Is Boo having seizures?

[worriedsomuch]

Well I know my cat that passed from CRF had some head tremors beginning around age 10. He even had them when he was walking around (not every day, they were infrequent). He was healthy then and the vet just thought it was old age. My other cat started having them at age 12 and the vet also felt it was age related. He only experienced maybe 1-2 tremors I think though that I remember. I do think age can play a factor especially with the tremors as a majority of cats I hear about with tremors are "senior" cats. That's what really has me up in arms with Grace because she's just 5. One vet said she's practically a "baby" when I brought up all the possible causes of her tics/tremors/twitches.

Also, Grace does stay in one spot usually when she's having the tics/tremors. She'll stay seated if she is resting or standing looking at the birds. I do find the whole thing still so puzzling.

 

[ritz]

Allergies has been raised as a possible cause of FHS; that is why sometimes a change in diet is recommended.

When the FHS symptoms begin, I try to distract Ritz by playing with her--her favorite toy is ornamental grass, which she can 'kill' and 'eat'.  If the episode is minor, sometimes the distraction works; if major, nothing works except leaving her alone and pray and saying reassuring words.

And yeah, there are two different kinds of tremors being discussed--the kind that don't bother the cat and the kind that do.

Ritz is around four years old.  And lived the first four to six months of her life on the streets, so she is hard wired to be stressed out.

 

[goholistic]

Aw...poor Ritz. 

  She doesn't go as far as full-on attacking her tail and making herself bleed, does she? I've read horror stories of this and saw a video (once) that scarred me for life. It was horrible.

I addressed the possible allergy issue with Boo for 2-3 months and it didn't make a difference.

So you've tried diet and Prozac, right? What else have you tried?

 

[ritz]

No, thank goodness the worst symptom is when she races up and down the hall, trying to escaping the 'demons'.  She has never self-mutilated.

Yes I've tried Prozac.

The symptoms were sporadic (once every few months) for the last two years until the beginning of January 2014; several stressful events happened over a period of three or four months, including having a rabies vaccination.  I don't think the rabies vaccination caused the FHS; I think it was perhaps a combination of several factors.

I've been feeding Ritz raw for almost two years.  The attacks do not seem to be related to the protein I feed her.  (She'll eat anything, from llama to deer to chicken.)

I have been/am treating Ritz with some homeopathic medicine prescribed by a vet for stress induced UTIs and a voracious appetite.  I plan to call the vet in a few weeks to give him an update and, if necessary, get some homeopathic medicine for the FHS.

 

[goholistic]

Oh, okay. Well at least she isn't self-mutilating.

I guess let me know how it goes. Sending

for Ritz!

 

[worriedsomuch]

Poor Ritz

I thought there had to be an allergy link in there somewhere. Grace has been grooming a lot again so I think she's still itchy too. I think I am going to have to try to figure out what is causing her allergies, although the doctor thinks they are seasonal. He did say dietary changes might be the next step if anything.

Unfortunately I am a nervous wreck this morning. Last night I noticed Grace makes this odd face. It's almost like her jaw goes a little slack, not like her mouth is hanging open but her lower lip is more visible and her face looks elongated. She just looks at me like that sometimes and then she yawns or moves or something and goes back to normal. Then I am getting ready for work and ate some toast. There were a few crumbs on the table and Grace usually likes to lick them. Well she was up there licking the crumbs. Then I turn around to grab my stuff to go and she has her head up and is licking, snapping at the air. It really shook me! Am I being overly afraid? The whole "slack jaw" and "air licking" has me thinking neurological problems again. I read one of the seizure articles (I honestly shouldn't as doctors have recommended I stop internet researching for my anxiety) and they mentioned a seizure type behavior called "fly catching" so I'm thinking, that must be what they are talking about. I tried to rationalize that maybe a crumb was bugging her mouth or something and I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. She didn't seem to have any altered consciousness. I called her and she didn't look but then she finally did and she looked 100% fine. Honestly my psyche is so fragile right now going through these issues though.

I don't want to call the vet again since we spoke just 4-5 days ago. Any advice?

 

[worriedsomuch]

I am so stressed out over this. I posted yesterday about Graces mouth snapping episode. Well yesterday was horrible for her. She was having several of her mouth tics. These are different from the usual. She has had these probably for quite awhile (years anyway) and I wasn't sure why. When I mentioned it to the vet, he said it might be from her slight overcrowding of teeth. He told me that if she doesn't seem to be very bothered by the extra bottom tooth she has, then I can disregard it for now. However, yesterday she was in a lip smacking/head shaking frenzy. She does this motion like something is stuck in her mouth and shakes out her head. Usually this occurs after grooming or after eating some dry food. She also was grooming every minute! I was so distressed by the whole thing that I couldn't even eat dinner. I'm starting to think she might be exhibiting some signs of FHS maybe brought on by the allergies. I know I probably sound like I'm acting nuts but when I think my cat isn't feeling well, I can't feel well either. Last night, I had a friend over for dinner. Grace was there sitting down and when I looked at her, it appeared she was rocking back and forth. I jumped up from the table, terrified and my friend gave me a look like I'd finally lost it. She said that Grace was sitting in a funny position and her breathing was causing her to move like that. I think she's probably right but still this whole thing makes me ill.

She only would have episodes before of the lip smacking/head shake maybe 1-2 times per week. Yesterday she did this about 5-6 times! It happened in the morning, when I arrived home from work, after she groomed a lot, after she ate, and then before bed. Then I barely slept last night, got up before the alarm clock costing me an extra hour or so of sleep just because of my anxiety over this. Then her bratty "siblings" somehow got into the treat container so they were eating when I was in the bathroom getting ready for work. When I walked out, she was doing it again, probably because she ate the food. Then before I left, yet again, she was doing a head jerk and shaking her head. I don't know if this is the tooth or what, some kind of FHS thing (as I heard this can be a sign). I hate to put her through an extraction. I've read some scary stories about cats not doing so well with them. Also, if it's not necessary, I hate to do it too. I'm not even sure her regular vet does extractions so she might have to travel to a specialist. I'm just so overwhelmed. Sorry but I needed to just kind of vent here. It's probably the only place where people can understand. I called my mom and she just blew me off completely. It was very upsetting.

 

[ritz]

I forget--are you seeing a feline vet or a vet who sees all animals.
You might want to see a feline only vet.
Have you gone to a neurologist specialist vet?
I know when I think something is wrong with Ritz, I start noticing EVERY little thing. Who knows, maybe Ritz has been grooming herself just as much now as she did last year--or maybe I'm just noticing it more. Don't know. So I look to other more concrete behaviors. As my cat mentor (who rescued Ritz) advised me four years ago when I adopted Ritz--my first cat ever--if a cat is peeing/pooping/playing/eating normally, then chances are, Ritz is okay.

 

[worriedsomuch]

I see a vet who sees just cats and dogs mainly. I like this vet a great deal, as well as the other vets who work in the practice. They are great about answering calls and questions. I don't want to switch even if it's to a feline vet. I have not seen the neurologist yet. I was advised against it. The vet didn't see it being necessary given Grace's 2 normal exams (aside from allergies) last month. Both vets agreed that the travel would be stressful and that putting a pretty young cat through that would be most likely unnecessary. After speaking to one of the vets there a few days ago, I was honestly feeling quite relieved when she told me the rarity of seizures and brain tumors in cats. Then, like you, I notice EVERYTHING. She is still doing everything normally. She wants to eat all the time so she doesn't seem to have any distress there. She's not spitting out her food and she even eats the dry, crunching it and everything so I would think if it was painful for her, she wouldn't want to eat it. She also got into the treats this morning as I said. She also has experienced this mouth spasm as I call it sometimes for quite awhile, although it seemed like a rare occasion that I saw it, so I would think if it was something dangerous, she'd be in bad shape by now. She behaves as if something is stuck on her tongue and shakes out her head. It's not a nausea thing as I am pretty familiar with that behavior. The vet examined her mouth thoroughly too last time and saw nothing wrong, aside from the overcrowding. It's just how frequently she seems to do it within the last couple of days. I didn't see her do it all Monday or Tuesday but then yesterday it happened a lot and she's already done it twice this morning. I am at work right now and my mind is fixated on how she is back home. I have a knot in my stomach. My mom said she'd check in on the cats later today (as she lives close by) but as I said, she never sees anything amiss.

 

[worriedsomuch]

Well I was hoping not to revisit this thread but here I am a  nervous wreck again. I was doing my best not to panic over every little thing, but Grace did something last night that again has me concerned. She had a pretty good week overall, didn't really notice anything strange. I didn't see any tics, tremors, or anything. I was doing my best to just let the fear and anxiety go and accept the vet's diagnosis that she is okay and not on the verge of death. Last week I had to call him because she jerked out her paw when she was relaxing and he told me that it was most likely normal and she was falling asleep. However, last night, she was cuddling with me like she loves to do and she was fine. About an hour had passed and she was purring away on my pillow. I was scratching her face and then out of nowhere, she does about three sharp head jerks against my hand. It was just bizarre! I can't even explain it. I looked down at her and it was as if it was quick I couldn't see it, just feel the movement. I tried to rationalize that maybe she was hyper relaxed and experienced some jerking but 3 times?!?! That seems a bit odd. I know no one can really give me answers but I'm just so upset and worried right now. The vet did say if I could catch anything on video that he'd be happy to look at it and even forward it along to the neuro to get his thoughts but she's not doing things every minute and it was 11 PM in a dark house so how could I have a camera at the ready?

I hate this

 

 

[goholistic]

I know what you mean...it is hard to capture it on video. I've tried several times. I got one of Boo's FHS, and a couple of his trembling/twitching episodes, but it's hard to tell if it's just my unsteady hand or him.

 

[worriedsomuch]

I'm just frustrated by this whole ordeal. She goes days without me seeing anything and I think, maybe she's over it, whatever it is. Then this now, which is totally new. She got some head jerking with the tics, but I didn't see any facial twitching with these jerks, just felt her head moving against my hand. Maybe it had begun to tremor and not jerk. Regardless it's awful and I'm sick over it. I told myself last night that I wasn't going to let the fear win but unfortunately it has. I just want to cry.

I tried filming too and had an issue with unsteady camera too. Then I was pretty sure I caught a slight tic and tremor on camera. When I watched it, I was in a heightened sense of anxiety and thought it looked awful. Later when I calmed down, it didn't look like much. I had a friend look at it too and she asked me what it was she should be looking for. I certainly don't want to show a neuro something that looks like nothing and have him think I'm exaggerating.

I've begun talking about her to coworkers because they notice I look upset and then I regret it because they get that "look" like, seriously she's this stressed about a cat?

 

[goholistic]

Sometimes when I'm petting my cats, I'll hit a spot that makes them have an itch or makes them shake their head. This is normal. Could it have been something like that?

Yeh, you have to be careful about bringing this to work. Not everyone understands. My boss does not like cats, so I am very careful not to mention all these issues they have around her. She doesn't understand, nor does she care, unfortunately.

 

[worriedsomuch]

I really don't know. I guess it could have been? I can't even explain exactly what it was myself, just felt her head move 3-4 times against my hand. I looked down and she looked happy as a clam, purring, so I'm  like, huh?

Of course today though, her facial tics are back! I'm so sad about this. I hadn't seen one in several days but I was looking in her ear to make sure there was no residue in there (as in another infection) and she got some light facial tics. They were very light but noticeable to me. Her face twitched everywhere and I could see mild tremors in her head. Then she got some a few minutes later, centered more on her mouth, like her facial whiskers twitched everywhere. This is the first time I noticed a trigger that brought them on. Messing with her ear definitely affected her.

Today I talked to a couple coworkers in the teacher's lounge who were more than understanding, luckily. One had a 20 year old cat and he said he knows the time might be soon and his whole family is upset. However, there are a few "cat haters" too who, as I said, gave me a look.

I want to thank you though for always providing input. Boo's story keeps me going at times because I remind myself that he's still okay and alive after years of this so hopefully it will be the same for Grace.

 

[sugarsandz]

I've never had a cat that has had seizures but we did have an Australian Shepard dog that had them a lot. She would be clingy and act nervous before one would hit her so we always knew. Then she would seize up start to convulse and flop on the floor with her eyes going everywhere in her head. It was heartbreaking to watch. After the episodes were over she would drool and many times potty have a runny stool on herself. We had to put her on Phenobarbital for the rest of her life. She lived to be 16 years old.

Does you kitty zone out and stop responding at all? I'm sorry you are going through this, it doesn't sound like a full blown seizure but maybe it's different for cats. Maybe it is more of a muscle issue?

 

[dan32]

My Keegee has short twitching episodes once in a while.  He is purring quietly almost falling asleep, then blinks and jumps away as if startled, then recovers quickly.  I didn't think it was bad enough to seek treatment.

From what I have been reading here, the solution is anti-depressants?  I would think they would have to be pretty bad off to consider a lifetime of pills.

 

[worriedsomuch]

Hi sugarsandz,

No she doesn't zone out at all. She is responsive when this happens which is why the vet doesn't think it's seizures. He said there would be a period before the seizure where she acted oddly and then a period after where she would be "out of it." She just has facial twitching from time to time, ever since her first ear infection. The doctor thought it was due to the infection and allergies but she still has the twitching and the infection has since cleared. Now she is experiencing some jerking, independent of the twitching. Usually these things occur when she is at rest but I did see some facial twitching when she was bird watching before. So you can see her alert level was high at that point and it didn't impede her function at all.

Dan32, that sounds like it's normal with your Keegie. My vet said they can jerk when they are just nodding off. Grace does that too. However, she has twitching/tics/tremors/jerking when she is awake. Most of the time she is relaxed, except for that time when she was bird watching. I also thought I saw some head tremors before work as she stood on the table today watching me eat my breakfast but then again I think at this point, where I'm so concerned, I might have thought she was having them but she really wasn't.

My vet doesn't recommend any treatment at this time. Grace is just 5, nearly 5 and a half so he thinks we can rule out something being wrong with her brain. Other options are a neuro consult and an MRI to absolutely rule that out. However, sadly I don't have 2 grand for an MRI.  I'm not sure what the treatment would be. I think they give Anti depressants if it's FH. I don't know what they'd do for this type of thing, maybe phenobarbitol? I don't wish to consider medicating at this point since her episodes are sporadic and don't seem to limit her in any way. I'm just bothered by the nebulousness of the whole thing. There are several cats with the same thing on Youtube and most of them are still alive as I understand it so hopefully she'll be okay. I'm just scared it might get worse.

 

[goholistic]

 
I want to thank you though for always providing input. Boo's story keeps me going at times because I remind myself that he's still okay and alive after years of this so hopefully it will be the same for Grace.

Sure thing.... 

   Many people here on TCS have been very helpful to me, so I try to return the favor to others as much as I can.

I should reiterate something that I probably should do more often. Boo is generally happy. It is a few of minutes out of the day that he has a FHS episode or twitching/trembling episode, and this has been going on for years. The rest of the day he is a normal cat. He's 13, still plays, sleeps peacefully, etc. Quite honestly, his constipation issue is much more severe and stressful for him than anything else, so keeping that in check is always my first priority. As long he is "going," he's a happy boy. 

  I do think cats can really sense our stress and worry. I don't hover over Boo every second watching his every move. He's very independent. But I'll throw him his toy or I'll give him a chin rub (his favorite ever since his bad teeth were extracted). I continue to do the things I've always done for him.

Try to not treat Grace any different. She'll notice. 

 

[worriedsomuch]

Oh thank-you! 

I'm so happy to hear about Boo. He does sound so happy, like Grace. She is normal for the most part too, twitching and allergies aside. She runs around like crazy chasing her sister, wants to wrestle her even though her sister gives her a look like, "aren't we past this stage?"

She also chases the younger ones around too, her "adopted" sisters. She likes to wallop her sister, Delilah, over the head when she wants some of the dry food they are eating. She eats, drinks, and does everything normally. I think you are right that she notices the special attention. I think she likes it somewhat as she is very clingy with me, but then sometimes I think she thinks, why is she staring and following me around? It's weird too and probably sounds crazy but sometimes right before she twitches, it's as if I can "sense" it, like she seems tense, so then it leaves me wondering if maybe my stress could cause some of the tics, especially the facial ones. I was watching her so carefully yesterday after the jerking thing, and then she got the facial tics so one has to wonder.

 

[skysimone]

Hi there ladies.

Do we have an update on the worried lady and her cat from this thread?

I have been putting my cats information on this thread that is similar http://www.thecatsite.com/t/247072/jerking-cat#post_3425115

Teddy is a burmese male, aged 10 in Jan 2014

Jan 2013 when he just turned 9, I had both Teddy and Tashees full dental done. The vet encouraged me to get precautionary IV fluids and precautionary pre anesthetic blood tests, so I asked 'shoudl I just get full bloods done since they're 9 and have never had them?'

The vet said ok, and we found that Teddy had early onset hyperthyroidism.

If I hadn't had the precautionary tests done, I wouldn't know, and teddy could be on the decline.

Medicated a hyperthyroid cat is likeany other cat

Tuesday this week Teddys head jerked

more jerking wednesday morning and night

only one jerk thursday morning and night

7 jerks this morning

a few jerks tonight

lots of vomiting yesterday

one vomit mon/tues

After looking at a lot of posts on youtube about the small seizures, I decided to google 'whiskas causing seizures' and found a few websites where women are claiming their cat had seizures after having whiskas.

My cats live on 95% vet dental bickies, but i give them 1/4 a whiskas tin every few days to share between them to add to hydration

I rushed to the vet tuesday morning and the vet told me to monitor for a few days, and bring him back if it keeps up

I am going to monitor him on 100% vet biscuits between now and Monday