(Suspected) Feline Hyperesthesia

[birdlady99]

Little Cat was fine up until a couple weeks ago, where she started showing symptoms of hyperesthesia. At first she would just once in a while lash her tail and stare at it. We have another cat who has this disorder but she’s never needed any treatment, as long as we only pet her head she doesn’t usually have any episodes and if she does they’re mild. So we kind of expected a similar thing with Little Cat, but now we know it can get much worse.

She has an appointment at the vet but is now having episodes where she growls, hisses, attacks her tail and back, and people too (she would never attack someone so this is VERY unusual and shows how uncomfortable and scared she must be).

I have two questions if anyone can help before her appointment.

1. Is this always treatable?

2. Is it possible matted fur could be causing this? She has some mats above her tail that we didn’t think were an emergency but planned on having the vet shave off. I bought a cat shaving kit but then we were scared we might hurt her. I’m not sure how the mats formed since she’s short-haired.

 

[di and bob]

i have cut out mats from my short-haired cats too. It very well could be the mats pulling on her skin that are causing this. The EASIEST thing to do is to bring her to the vet and have THEM shave the area. My cats fight and draw blood on us, but are docile when the vet handles them, they are scared. It is the only way I have my long-haired cat's butt shaved, and they only charged me 20.00! Well worth it!

 

[birdlady99]

We will definitely have her shaved at the vet, I really hope it’s that simple, or at least that she can get some other treatment.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Should this be hyperesthesia, almost all cats do respond to treatment. I'm crossing my fingers that it is the mats causing it!

 

[birdlady99]

Just an update in case anyone finds this thread in the future with similar issues: We had her mats shaved at the vet and I’m sure she felt better from that, but it ended up not stopping the hyperesthesia. She gets gabapentin now and that pretty much entirely stops the attacks.

 

[fionasmom]

Thank you for the update. Another member asked about gabapentin today and I will refer her to your post.

 

[ramscici]

Glad to hear your cat is responding on gabapentin. Please keep us updated over the coming days. Little Cat sounds a lot like my Celeste and I am dealing with a similar issue and debating on gabapentin or not. I didn’t want to medicate but the hyperesthesia seems to be getting worse and not evening out with time.

 

[birdlady99]

Obviously I don’t know your reasons for not wanting to medicate, but it has helped Little Cat a lot. She was having near constant attacks towards her appointment all day. Now she once in a while has one mild one. She also would be very hard to give pills to everyday so luckily they have a capsule form that they said we can put the powder in her food. It’s such a tiny amount she doesn’t notice it.

 

[ramscici]

That’s great to hear. Celeste is a sensitive cat with food allergies who has been on steroids for a long time previously. They changed her personality and made her lethargic. We ended up figuring out what her allergen was by process of elimination and were able to wean her off. She was so much happier off of the mediation. Obviously gabapentin is not the same as steroids, but any long term medication just makes me nervous. I worry both about if it will knock her out and change her personality, and if it has longterm consequences for her kidneys and liver. But at the same time, her attacks are really getting worse. I guess I would just ask if you have noticed if gabapentin is changing Little Cat in any way personality wise that you think is negative?

 

[fionasmom]

I realize that I am talking about a dog here, but my GSD was on gabapentin for several years and I only noticed that it helped him in every way. His dosage was very carefully regulated by his vet, who was brilliant, and that may have been part of the success with it.

 

[ramscici]

Thats great to hear and very encouraging, thank you fionasmom - we’ve had a rough night over here. Came home to tons of blood all over the apartment and Celeste had basically mutilated the tip of her tail. Thankfully, I had already called the vet today to ask if we can try gabapentin as she had originally suggested, so I am going to pick it up tomorrow, but I’m so nervous right now. I’ve been trying to sit with her and calm her down. Her tail is wrapped but still bleeding a bit. I don’t know what to do and I hope she doesn’t attack it overnight.

 

[birdlady99]

So I have an upsetting update and need advice. Little Cat was doing great on the gabapentin for a few months now. Then recently she started having episodes again. We called the vet and they recommended increasing the dose so we did. But she is now biting her tail and foot open to the point of bleeding. She’s miserable.

Is there anything else we can do for her, and is it possible this is being caused by something else (like a tumor)? It also seems unusual that she’s also chewing her foot too. She is like this all day so she doesn’t even get a break.

 

[fionasmom]

I am really sorry that you are facing this. Hyperesthesia is not entirely understood, so there are not sure fire treatments for it because no one knows the cause(s).. Are you in a position to contact a veterinary neurologist? If it is not physically possible, your vet can contact specialists or teaching hospitals on your behalf.

I don't know if any of this helps, but I do see your point about a tumor. Would an MRI help to rule in or rule out? Not trying to spend your money, as I know that is expensive. If it is truly seizure related, ask about phenobarbitol or keppra. Sometimes clomipramine or fluoxetine are recommended. The first two are seizure meds and the second two are SSRIs. You can probably see that this can go in several directions and sometimes there is a combination of drugs.

Can you use a soft cone? May or may not help if it increases her anxiety about not being able to get to the foot or tail.

You probably need further studies and alternate attempts at medication. I would bring this all up to your vet and if he acts as if he has done all that can be done, ask for a referral or look for another clinic or teaching hospital who can help you.

Please let us know what happens.

 

[birdlady99]

Thank you. I think we will start by asking for other medications, I don’t have much money to spare right now (I’m not responsible for paying for her medical care but I have anyway because I wasn’t going to let her get euthanized for something treatable). Even with a payment plan that would be a lot of money for the down payment.

The cone is actually a really good idea. She kind of does this to herself, she likes to go in her carrier or hide her head in a box to prevent herself from chewing. Although I can’t tell if she’s trying to stop herself or if hiding her head somehow helps? Maybe that could be a clue as to whats causing it, like a neurological problem?

 

[fionasmom]

That is very interesting that she tries to stop herself from chewing. With my Chelsea, who had FHS, the typical MO was that she "entered" that place where the episode started, mostly focused on her tail, became hugely aggressive, did not recognize me and usually had to be brought out of it by being touched with a safe object. I never got the impression that she was trying to stop herself from anything.

If there is an underlying reason for the chewing, like neurological issues of any kind, they may cause sensations that she does not understand such as tingling in her extremities.

It is also interesting that the gabapentin did work for a while, then stopped working. That might be a piece of the puzzle.

Be upfront with the vet about expenses. Ask what will give the most information and what they suspect might be at the root of this. An MRI may not show anything, in which case it becomes a "rule out" result. That is helpful, but leaves you where you started.

 

[ramscici]

Hi there, just wanted to jump in because I also have a cat with FHS that mutilates herself as part of the condition. Tail chasers and self mutilators 99% of the time need an SSRI on board with an anticonvulsant like gabapentin to stop the behavior. For my cat personally, gabapentin alone wasn’t enough. I didn’t notice a significant improvement in the mutilating behaviors until she had been on Prozac for 2 months — SSRIs take a while to help cats with this condition. It can also be frustrating getting to a vet that is actually knowledgable about this condition because it is not well understood. I would highly recommend either a feline only specialist familiar with FHS or a neurologist as I truly believe there is a neurological component to this condition.

Mutilating behaviors respond best to combo meds. It’s important to know that it seems like switching a medication lands you in the same spot you were before, so don’t take the gabapentin away— see if you can find a vet that will add a medication like Prozac on top of it.

In the meantime, a ThunderShirt has also helped my cat a lot. If your cat likes pressure and being held or wrapped during attacks like mine does, that’s definitely worth a shot. It’s been a lifesaver while we were getting my cat stabilized trying to find the right meds.