I First Witnessed Domino Have A Seizure In May 2018 And Immediately Took Him To The Vet. He Had A High Fever, And The Vet Said That May Have Caused The Seizure, And Not To Be Too Concerned. I Did Not See Another One For Around 18 Months, But Then They Started Becoming More And More Frequent. I Was Working From Home In 2020 And 2021, And There Is Nothing More Heartbreaking Than Witnessing Your Pet Have A Seizure That You Can Do Nothing About. He Would Come Out Of It Confused, Disoriented, But Always Purring. Domino's Vet Decided To Put Him On Phenobarbital In December 2021, And I Have Not Seen Any Seizures Since. He Will Be On The Medication Twice Per Day For The Rest Of His Life, But I Am So Grateful That This Treatment Exists. His Vet Says That Epilepsy Is Common In Dogs, But Very Rare In Cats. Pet Parent- Lisa
Can cats have epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a condition which is characterized by recurrent seizures. While somewhat rare, cats like people, can experience seizures and be diagnosed with epilepsy.
Idiopathic epilepsy is a relatively common inherited condition in dogs, but inherited seizures are not typically seen in cats. Idiopathic epilepsy is a diagnosis sometimes given for cats when there is no apparent structural cause for the pet's seizures.
What causes seizures in cats?
Seizures in cats tend to be much more rare than seizures in dogs, and rather than being caused by an inherited condition, seizures in cats typically stem from disease or injury within the cat's brain or external factors such as toxins. Epileptic seizures in your feline friend can be caused by issues within your cat's brain (intracranial causes) or elsewhere in your cat's body (extracranial causes), and your cat's seizures will fall into one of a number of categories.
What are the symptoms of epilepsy in cats?
Seizures in cats typically only last a couple of minutes although in some cases animals can experience cluster seizures where there are multiple seizures over the course of a few hours or a few days. If your cat is having a seizure their symptoms will depend upon whether the seizure is generalized or partial.
Partial Seizures
- Signs of a partial seizure include uncharacteristic behavior, abnormal posture, unusual vocalizations, drooling or twitching.
Generalized Seizures
- Generalized seizures in cats often (but not always) begin with behavioral changes quickly followed by symptoms such as convulsions, loss of consciousness, chewing, twitching, salivating, defecation or urination.
How is epilepsy in cats diagnosed?
Diagnosis is essential when it comes to seizures in cats, due to the many possible causes. Diagnostic testing can include blood tests, urinalysis, spinal fluid testing, x-rays, CT scans or MRIs.
The goal of testing and diagnosis is to pinpoint the underlying cause of your cat's seizures in order to determine the best possible treatment.
Sourced from: https://www.matthews.carolinavet.com/site/pet-health-blog/2020/09/25/epilepsy-in-cats-causes-symptoms
More Information
Survival in 76 cats with epilepsy of unknown cause: a retrospective study
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5748884/
Using Phenobarbital to Treat Cats for Seizures
https://www.thesprucepets.com/phenobarbital-for-dogs-and-cat-seizures-3384735
Seizures/epilepsy in cats
https://icatcare.org/advice/seizures-epilepsy-in-cats/Recurrent seizure disorders and epilepsy in cats
https://everycat.org/cat-health/recurrent-seizure-disorders-and-epilepsy-in-cats/
EveryCat Health Research Library- Feline Epilepsy Articles
https://everycat.org/education/cat-health-research-library/?_sf_s=feline%20epilepsy
