seizures - general questions

My cat had her first seizure 3 weeks ago on a Tuesday. Lasted very quick, 15
seconds? After it was over, she let out a big meow and was fine. Rushed her
to vet, diagnoed with UTI/e-coli and got her on antibiotic.

2 weeks later on a Wednesday, neurologist diagnosed she was blind with probable
brain tumor (many observations I've made in recent months all tie into this).
He gave her a steriod shot. On the way home, I was very emotional and
stressed, more so than my cat has ever witnessed before and I think this upset
her, she was letting out these little cries on the way home.

That night and the next day, I believe she had 3 seizures. Started her on
prednisone that day.

-first one was Thurs at 4am... started 5 feet from my bed with a trail of
urine, then she jumped on my bed and woke me with her thrashing. That lasted
close to 2 minutes. This confused me as she is blind with some arthritis and
hasn't been jumping lately. The end of the urine trail was 2 feet from my bed
and once she was on bed continued to urinate. How was she able to jump on the
bed? From my little understanding of seizures this is unusual, not to mention
she is blind.
-second one was 5.5 hours later and not actually witnessed. I walked in on
"her room" and she was in a corner behind the litter box. She had that look on
her face, there were claws she had shed on the carpet under the box. There was
urine in the box but a little was mixed in her fur with some litter. She laid
next to the box for the next couple of hours (very unusual for her, she's
always been so neat and meticulous of her grooming and would never ever do
that). Could she have known about the oncoming seizure in time to get in the
box or maybe she had it while in the box?
-third seizure was 7 hours after that. Lasted less than the first. Thrashing
on floor, with shed claws and minimal urine. It took several hours for her
motor skills to fully return (and her appetite seems bigger than it has been in
a long time but could be due to me switching from dry to wet because she wasn't
eating the dry).

Next day she had the runs and has had them ever since Friday. Is this maybe a
by-product of the cluster seizures and/or the stress of the week?

I've seen postings (Phil) talking about the 3 different stages. Is there an
average duration for the pre-ictal or does it vary widely?

And why after one quick minor seizure did she have 3 in a row like that 2 weeks
later? Even if tumor is underlying cause, can stress increase the likelihood,
frequency, duration or severity of seizures?

Seizures are an awful thing to watch, scared the hell out of me. Twice after
the seizure she growled and looked like Cugo Kitty. Took me a couple days to
really get over that. Now she's as sweet as pie.

(DaniellaY) wrote in message ...

That night and the next day, I believe she had 3 seizures. Started her on
prednisone that day.

Why not phenobarbital? It's very inexpensive and has been used for
decades to control seizures in cats. I once used 1/8th of a grain,
twice a day, very tiny pill. Talk to the neurologist about this. I can
see the hormone to reduce the swelling but the seizures may need the
phenobarb.

(DaniellaY) wrote in message ...

That night and the next day, I believe she had 3 seizures. Started her on
prednisone that day.

Why not phenobarbital? It's very inexpensive and has been used for
decades to control seizures in cats. I once used 1/8th of a grain,
twice a day, very tiny pill. Talk to the neurologist about this. I can
see the hormone to reduce the swelling but the seizures may need the
phenobarb.

I've asked that question. My vet and neurologist are in agreement.

Start with the pred and that could be enough...so far it has been, no seizures
and other things are improving. If at some point that is not enough then time
to add the Pbarb.

It's always been my vet's approach to use the minimum course of treatment that
is needed to do the job and so far that has always worked in the past.

I've asked that question. My vet and neurologist are in agreement.

Start with the pred and that could be enough...so far it has been, no seizures
and other things are improving. If at some point that is not enough then time
to add the Pbarb.

It's always been my vet's approach to use the minimum course of treatment that
is needed to do the job and so far that has always worked in the past.