Need Help Kitten Gets Seizures

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  • #853402
    Scar
    Participant

    I need help, if anyone has a furry friend that gets seizures(I will get into more detail about it) please let me know how the process was, how you found out what caused it and how to deal with it now etc.(I’d appreciate any story really or help whatsoever about cat with seizures) I got to adopt this roughly 10 week old beauty from an animal shelter 3 days ago, where he was dopped off after being found abandoned apparently. At the animal shelther they asked me whether they should castrate him before I take him home and I replied not yet, as I felt he was still too young for it and that I’d simply come back once he’s older. When I came to pick him up two days later(as I wasn’t able to take him immediately) I was told they had already castrated him. I found this odd ofc, as I especially said no to castration so early but important to me was he was happy and healthy, which he definitely seemed to be. When he arrived at my house he was also fine, normal kitten behaviour. As I have a busy shedule I couldn’t spend as much time as I wished to but still especially put in several hours a day for playing, cuddling and so on together. The next day he was left alone for 3h and when I came back to check on him I found him with foam around his mouth, an empty water bowl(I filled it just before leaving) and a puddle on the floor. Ofc I immediately looked around what could have caused the foam, any poison or something but everything is completely kitten safe ofc and there was nothing that could’ve caused it so I figured he foamed from the mouth out of excitement or something similar as he seemed perfectly well apart from the foam. And fine he seemed the rest of the day too but then the following day it happened, I spend two hours simply playing and cuddling with him and then went out of the room for aprox. 40mins to eat etc. when I suddenly heard a lot of running around and scratching, it sounded as though there were suddenly two cats in there fighting. So I ran into the room to see what’s going on to find him on the floor, twitching uncontrolably, in an odd position not being able to move apart from shivering/twitching, foam coming out of his mouth, not being able to move, eyes not focusing and I think not being able to breathe. This lasted for 10 more seconds until he suddenly became himself again, then he suddenly looked around very disorientated, not remembering anything from the seizure he had just a moment earlier. I wanted to go to the vet immediately but had no possibility to do so as it was already passed the vets closing time. after the seizure he immediately went to his food bowl and ate a lot of food almost fast enough to choke on. he drank some water and came to me and fell asleep on me for 1h. when he woke up he walked around the room and suddenly started to hiss at me(which he’s never done before) and as expected he started his second seizure of the day which involved him starting to foam from his mouth again, twitching again(strong twitching/shaking), running around in a circle uncontroably, peeing and pooping. It’s very frightening to watch the whole thing. It lasted again for aprox. 15 seconds until he was himself again. At this moment I asked my mum to check if there really isn’t any vet open anymore but to our luck there was one nearby thankfully. So I grabbed my thinks and just before being able to leave he got his third seizure, which again started with the hissing and then went on to the foaming, twitching, running, pissing… this time I put a blanket around him and I think it helped as this seizure lasted much shorter than the previous ones. At this point I was freaking out myself as I just wanted to help but knew there was nothing I could do. So I did the only thing I could and put him into his transport box and rushed to the vet as fast as possible, in the taxi I noticed him getting another seizure but I couldn’t see much of what was going on. I reached the vet and he seemed ok, the vet asked for details and I explained everything that has happened, the vet asked if there was any chance of him having eaten poison or me using flee spray or washing him. But I did absolutely nothing unsual, all I’ve got to do with him until now was giving him water and kitten food and playing and cuddling with him. The vet gave him two injections, one anti biotic and one to calm him down a bit. I was asked to keep the little kitten there over night as it’s better to keep him under observation and I said ok, I was told they’ll call me the next day to tell me how he’s doing. as I couldn’t wait I called in the moring but they didn’t know much as yet and said they’d call back in the afternoon once they know more. in the afternoon I called again and the vet said the kitten has had 3 seizures so far and it’s unsual at such a young age to get that many strong ones. And that any seizure could be fatal and cause either kidney, liver, heart or brain failure. They asked to keep him one more night for observation and also because he needs injections every 6h. I’m supposed to go there tomorrow and talk about how to proceed. I don’t know what will happen, the vet doesn’t seem to know what it is. So, if anyone has gone through any similar experience with their kittens/cats I’d love to know more about it, any suggestions to what it can be… Any help really is appreciated. I just thought I’d give it a shot and hope someone has gone through the same/similar thing and has any suggestions/ideas of how to deal with it… Thanks a lot in advance.
    P.S. I don’t know if this will help but my fur ball is fully black with heterochromia(odd eyed cat, one blue eye and one green/hazel eye. Very rare.) Maybe they are more sensitive, I don’t know 🙁 I also always thought he kind of has a bloated belly but the vet said he’s in perfect shape…

    #853407
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Wow, this has to be incredibly scary. I have no experience with this, but maybe some of our other posters may have. I’m wondering if he had flea meds put on him at the shelter, and what it was. Also wondering about wormers. Another thing is–was he microchipped? I have heard of one unlucky kitten that was microchipped and they put the chip into the spinal cord. It took surgery to remove it and put it in a better area. Sorry I can’t be of more help.

    #853408
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=1+2118&aid=224
    I thought this article might be helpful, in what to look for to help your vet make a diagnosis.

    #853416
    Buttons
    Moderator

    I’m so sorry your little fella is going through this… and I can assure you the different coloured eyes don’t have a connection to the seizures but it will make him extra handsome 🙂 different size pupils would be a concern though but that’s not the case here

    so I’ve had experience in dogs with seizures and have help some people when it came to behavioral issues in their epileptic cats… and from what your describing his condition sounds quite serious. if it was a pre excising condition like epilepsy then he would have presented with seizures while in the rescue before you met him and having more than 3 seizures in the span of 24 hours is pretty sever..

    what my first question would be is how are his liver and kidney functions and a blood test needs to be taken to see the results. if his liver wasn’t functioning properly and they gave anesthesia for his neuter op his body wouldn’t have been able to eliminate the toxins from his blood properly which could explain the seizures a day or two after the operation.. most vets when operating on cats or dogs will always do blood test to insure the liver is working as it should any issues with liver function would be highly risky for anesthesia as it’s the liver that eliminates the anesthesia from the system after and if the body can’t do that then there are risks of complications like seizures .. but rescue facilities with a high rehome rate will probably spay and neuter young kittens without full blood work as there are so many to neuter and chances of liver issues are at a minimum. even something as simple as a high parasite burden can weaken the liver and cause unhealthy readings and a liver working at 70% because of parasites could possibly cause an issue under anesthesia.

    I would insist they give you his liver test results and ask if his blood work was done before his operation and ask to see them if it was done and a bloated tummy could indicate worms or parasites but he wouldn’t be able to be treated for them until he’s safely seizure free.

    One other possibility is a virus called FIP there are two forms one called wet FIP and one called dry FIP one effects the brain and one can cause bloating in young kittens stomachs there’s no clear yest for this virus the dry form that causes the bloated belly is easiest to diagnosis because they drain the fluid and if is a yellowish fluid they normally conclude it to be a case of FIP the wet (brain) form is harder to diagnose there is no simply test that exists like the one they use to test for FeLV or FIV unfortunately..

    I’ll say a little pray for your guy.. please keep us up to date!

    #853514
    Scar
    Participant

    UPDATE:
    First I want to thank kittyzee and buttons for the replies and good wishes! I very much appreciate it. And secondly wanted to apologies for not updating earlier, I hope you understand that there’s just so much going on right now. I won’t give a extremely detailed update but I will write everything best I can.
    I left my kitten at the vet as they said it’s best for him so they can look after him properly, count the seizures he gets and for injections etc that he needs. on the 17th oct he got 8 seizures, on the 18th he had none at all and on the 19th he had none at all. On the 20th I was allowed to take him home, I could only pick him up in the evening and he hadn’t had any all day. The vet told me he is 99% sure the cause of seizures was poison which has gone out of his body now, as the seizures have stopped. you have no idea how happy I was about it, that he survived and is seizure free now. how he got poisoned is unsure. I can’t think of anything he could’ve gotten at my home as I was keeping him in only one room for the beginning. Maybe he was poisoned at the animal home, cleaning liquid being left somewhere, idk. One can’t keep an eye on a kitten 24/7… The vet suggested I keep him in my bathroom over night, just to be sure that he doesn’t get poisoned again. And so I planned to do, I took him home, Kept him waiting a few minutes while I scrubed the bathroom just to be sure that we won’t run into trouble again. He doing so well, I let him out of the transport bag and he was walking around the bathroom exploring everything normally. After 15mins I noticed a behaviour change, he was standing in the middle of the room, looking very disorientated again(big pupils) and his tail bushy. The symptons he’d get before getting a seizure, this lasted just a few seconds and then he was himself again. No seizure. I thought maybe I was just being paranoid, he was afterall poisoned and ok again. I spend 10 more minutes with them and then thought I’d out off the light and let him sleep as at the vets he’d be sleeping already. So I went to have dinner when after 15 mins I suddenly heard a lot of noises in the bathroom again, I put on the light and opened the bathroom door to find him with his back to me sitting down on the other end of the bathroom(normally he’d come running and meowing towards me) there was piss on the floor and water(as he probably threw the water bowl over while he had the seizure) I waited a few seconds for him to get orientated again and so he did, suddenly he was himself again, turned around, noticed I was there and came running towards me meowing, this was when I noticed the foam around his mouth. He definitly just had a seizure, I thought. Called the vet immediately, it was passed their closing time but we phoned the emergency line and he kindly said that he’ll especially come and we should bring the kitten to him again. I took him, put him in the transportation bag and took off towards the taxi stand. On the way I suddenly heard the kitten hissing, probably because it was very scared, then I noticed it getting another longer seizure and afterwards being very paralyzed and taking some time to become himself again. We got a taxi and met the vet, the vet said he’s going to have to give the kitten anesthesia before he gets another attack to calm him down and that he’ll have to keep the kitten there over night and we should meet the next day again. And so we did. on the 21 of october(yesterday) we went to the vet again, the vet said that the kitten had gotten 3 more seizures and every time the anesthesia wears off he gets another bad seizure. He said that if it was poison like they thought then he wouldn’t have gotten those seizures again, so they made a blood test to see how his organs are etc but everything seems fine. Everything is as it should be for a kitten so the vet says he thinks it’s a chronic disorder as epilepsy but it’s very unusual in kittens and that normally epilepsy in a cat will only show after earliest 6 months of age. But still it might be epilepsy, the thing is that because it’s so rare for such a young kitten to get epilepsy it’s dangerous to put him on medication to help against the epilepsy as the meds are very strong and harmful to his other organs. And one wouldn’t know whether the medication will help in the first place. But anyway the vet isn’t sure if it’s epilepsy or another disease that has something to do with the brain, the problem is the kitten is so young. The vet said he won’t have a quality life being on those medications and putting him to sleep will probably be the best thing to do. I asked if it could be the fip virus but the vet said that he doesn’t have the symptons for it, as his stool is fine, there’s no yellow liquid and nothing. if it weren’t for the odd seizures he’d be a perfectly healthy kitten. Now I’m faced with making one of the most difficult descisions so far. How is one supposed to decide whether someone is allowed to live or not? Ofc the vet is right, it’s not a quality life having to rely on whatever medications he’d need to get. I just feel terrible not knowing what exactly the disease is. I’m going to have to make the descision today, if he continues to gets seizures every time the anesthesia wears off then I don’t think there’s much choice than to put him to sleep…if he’s feeling better tomorrow and goes without seizures I think there might be another chance to find out what exactly is causing the seizures, I’d feel terrible putting him to sleep without even knowing what caused his seizures.
    Again, thanks for all the help. I really still hope there’s someone out there that has experienced the same with their kittens… thanks for all the positive energy!

    #853516
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I’m sorry Scar. What to do? Is it possible your wee guy will get better? Will he “grow” out of the seizures? Can you afford continued veterinary care?

    This is such a difficult time. For me, his quality of life is most important and if that is compromised, then I would do what’s best for him.

    He has known so much love in his short time and will always be in your heart.

    Good Luck
    PG

    #853519
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Scar,
    I am very saddened to hear your news. Whatever decision you have to make, it will be the right one. I don’t understand why these things happen, and I never will. This doesn’t make it any easier for you, I know, but please know you and your kitten are in my thoughts and prayers. I am hoping for healing for him as he has been through so much, and so have you. Let us know what the outcome is please.

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