Cats and epilepsy

eth0_

My cat is 17 years old and in very good health (you'd never think she was 17 at all), but in the past 4 months has started having epileptic fits.

She has about 2 a month, and is ok once she recovers.

Does anyone know what this is? I've heard mention of diabetes causing this...can anyone offer some advice? The vet said if it's not affecting her afterwards then to leave her be.

koneko

There are a few herbal/alternative medicines around that help prevent them, but I wouldn't do anything without consulting the vet first. How does she seem afterwards?

Epilepsy in cats isn't that uncommon, but usually it would surface when the cat is a few years old. I think with your cat it might just be an old age thing though. 17 is very very old for a cat.

krankykitty

My cat Poppy, who died there last month, had epilepsy for the last year of her life (she was about 19)
She firstly started taking mini fits which just appeared to be her running round in circles! and then started taking major fits... the vet put her on tablets and a low protein diet, this stopped the fits for a good couple of months, she would get them again and the vet would adjust the dosage of the drugs.

Even though the fits are very distressing to watch, the vet told us that she didnt remember a thing about them, and that we should just try to calm her down and pet her afterwards. sometimes if you saw the start of a fit, distracting her with playing etc could bring her out of it (not sure if it would have gone to a full blown fit)

Id say keep a close eye on her and if the fits increase bring her back to the vet cos sometimes they can give other drugs...

Falkorre

at 17yo, it might be worth considering that *maybe* these are'nt epilepsy at all, the could easilly (at that age) be "mini-strokes"....

You might want to consult ur vet again and ask about an ecg

B