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Checkers, my 13-year-old male tuxie and the love of my life, has been having seizures for about a month now.
TL : DR - He's being treated for the symptoms, but likely has a tumor in his brain.
The first time I noticed the seizures in early April, he was sitting in my lap when he meowed suddenly, tried to stand up and couldn't. As I scooped him in my arms, he curled his back legs tight into his body and made jerking swimming motions with his front paws. This lasted for about a minute, and then he stopped moving, was calm for a few minutes, and then started squirming to get down. When I let him down, he walked like he was drunk for a few steps. In the time it took me to run to the next room to get the carrier and call the emergency vet (because of course all this happened at midnight!), he was fine, walking normally, and fighting me as I tried to stuff him in the carrier.
At the vet, he was fine. The ER vet suspected a clot of some sort, but after a chest x-ray and blood pressure check, could find no cardiac-related reason. She said he could have another seizure, or could never have another one.
Between that night and the follow-up with the regular vet a week later, he had two seizures, the first exact same series of events and he was fine after 5 minutes or so. The second seizure lasted a little longer and the after-effects were much longer, about a half a day where he was lethargic, slow-moving, and kinda miserable looking.
His regular vet checked him over and found a heart murmur, which she said could be causing seizures, so we did the complete cardio workup and found no heart disease (cat specialists sure cost a lot of money!). His blood work and vitals were perfect, and she checked him for everything under the sun.
Her conclusion, because of his age and because his seizures came on suddenly, is that he likely has some kind of growth in his brain. Or it could be he's just having random seizures because he's an stubborn old cat who loves to head-butt the corners of the walls really hard. For now, I'm going to treat the symptoms with an anti-convulsant - the generic form of keppra.
Tuesday night I thought for sure I was going to have to say goodbye to him. He was crying, he was listless, and had two more seizures (at 2:30 a.m.). I went to work Wednesday morning not knowing what I was going to find when I got home, but Wednesday afternoon and this morning he was his old self, complaining because his food dish was empty and wanting to be petted and brushed. He gets his first dose of the medicine tonight.
Please keep your paws crossed for my baby boy! If anyone else has had experience with this sort of thing, I'd like to hear about it if you're so inclined. Thanks.
I'm very very sorry to hear this. The head butting and, moreso if head pressing, is not a good thing. It reflects neural damage, nervous system issues, brain tumor. I had a precious cat that had this and seizures too. She loved to press her head against my palm. It made her feel better somehow. She had other issues that eventually wound up with her having a seizure. Then not so bad with meds for the other issues. Then another seizure. Spaced a few weeks apart. But, long story short they were eventually closer. Then our vet said she would reach time when they were one after the other and she had no relief and then or before we should help her pass on and not have her die with seizures. We did that.
She always looked up to me to fulfill her needs. Always trusted me, loved me. They understand you're helping them feel better. Be with her to the end. Don't cry or she'll be upset. Just love her. Cry later.
I'm very very sorry to hear this. The head butting and, moreso if head pressing, is not a good thing. It reflects neural damage, nervous system issues, brain tumor. I had a precious cat that had this and seizures too. She loved to press her head against my palm. It made her feel better somehow. She had other issues that eventually wound up with her having a seizure. Then not so bad with meds for the other issues. Then another seizure. Spaced a few weeks apart. But, long story short they were eventually closer. Then our vet said she would reach time when they were one after the other and she had no relief and then or before we should help her pass on and not have her die with seizures. We did that.
She always looked up to me to fulfill her needs. Always trusted me, loved me. They understand you're helping them feel better. Be with her to the end. Don't cry or she'll be upset. Just love her. Cry later.
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