Possible Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome (Twitchy Cat Syndrome)?

[Draco]

So, following this thread, Nerve damage in tail , and watching an episode from My Cat From Hell where a cat was diagnosed with Hyperthesia. I've never heard of this before and did some online research and now wondering if this is what my cat may have.
His bald spot isn't growing back, despite what I've stated in the previous thread. While I am not witnessing any pulling, there's no new hair growth and its bald again which makes me think he is pulling/biting/overgrooming when I'm not looking. His tail is still twitchy and he flicks it at times, and I've witnessed him "play" with his tail a few times, it's not often. He seems pretty calm about it other than the tail flicking here and there. No aggression towards his tail or outward discomfort that I can see. He does seem to lose his balance here and there at the rear end (possibly more due to old age since he's 15, almost 16). All signs point to Hyperthesia.

I plan on asking the vet about it and see if she can diagnose it (though by my research there's no real test to it). On My Cat From Hell, that cat was put on Gabapentin. I have that for Monet, he's just difficult to get it in. I want to check with my vet before trying gabapentin again. I stopped giving it to him because he fights me every way when I try to give it to him, and he doesn't seem to be in any major discomfort.

Anyone have experience with Hyperthesia in their cats? At what age did it start? What do you do to help them along? Any advice to try to help him while I wait for his next vet appt?

here's a link to Hyperthesia if anyone is curious:
What Is Hyperesthesia in Cats?
Hyperesthesia Syndrome in Cats

 

[Meowmee]

So, following this thread, Nerve damage in tail , and watching an episode from My Cat From Hell where a cat was diagnosed with Hyperthesia. I've never heard of this before and did some online research and now wondering if this is what my cat may have.
His bald spot isn't growing back, despite what I've stated in the previous thread. While I am not witnessing any pulling, there's no new hair growth and its bald again which makes me think he is pulling/biting/overgrooming when I'm not looking. His tail is still twitchy and he flicks it at times, and I've witnessed him "play" with his tail a few times, it's not often. He seems pretty calm about it other than the tail flicking here and there. No aggression towards his tail or outward discomfort that I can see. He does seem to lose his balance here and there at the rear end (possibly more due to old age since he's 15, almost 16). All signs point to Hyperthesia.

I plan on asking the vet about it and see if she can diagnose it (though by my research there's no real test to it). On My Cat From Hell, that cat was put on Gabapentin. I have that for Monet, he's just difficult to get it in. I want to check with my vet before trying gabapentin again. I stopped giving it to him because he fights me every way when I try to give it to him, and he doesn't seem to be in any major discomfort.

Anyone have experience with Hyperthesia in their cats? At what age did it start? What do you do to help them along? Any advice to try to help him while I wait for his next vet appt?

here's a link to Hyperthesia if anyone is curious:
What Is Hyperesthesia in Cats?
Hyperesthesia Syndrome in Cats

That is awful. I hope you get it figured out and find a way to try gabapentin or something else. I just wonder how you can tell if he really has that if there’s no way to diagnose it. In people it can be caused by viruses and things like that.

The first website that tells you tests that can be done to rule out other things. I can’t remember if he had any cultures and stuff like that done- if not, it might be worth doing that.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Anyone have experience with Hyperthesia in their cats? At what age did it start? What do you do to help them along? Any advice to try to help him while I wait for his next vet appt?

I am surprised no one who has dealt, or thought they were dealing, with this has responded. I don't know if you want to look through some previous posts about it, but here is a link to them if you do -
Search Results for Query: hyperesthesia | TheCatSite

 

[fionasmom]

My Chelsea had hyperesthesia. It is sometimes a "rule out" condition where other possibilities are investigated depending on what your vet suggests and if those are not present it is called FHS. You know that your friend has nerve damage and have done a great deal to investigate that

If anything is happening at your home which does not occur at the vet's office, try to get a video. In the case of FHS, it is very helpful. Chelsea had all the classic signs. She would fixate on her tail, seemingly not realizing that it was part of her body, and go after it ferociously. Her eyes were huge and dark and she had no idea who I was. Touching her would have been out of the question so I used a pillow to softly stop the chasing and try to bring her out of it. She had no underlying conditions like fleas, parasites, injury, or other illness.

It is usually treated with gabapentin which is an anti seizure medication as you know. My opinion is that FHS is a seizure disorder of some kind. Asking/telling your vet that you want to start gabapentin is a good idea as they need to know that you are using it as it can't just be stopped and started.

Siamese cats are supposedly prone to it, and my flame point boy does exhibit the twitching tail very often and it seems to be accompanied by going into a "zone" without exhibiting true FSH, so I am waiting to see where this goes.

Chelsea started this behavior at around 7 and about a year later was diagnosed with SCL. There is no connection that I am making, so don't read one into this. Maybe as she felt less well, or maybe because of the medication that she was on, the episodes subsided greatly.

 

[Meowmee]

So, following this thread, Nerve damage in tail , and watching an episode from My Cat From Hell where a cat was diagnosed with Hyperthesia. I've never heard of this before and did some online research and now wondering if this is what my cat may have.
His bald spot isn't growing back, despite what I've stated in the previous thread. While I am not witnessing any pulling, there's no new hair growth and its bald again which makes me think he is pulling/biting/overgrooming when I'm not looking. His tail is still twitchy and he flicks it at times, and I've witnessed him "play" with his tail a few times, it's not often. He seems pretty calm about it other than the tail flicking here and there. No aggression towards his tail or outward discomfort that I can see. He does seem to lose his balance here and there at the rear end (possibly more due to old age since he's 15, almost 16). All signs point to Hyperthesia.

I plan on asking the vet about it and see if she can diagnose it (though by my research there's no real test to it). On My Cat From Hell, that cat was put on Gabapentin. I have that for Monet, he's just difficult to get it in. I want to check with my vet before trying gabapentin again. I stopped giving it to him because he fights me every way when I try to give it to him, and he doesn't seem to be in any major discomfort.

Anyone have experience with Hyperthesia in their cats? At what age did it start? What do you do to help them along? Any advice to try to help him while I wait for his next vet appt?

here's a link to Hyperthesia if anyone is curious:
What Is Hyperesthesia in Cats?
Hyperesthesia Syndrome in Cats

I forgot to mention that I thought you said your dvm decided it was not really nerve damage to his tail. And he responded to that cream because his fur grew back, so I’m wondering what’s going on with that and if the ointment helped him? Did you stop using the ointment?

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. FHS is a diagnosis of exclusion. He needs to be properly worked up in order to get a diagnosis of what is going on. A work up would most likely include :
Radiographs of tail and pelvis.
Close examination and flea combing for fleas.
Woods light exam.
Skin scrapings.
Fungal DTM
Diet trial with prescription limited antigen or hypo allergenic diet consisting of eating only that diet for 3 months.
Full blood panel out to the lab.
Steroid trial if applicable.

If none of those above tests yielded any results, then you could consider FHS.

Of course it could get expensive.

If he was my cat I would do an X-ray and bloodwork. I would flea comb at home. I would maybe do a fungal DTM. But, I would try to get him into a dermatologist.

Did this tail hair pulling start when he started Methimazole for his thyroid?

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I would be a fan of checking for mites. There is a big variety of possible mites out there; a vet or vet specialist can do skin scrapings and MAYBE find out if mites are an issue in that tail area for your cat. (I say "MAYBE" because they are wily devils and often do not show up in skin scrapings, unless you are quite lucky or the infestation is severe.)

I don't know how old your cat is, but you mentioned him having hyperthyroid. Often a cat which is immunocompromised, or even just older, is more susceptible to certain mites. Certain medicines, too, can create an "environment" or imbalance on the cat which could favor mites.

People often have fleas at the top of their list, for skin issues. But mites can be a big problem as well — they are just harder to "officially" diagnose. Often a vet can prescribe something like regular strength Bravecto just as a possible option, in order to see if the hair grows back and the twitching and etc. stops... if so, voila, the cat improves and feels better. It just depends on your own thoughts and research on anti-mite or anti-flea medicines and if you like to use them for your cat.

 

[di and bob]

My little Molly had it for years, I tried absolutely everything and nothing worked. Now she is on 2.5 mg of prednisolone for fluid around her lungs and it diappeared! We can actually stroke her back which we could never do before, and her ferocious biting and chewing has stopped. i give my cats their pills in feline pill pockets in teh salmon flavor. I had one cat very difficult to pill and I ended up giving it pressed into a small piece of bacon or cheese. I fried up bacon for years for him!

 

[fionasmom]

Now she is on 2.5 mg of prednisolone

This is what I noticed with Chelsea as well. When she went on pred, the episodes stopped.

 

[di and bob]

That is the ONLY thing that has stopped the twitching, chewing, and extreme reactions to being touched!

 

[fionasmom]

The only research that I ever found about the use of pred for FSH assumed that there were fleas which had caused a dermatitis, so if you treated that you might stop the twitching.

 

[Draco]

sorry for late reply. I was under the weather.
The vet checked for fleas and mites last time he was there, none of that.
The spray I used no longer worked, for a while it seemed the fur was growing back but I was wrong.

I will inquire with the vet about possible prednisolone doses, thank you for bringing that up!. He has an appt in 2 months for his thyroid and kidney checkup

I appreciate everyone's responses! Gives me things to arm myself with when I speak to the vet about this

 

[fionasmom]

Let us know what your vet says. I am not a vet and could be wrong, but I am under the impression that pred is not prescribed directly for FHS.

 

[Draco]

Let us know what your vet says. I am not a vet and could be wrong, but I am under the impression that pred is not prescribed directly for FHS.

It seems to be one of those lucky effects the meds have. I don't want to give him more meds than I have to, he's becoming increasingly difficult to give his thyroid meds to as it is. sigh.