Feline seizures

[Flea]

I lost my beloved cat last week. I came home to find her staggering drunkenly in tight little circles with her eyes fully dilated. Given her condition and that my other animals were studiously avoiding her, I decided that she probably wouldn't make it and opted not to terrorize her with a vet visit where they would probably put her down anyway.

She passed away in my arms a few hours later, and I'm okay with my decision. I believed it might have been something neurological, and this afternoon I spent some time on Youtube. I think she had a series of seizures, and several petite mals over the years that I didn't recognize.

So, a public service announcement. If you ever see your cat behaving like this, this, this, or god forbid this, please drop whatever you're doing and get your cat to the vet immediately. It really could be a life or death situation.

 

[Carol]

Oh my....I'm so sorry. :wah:

 

[Bob Hubbard]

My condolences on your loss, but thank you for sharing the information on seizures.

 

[granfire]

I am so sorry.

And yes, thank you for the information.

Our animals sometimes are very good at hiding when they are feeling bad and when it becomes obvious it's often very late...

 

[Flea]

Thanks everyone. After posting the above I found this one too.

In retrospect, I rushed a human friend to the ER a few years ago after a grand mal. It's tempting to beat myself up for not connecting the dots with my cat, but she did live to be 22. So obviously I was doing something right.

 

[aedrasteia]

Oh Flea... 22 ?? you are a most good hooman friend
and was doing very right all along.

xx. they are never wrong about us.

 

[ballen0351]

22 wow I didnt know cats lived that long. Im sorry for your loss. At least she spent her last hours with you rather then in a vet office.

 

[Razor]

Sorry for your loss, and thank you for the information. I am sure you are doing something right if your cats are living until 22! I was told by the lady at my local pet shop who has the same kind of cats as me (Burmese) that hers were 15 and still very playful, but 22 is quite astounding.

 

[Steve]

Aww. I'm sorry, Flea. One of our dogs, the newfie mix, has seizures. It was pretty traumatic for the entire family. At its worst, he was having between 1 and 3 grand mals every day. He's taking phenobarb regularly and has had only one seizure over the last 2 years.

 

[Flea]

After doing some more reading, I've found that the only truly dangerous seizures are those which come back-to-back over several hours (sounds familiar.) Those are marginally survivable if you can get intervention soon enough. So I can't help but wonder if I might have saved her if I'd taken her in. Is there any point in second-guessing? Of course not. 22 years was an amazing run. But she was in perfect health otherwise. It's tough; all I can do is watch my remaining two pack members more closely.

 

[Flying Crane]

After doing some more reading, I've found that the only truly dangerous seizures are those which come back-to-back over several hours (sounds familiar.) Those are marginally survivable if you can get intervention soon enough. So I can't help but wonder if I might have saved her if I'd taken her in. Is there any point in second-guessing? Of course not. 22 years was an amazing run. But she was in perfect health otherwise. It's tough; all I can do is watch my remaining two pack members more closely.

there is no point in second-guessing. You have done a real standup job, second to none. 22 years is remarkable, it must be a rarity. well done.

I've got a cat with chronic health issues that need to be monitored, and I'm also watching over a colony of ferals that I inherited when I bought my house. A couple of them are not really feral, just abandoned friendlies, and they are starting to adopt me. I just took two of them in to see the vet last weekend, one has an upper respitory infection, the other had an infected wound on the back of his head that needed to be patched up. That one comes in to sleep in my garage at night.

it's a lot of work, but I love 'em all. Even the ferals who show their temper and run away whenever I poke my head out the door. A new crop of kittens showed up recently, I've been working with my local SPCA chapter to have them spay/neutered and released back into the community. It never ends.

I hope my critters manage to stick around for 22 years. Well done, you have my admiration and deepest respects.