10 year old cat with ongoing idiopathic seizures

[justginny]

Hi, 2 yrs ago my kitty, then 8 yrs old, began having petit mal seizures every now and then.  Two days after having a yearly rabies vaccine, he had a grand mal seizure.  Less than 24 hours later, he had another.  I took him to the emergency vet.  Tests were run.  No answers found.  

Over time the grand mal seizures subsided and then stopped.  Six months later he had grand mal seizures for about a week.  Then that stopped.  He continued having petit mal like seizures every now and then.  He started on Phenobarb initially, but I wasn't able to continue it because I couldn't catch him.  Even without Pheno, his grand mal seizures seemed to stop on their own with these small seizures happening infrequently.  

Now he has begun having grand mal seizures again.  He went for a year and a half without them.  

I've started him on gluten free kibble and am trying to switch him to grain free canned food, but I haven't found a canned food he likes better than his Friskies.  

What do I need to do?

[CML2014]

Hi Jinny,

Happy to hear you are working things out with your vet on these seizures.
As I have said before these episodes are tricky and meds are constantly being changed and monitored.

Please make sure your cat is getting it's blood checked often. Constant Pheno is what is usually used to control seizures , but Pheno is very bad on the kidney and liver at certain doses Long term use can cause failure of theses organs, so watch constantly to make sure the bllod counts are not being affected.

I am in contact with a really wonderful and caring women in Iran. Her cat has seizures and unfortunately she was not made aware of the dangers of constant Pheno use. She and her beloved Maudi went thru some tough times after recent surgery, because of the effects of this drug and the kidney and liver functions.
Just be sure to talk to your vet about this. Do not want your kit to go through what  Maudi went through.

Please keep us posted on your progress. Your experience can help others.

I am sorry to hear of your mothers passing. Lost my mom after some time in Hospice, and know how dark those days can be and how losing a mother is a profound loss.

Sincerely, CML

[justginny]

Follow-up:

Nat stopped having seizures while in ICU, except for one petit mal seizure while there.  He was about mid-way through getting loading doses of phenobarb when that happened.  I brought him home the next day with an rx for phenobarb cream (to his ear) every 12 hours.  I saw one petit mal seizure that day but no grand mal seizures for a week.  Incidentally, I brought my mom home after a brief stay at hospice to die on July 1.  She had lived with me for the past 2 1/2 yrs and had been on oxygen every now and then.  

Nat resumed grand mal seizures the day after mom came back home.  She died a few days later.  A few days after that, Nat stopped having seizures.  

Since Nat's vets do not have any answers for me, I've had to come up with them for myself.  I believe Nat is a very nervous kitty.  He has since had blood work that showed he is negative for feline leukemia and FLV.  The ER vet said I could give Nat's phenobarb cream on a place they shaved on the back of his neck.  I think now, in retrospect, this was bad advice.  I was told by a pharmacist that this could have reduced the efficiency of the drug, leading to  a resumption of the seizures.  

So then after I had correctly applied his med to his ear for 6 weeks, his regular vet took a pheno blood level.  It was WAY below therapeutic!!  Low normal is 14.  His level was 1.8!  It wasn't even close to therapeutic, yet he had not had another grand mal seizure since a few days after my mom died.  

Since then, his vet has increased the dosage of his phenobarb, because it must have helped a little bit even though his blood level is low.  I can only guess that his nervousness has something to do with his seizures.  His vet has advised me to help him get more exercise and to use a cat pheromone plug-in and also a few drops stress-relief flower essence in his water bowl.  

[justginny]

Hi again!

I have seen Dr. Piersons site and will revisit it for tips on getting them off the wet food they like.  I know it's a process they don't tolerate well unless it's done right.  I gradually mixed in the Natural Balance gluten-free kibble with their old kibble.  And then started increasing the amount of new to old.  It did help transition them so that's what I will do.

I took Nat to ER yesterday.  He had another seizure there which they were able to stop with the injection of midazolam, then they started a loading dose of phenobarbitol and he's had no seizures since that one they saw.  That is hopeful according to the doctor.  Thanks again.  Please comment more if you think of anything else.

[justginny]

Thank you for your concern.  I forgot to tell Opus88 that I am familiar with Dr. Lisa Pierson and her website.  I will look it up again.  Thanks!

[justginny]

Hi opus88,

Nat is INdoor only.  My neighbors don't like animals and would all to have them picked up in a heartbeat if i ever let them out.  

Nat was feral as a kitten and i tamed him.  He is tame to several people in my family and friends.  But when he gets scared, he hides.  He's very sweet and gentle.  

He has been to the vet several times and knows that is what the carrier is for so he is scared of it.  

I took him to the ER vet yesterday after 8 seizures with in a 15 hour period.  They were able to stop the next seizure last night at 7pm with medicine which is a good thing.  Sometimes seizures don't respond to meds.  And he hasn't had one now in over 12 hours with medications.  So that is promising.  

I know that a ketogenic diet benefits anyone who is prone to seizures so I will go ahead with that for all my kitties, not just Nat.  I'm shocked at just how much grain is in their food.  So far he seems to like the gluten free kibble.  I just need to slowly get him switched over to grain free dry and wet food.

[CML2014]

hi ginny,

Even in a rush Opus has the answers  !Her articles are really worth reading.

A friend of mine had a dog that had these seizures. She put him on a gluten free diet . My cat has stomatitis--terrible mouth desease that rots the teeth and causes ulceration of the mouth and throat. So for me the mouth is the first place I look. I told her to have the dogs teeth checked out. They found he had a severely impacted and infected back tooth. They removed it.
Now I am not saying that this tooth removal was the cure, but infection in the teeth affect entire body. I know the Gluten free really helped. He has now been weaned off of the Pheno and is seizure free.

So the Gluten free diet is a great start, have your vet check his teeth, and Weruva makes a great grain free food for cats and dogs. He may like their menu choice.

Let us know what you find out. That is how we learn and help others.

Thanks,
CML  

[opus88]

hi and welcome, sorry I am in a bit of a rush this a.m, but will try and give you some limited info.

first I have question? I am assuming he is an outdoor cat thats why you can't catch him? than you are required to give him rabies shots...if he were an indoor cat I would definitely STOP these vacs as they seem to be at the root for his seizures(?)

I will give you a link on info of 'how to transition' from one food to the other....friskies is not a good food especially in dry form...I would highly suggest you keep trying to find one CANNED and YES preferably grain free variety he'll like, with the help of Dr Piersons tips maybe it will work

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

you can follow all her site by going to catinfo.org

sorry can't really help you with answers to the seizures...other than the link between them and the rabies vac...good luck, post at anytime if we can be of any help