Hello,
My name is Stephanie, and my cat is Duke. He's a 1 1/2 year old
neutered domestic short hair.
On Wednesday, Aug 1st, I walked into my room to find my cat foaming
at the mouth. I thought he had maybe ate something with a bad taste, and
told my boyfriend to keep an eye on him.
Later that night, he kept having more and more of these "episodes"
(which the vet's now tell me that they are partial complex cluster
seizures). His pupils dialate, he salivates and foams while slapping his lips
together, and he's even lost control of his bladder while having these
episodes. The vets have given him Propozol, Benatryl, Dexamethazone,
phenobarbitol, and even valium, and nothing seems to be helping. I
brought him home Thursday night to watch him (our vet doesn't have 24 hour
care) and I kept a log of how many seizures he is having, and how often.
Thursday night he had 12 in 2 hours. They seem to be happening every
10-15 minutes. They have no idea what is causing these, unless an MRI or
a Cat scan (there's another word for it, CMF?) These scans cost
between the range of $1000 and $2000, and I cannot afford it. My vet bill is
currently sitting at $1000, and I can barely afford that.
They have sedated him, with hopes that with less brain activity,
he'll wake up without having the seizures, but we haven't heard anything
yet.
The last thing I want to do is have to put him down because I cannot
afford this. I am looking for some help. If you know anyone that could
help me out, please let me know. I am running out of time. Every
seizure he has, is damaging him more. He's not even 2 yet, and he's got a
whole life ahead of him. Please, let me know of anyone that can help.
Thank you.
Stephanie
Can someone please help? Urgent.
Re: Can someone please help? Urgent.
Traci will be along with her wonderful medical knowledge. Hang tight!
In the meantime, and I know it's credit, but there is something called "Care Credit" which can be used in these situations.
http://www.carecredit.com/
Praying you find an answer to this...
In the meantime, and I know it's credit, but there is something called "Care Credit" which can be used in these situations.
http://www.carecredit.com/
Praying you find an answer to this...
Re: Can someone please help? Urgent.
How competent is the vet? If they are perplexed, it's time to see a specialist, at the very least, to get the current vet to consult with a feline specialist on your behalf, ASAP. Another option is seeking the opinion of your nearest emergency facility, an emergency facility usually deals with many seizure patients and generally have alot of experience treating seizures.
Did you in fact rule out toxins in the home? Plants, herbs, human meds, chemicals, illegal drugs, anything you can think of, did you go through the home to find tell-tale evidence he may have gotten into something or ingested something? Does he have outdoor access? If so, this compounds the problem since there is virtually no way to determine what may have been outdoors (neighbor poisoning, toxic plants/mushrooms/herbs, etc, chemicals, rodenticides, insect/snake/scorpion/toad bites, etc). Do you have other pets in the home?
What tests were run by the vet? Did he rule out viral and bacterial infection? Did he do full bloodwork to determine vital organ function? I understand the difficulty in testing with a seizure patient, but testing is crucial.
I'm not sure you need to be prepared for an MRI unless the vet suspects a tumor or brain tumor,lesion or a meningitis, etc, and your kitty is young, which gives a better indication this is not a tumor etc. However, a consult with a professional specialist is your best bet.
Cluster seizures can be difficult to treat and most often require sedation to keep the seizures under control. This may only be a temporary situation, so don't give up hope, and the vet shouldn't abandon all testing and treatment measures. If he is by chance inexperienced, the best thing for your kitty is to be seen and evaluated by a feline specialist, and or a consult with perhaps a board-certified neurologist (or immunology specialist if viral infection is suspected).
Some seizure activity is never truly identified with a cause, so be prepared for that. But in the immediate sense, your vet needs to be testing and consulting a professional for the best options in testing and treatment. Be prepared to check for viral disease or organ damage, but the important thing is that all testing is utilized quickly!! Treating with diazepam for sedation and phenobarb for controlling seizures is a good plan, but ultimately, the cause needs to be found so that nothing is missed that can be effectively treated.
See/get a consult with a feline specialist NOW!! (your vet has the resources, demand that he get a consult for you)
Did you in fact rule out toxins in the home? Plants, herbs, human meds, chemicals, illegal drugs, anything you can think of, did you go through the home to find tell-tale evidence he may have gotten into something or ingested something? Does he have outdoor access? If so, this compounds the problem since there is virtually no way to determine what may have been outdoors (neighbor poisoning, toxic plants/mushrooms/herbs, etc, chemicals, rodenticides, insect/snake/scorpion/toad bites, etc). Do you have other pets in the home?
What tests were run by the vet? Did he rule out viral and bacterial infection? Did he do full bloodwork to determine vital organ function? I understand the difficulty in testing with a seizure patient, but testing is crucial.
I'm not sure you need to be prepared for an MRI unless the vet suspects a tumor or brain tumor,lesion or a meningitis, etc, and your kitty is young, which gives a better indication this is not a tumor etc. However, a consult with a professional specialist is your best bet.
Cluster seizures can be difficult to treat and most often require sedation to keep the seizures under control. This may only be a temporary situation, so don't give up hope, and the vet shouldn't abandon all testing and treatment measures. If he is by chance inexperienced, the best thing for your kitty is to be seen and evaluated by a feline specialist, and or a consult with perhaps a board-certified neurologist (or immunology specialist if viral infection is suspected).
Some seizure activity is never truly identified with a cause, so be prepared for that. But in the immediate sense, your vet needs to be testing and consulting a professional for the best options in testing and treatment. Be prepared to check for viral disease or organ damage, but the important thing is that all testing is utilized quickly!! Treating with diazepam for sedation and phenobarb for controlling seizures is a good plan, but ultimately, the cause needs to be found so that nothing is missed that can be effectively treated.
See/get a consult with a feline specialist NOW!! (your vet has the resources, demand that he get a consult for you)
..........Traci
-
stellarkix09
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sat Aug 04, 2007 4:11 pm
Re: Can someone please help? Urgent.
Hi there,
We don't keep plants in our apartment, so that's not an issue. He's stricktly indoor so that narrows a lot of things down. He's not really the kind of cat to be nosy and get into anything, so I don't think that it could be any cleaning solution (they're all tucked away under the sink) We have 2 dogs, and another cat, and they're fine. (Our other cat likes to eat plastic, and he likes to climb into cuppboards etc) They've gotten his seizures down to less than one an hour, which is a big improvement. The vet has been kind enough to take him home with her to monitor him because our vet doesn't have 24 hour care. He's improving so there is still hope.
We don't keep plants in our apartment, so that's not an issue. He's stricktly indoor so that narrows a lot of things down. He's not really the kind of cat to be nosy and get into anything, so I don't think that it could be any cleaning solution (they're all tucked away under the sink) We have 2 dogs, and another cat, and they're fine. (Our other cat likes to eat plastic, and he likes to climb into cuppboards etc) They've gotten his seizures down to less than one an hour, which is a big improvement. The vet has been kind enough to take him home with her to monitor him because our vet doesn't have 24 hour care. He's improving so there is still hope.
Don't assume your kitty didn't get into something, just when an owner thinks their cat doesn't get into something, he/she does, so never ever assume. Please take a careful walkthrough of your home, and do it twice or three times to see if there is any tell-tale evidence of ingestion of something. If something is found, for example, this could help your vet significantly in knowing exactly what to treat. Also, just as a rule-out, did either you or your BF give him any human foods? There are many human foods that can be toxic to cats.
When the seizures are controlled, your vet needs to persue testing promptly (bloodwork, urinalysis, consider serology for viral disease, maybe an xray or ultrasound to evaluate organ size/shape/abnormalities, etc). If the frequency of the seizures has shortened, this is a good sign, but again, if the vet is inexperienced, seek the opinion of a specialist right away. It could be that the cause is found to be of unknown origin, but vet needs to persue testing and have experience with treating with and managing doses of valium/phenobarb.
Hang in there and don't give up! Many times cluster seizures resolve themselves, depending on the inciting cause, but it is usually best to treat with phenobarb for as long as it takes to control seizures and help prevent them in the long term. Your vet will discuss that with you at some point when kitty is stabilized. In the meantime, prepare to make slight alterations in kitty's environment, particularly if the vet feels these seizures are exacerbated by noise, light, external stimuli.
When the seizures are controlled, your vet needs to persue testing promptly (bloodwork, urinalysis, consider serology for viral disease, maybe an xray or ultrasound to evaluate organ size/shape/abnormalities, etc). If the frequency of the seizures has shortened, this is a good sign, but again, if the vet is inexperienced, seek the opinion of a specialist right away. It could be that the cause is found to be of unknown origin, but vet needs to persue testing and have experience with treating with and managing doses of valium/phenobarb.
Hang in there and don't give up! Many times cluster seizures resolve themselves, depending on the inciting cause, but it is usually best to treat with phenobarb for as long as it takes to control seizures and help prevent them in the long term. Your vet will discuss that with you at some point when kitty is stabilized. In the meantime, prepare to make slight alterations in kitty's environment, particularly if the vet feels these seizures are exacerbated by noise, light, external stimuli.
..........Traci
Re: Can someone please help? Urgent.
stellarkix09 wrote:Hi there,
We don't keep plants in our apartment, so that's not an issue. He's stricktly indoor so that narrows a lot of things down. He's not really the kind of cat to be nosy and get into anything, so I don't think that it could be any cleaning solution (they're all tucked away under the sink) We have 2 dogs, and another cat, and they're fine. (Our other cat likes to eat plastic, and he likes to climb into cuppboards etc) They've gotten his seizures down to less than one an hour, which is a big improvement. The vet has been kind enough to take him home with her to monitor him because our vet doesn't have 24 hour care. He's improving so there is still hope.
Stephanie:
I just want you to know that I have a seizure cat. although my cat Nike never had as many seizures at one time, I wanted to let you know that cats can still live a good life with seizures......as long as they can find out the cause and get them under control. Traci knows much, much more than me.
I just wanted to give you some hope. Nike's seizures are controlled by pheno. The most she ever had was two seizures in one day. They are so awful but my vet assured me the cat does not remember having them.
Nike was seizure free for almost three years and just recently we tried to slowly taper her to one pheno a day but it didn't work because she had her first seizure in a long time. We immediately put her back up to her 2 a day and she is just fine. She's 6 years old and started having seizures when she was two.
Good luck, I hope they find the cause and please keep us posted.