well.

I forgot, did we discuss if he's had x-rays in this thread?

 

[stephanie junca]

He is having x-rays done when I take him in this week on Thursday morning. They tried doing x-rays in November when this all started but he was too agitated and scratched and bit one of the vet techs ... I have to give him a heavy dose of gabapentin beforehand.

 

[Alldara]

He is having x-rays done when I take him in this week on Thursday morning. They tried doing x-rays in November when this all started but he was too agitated and scratched and bit one of the vet techs ... I have to give him a heavy dose of gabapentin beforehand.

What a mess for you all.

 

[fionasmom]

I do have a boy who is now 7 who was dxed with kidney disease at 2, and then HCM. So, sadly, there are these outliers who can acquire these conditions at a young age.

I would also discuss seizure medication with your vet. It may not be the answer, but I would inquire about it.

 

[stephanie junca]

I do have a boy who is now 7 who was dxed with kidney disease at 2, and then HCM. So, sadly, there are these outliers who can acquire these conditions at a young age.

I would also discuss seizure medication with your vet. It may not be the answer, but I would inquire about it.

Sorry to the hear that. ...

I spoke to the vet last week and she did suggest trying out Phenobarbital. It did seem seizure-like this weekend.

 

[stephanie junca]

Update on our little guy. The vet ran bloodwork to check values as well as checking for any sort of infection (felv, fiv, toxoplasmosis, etc). Everything came back normal and clear of infection. She also did several x-ray views of his spine, torso and tail. Again, everything showed normal. She sent the radiographs to a radiologist just to double-check her and they said that they did not see any abnormalities. She said that he has severe hyperesthesia. Even on 200mg/4mls of Gabapentin, he was growling at his tail while at the vet . We're going to start him on Phenobarbital while weaning him off of Prozac as it does not seem to be doing anything. My husband pretty much told me that he does not want to spend anymore on diagnostics and that if Phenobarbital doesn't work we may just have to let him go (he is thinking of our future baby here). Lugosi's episodes are happening all day every day and are severe. When we can control him while wrapping in blankets, he just stays there for hours because we can tell he is afraid to move if he starts to have an episode. He doesn't eat his food much anymore. He is declining. We had to have his Phenobarbital compounded into liquid form because he does not take pills well, so we should be getting that next week some time. It's a sad situation but it's sadder to see him in this state all the time.

 

[silent meowlook]

I am sorry. What you are describing doesn’t sound like much of a life for him. Please do make sure your vet has consulted with th Ed behavior vets at VIN. They are absolutely the best when it comes to issues like this and the correct medications.
I s as n so sorry you all are suffering.

 

[silent meowlook]

You may find something useful below.

Hyperesthesia Syndrome in Cats

 

[Alldara]

Update on our little guy. The vet ran bloodwork to check values as well as checking for any sort of infection (felv, fiv, toxoplasmosis, etc). Everything came back normal and clear of infection. She also did several x-ray views of his spine, torso and tail. Again, everything showed normal. She sent the radiographs to a radiologist just to double-check her and they said that they did not see any abnormalities. She said that he has severe hyperesthesia. Even on 200mg/4mls of Gabapentin, he was growling at his tail while at the vet . We're going to start him on Phenobarbital while weaning him off of Prozac as it does not seem to be doing anything. My husband pretty much told me that he does not want to spend anymore on diagnostics and that if Phenobarbital doesn't work we may just have to let him go (he is thinking of our future baby here). Lugosi's episodes are happening all day every day and are severe. When we can control him while wrapping in blankets, he just stays there for hours because we can tell he is afraid to move if he starts to have an episode. He doesn't eat his food much anymore. He is declining. We had to have his Phenobarbital compounded into liquid form because he does not take pills well, so we should be getting that next week some time. It's a sad situation but it's sadder to see him in this state all the time.

I'm so sorry. I hope a different medication works.
It just really heckin sucks when we can't help them feel better <3

 

[stephanie junca]

Thanks S silent meowlook ! Our vet has given us print outs from VIN including this one you linked to, so I know she is aware of the resources there. She is consulting with other specialists for advice. I feel like at this point we have tried to do so much for our poor guy and Phenobarbital is our next/last step.

Last night while I was trying to soothe him from another episode, I had that feeling of loss with him. Not sure if that makes sense. I know he is suffering immensely.

 

[Eurocat]

Oh no - so sorry.
By the way were his teeth checked too? (As Alldara mentioned I‘ve also seen cats compulsively licking/biting which have teeth/gum) issues.
Has he had a brain MRI? - I understand from his history of symptoms that a tumour would be unlikely and would also exhibit differently - But you never know. Would be interesting if anything abnormal shows up, before he‘s put on phenobarbitol.
But getting set up for an MRI is probably also very stressful for him (and a cost factor for you).
Really such a tough situation, especially if he‘s deteriorating.

 

[stephanie junca]

Sad and final update on poor Mr. Lugosi. Before we received the Phenobarbital, he began fainting and losing his balance. This happened in the litterbox and also while he was going up or down stairs. Our vet suggested we take him to a neurologist and we looked into pricing and what they would do. The main course of action would have been an MRI which would cost $2K-$3K plus any follow-up treatments which we unfortunately cannot afford.

After receiving the Phenobarbital and administering it as prescribed, we saw no improvements or changes. Our vet suggested we increase the dose slightly and again no changes or improvements. If anything we have only seen more decline. Since he is unable to eat much without attacking himself, he barely consumes anything and has begun vomiting white foam and is frequently constipated. He is in a constant state of growling at himself too when not asleep. We had to put a cone on him as he tore open his tail so severely that he was pouring blood. We were able to stop the bleeding at home and consulted with the vet again.

Unfortunately, this week, we have decided to let him rest as he is suffering terribly. We have his appointment scheduled for Monday evening. Sad that it has come to this point. Someone who I connected with recently who also has a cat with FHS told me this that really made me feel better with this decision as I always thought behavioral euthanasia was somewhat cruel:

"FHS is a medical condition just like cancer, or diabetes, etc. Sometimes medical conditions get to a point where they are so negatively affecting a cat’s quality of life, that euthanasia needs to be considered if it’s gotten to the point where there are no effective treatments available. This is NOT a situation where you are putting the cat down because of his negative behavior, but you are helping to end suffering in a situation where, because of a medical disease, the cat is suffering and can’t realistically be helped. If Lugosi had cancer and it got to the point where he couldn’t do the things he needed to do to care for himself, or the things he enjoys, you wouldn’t question the decision to help him pass. FHS is no different."

Thanks again everyone for your helpful words and thoughts during this time! I am very grateful to be able to reach out to this community when I need help.