8 year old Himi/Pers cat had episode... is this a seizure??

by **carendt0** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:38 am

Last night when the family was all watching TV, my 8 year old (Persian/Himalayan-female) cat was sitting on the arm rest of the couch (like she always does), when she looked at us, her head was twitching and her eyes kept darting back and forth like she couldn't control them and they were dilated her and body was also kind of rigid. I was scared so I went to her and tried to move her off of the arm rest so she didn't fall but her claws were dug in and I finally got her off and into my mother's lap when she bolted and started running into things. It was awful! The episode only lasted about 1.5 minutes but she was still disoriented when I found her to put her in the pet taxi.

We took her to the local animal emergency hospital and they did blood work and vitals and they said everything was normal! They think she might have eaten some Ivy.. since we grow it in the house (we removed it) since she always tries to eat it, and it can cause similar symptoms as a seizure. Or they said she might be having an on set of epilepsy or something. They sent her home and told us to watch her and bring her back to them or our vet if she has any more strange symptoms or episodes.

She has never done this before, she has always been healthy and active- not over weight at all. Please help!

:cry:

by **GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:17 am

Sounds like it, wonder if it was the ivy. The period following, confusion, disorientation or total disconnect in my AllicksBlindPup's case, is called a post-ictal. Alllicks' lasted 4 horrible hours.

Try to keep a close eye on kitty because they may happen and we are never aware of them, if we are not nearby.

by **carendt0** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 3:02 pm

I have been keeping an eye on her. The problem is that she has always been kind of a loner, so she finds quiet secluded places to sleep (or maybe she is just a cat! lol more reserved than my other cat, though). So if she were to have another "episode" I might not know... other than how she acted the rest of the day after the initial episode.

It very well could be something she ate... I keep going through every possible thing she could have gotten a hold of, but I only come up with the ivy! So I HOPE it was that. But she is finally acting like herself again.

Right after the episode, she was very edgy and paranoid looking... this got better as the night progressed, but she still didn't seem as confident as normal until today. So I asked my close friend who had a dog and a cat a long time ago who had seizures, and she doesn't think it was a seizure, because of the way I described her behavior a few days after.. she said it sounded like it was something in her system.

I don't know, all I can do is hope that it was the ivy or that it was a single minor seizure that will never happen again. Wish me and my baby girl kitty good luck!
Only time will tell.

Thanks for your response! :thankyou:

by **GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 5:15 am

My girl is redzone canine aggressive, so she spends a lot of time in solitary. My floors are carpeted, and I only knew she had one in the middle of the night because it happened before her little head snapped and she was sleepign in the hallway and I heard her toenails flailing. I threw myself on her to stop the seizing to no avail. As far as I know that's theonly one she's had, but I'm away from home 12 hours a day, and when I'm home, she's in another room for most of the time, away from the others. I hear her toenails when she is trying to dig under the door (she's ripped up the carpet) but she always stops whenI speak to her, so that's not a seizure.

I hope in your kitty's case it was something she ate and hopefully won't happen again.

by **carendt0** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 2:23 pm

Yeah I hope so. My vet told me that sometimes, if it is a minor seizure, it is possible for them to just have one for reasons unknown and never again.

But, yes I have the same problem that you have, she is always hiding somewhere cozy and quiet. Sometimes she is out of sight all day, so I wouldn't know if it has happened in the past before! That scares me! But literally right after I opened this reply, she threw up on old dead leaf (in a clear liquid) so MAYBE just MAYBE that's what made her sick. I know she didn't find that leaf anywhere recently, because we have removed all the plants from the house. So I don't know. We will see!

Best wishes to your pup! Thanks for the response!