If your cat has epileptic seizures frequently. Epilepsy in cats: symptoms and treatment. Features of external manifestation

Recently, it is generally accepted that epilepsy is a fairly common disease in small animals, and in cats including. Epilepsy is a disease that affects the brain, causing it functional disorder, characterized by seizures, convulsions and loss of orientation in space. Usually the seizures are short-lived.

Causes of epilepsy in cats

Epilepsy is divided into real (idiopathic) and false (symptomatic).

There are many reasons for such attacks: head injuries, brain infections (meningitis), various tumors. Convulsions can also be caused by a disorder metabolic processes, including those caused by improper feeding (for example, raw fish alone), drug exposure, various kinds toxins, prolonged fasting.

This epilepsy is symptomatic, false, or acquired. In this condition, seizures are signs of another disease, and if this disease is identified and treated, the seizures should stop. If an animal has suffered a head injury, seizures can begin immediately or after some time, up to several years.

However, the origin of many seizures is unknown and may be caused by congenital genetic disorders brain activity, and in medical card In cats they can be seen under the name “idiopathic epilepsy”.

If seizures start at the cat's V early age, That epilepsy, most likely, is congenital. If such attacks appear in an older animal, then this is acquired epilepsy, the result of a disease that must be urgently diagnosed and treated.

Symptoms and signs

Epileptic seizure at the cat's often begins with a phase called "aura", when it can be noticed that she is acting abnormally, showing obvious anxiety, trying to hide, or making noises loud sounds. This phase may be characterized by disorientation and the cat's fixed gaze directed into space. It may last 5-10 minutes.

Place your cat in a safe place before the seizure occurs so that she cannot fall from high places such as furniture or stairs.

The attack itself usually lasts no longer than a couple of minutes (usually 10-30 seconds). The attack may pass easily, with just staring blankly into space, or it may be more violent, accompanied by salivation, convulsions, falling, or defecation.

After an attack, she may quickly return to normal behavior, or she may be disoriented or insane for some time. This condition can last from several minutes to several hours. There are times when a cat begins to show aggression after a seizure. In any case, you need to provide her with complete rest during this period, and if necessary, call a veterinarian.

Measures and assistance

Most seizures are not an emergency and do not pose a health threat to your cat. But if you yourself observe a cat’s epileptic seizure for the first time, then it is recommended to do everything in accordance with the veterinary prescription.

A seizure that lasts 5 to 10 minutes is called “status epilepticus” and can cause permanent damage and even death to the animal if not treated immediately. If your cat has epilepsy, arrange with a private veterinary clinic about possible urgent house calls.

A cat cannot swallow its own tongue during a seizure; there is no need to try to prevent this by putting your fingers in its mouth. In this case, you run a high risk of being bitten during an attack.

Treatment of epilepsy in cats

If you notice at his cats symptoms of epilepsy, you must immediately contact a veterinarian, he will prescribe tests and tests. If at young cats seizures idiopathic epilepsy occur less than once a year, there is no need for treatment, but the animal must be closely monitored.

If seizures occur more than once a month, phenobarbital is usually used. It is very important that the anticonvulsant medication is given as prescribed by the doctor, without sudden interruptions, as this can provoke a new attack that is much more severe than the previous ones.

In addition to the main treatment, your cat may be prescribed medications and vitamins to maintain cerebral circulation. A sick cat needs regular examination by a doctor, including all tests and ultrasound.

Keep a diary and write down all the information about the seizures: date, time, duration, the cat’s condition before, during, and after the seizure. Caring for a sick animal is very important, raw fish must be excluded from the diet, the possibility of jumping from heights must be minimized, as well as any possible stress.

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Neurological diseases are common in cats. One of them includes convulsions and epileptic seizures in cats. This disease is not very common among cats, but it causes a lot of trouble for animal owners. Strictly speaking, in order to learn to live with a disease such as epilepsy in cats, you need to know the symptoms of this disease. Then it will be possible to choose correct treatment.

Epilepsy usually occurs due to a malfunction of the animal’s brain, maybe of different origins: primary and secondary.

1. Primary (idiopathic, true) epilepsy, it is assumed that this type of disease is genetic in nature. At the same time, all the parameters of the pet’s analyzes are within normal limits. From primary type young cats suffer from the disease.
2. Secondary (symptomatic) epilepsy occurs as a result of other diseases or under the influence of any external factors.

In any case, the diagnosis is preceded by a thorough examination of the pet, with the collection of complete information about the animal, its well-being, appetite, stool, and various laboratory tests and research using modern means diagnostics

All this is done in order not to make an incorrect diagnosis and not to miss other diseases that could lead to epilepsy. At the same time, it is established whether the cat had any injuries, poisoning, or other external influences, which could have an impact on the performance of the pet’s brain.

Causes of epilepsy

Depending on the form of epilepsy, its causes may be different. In the idiopathic form, doctors tend to believe that genetics are to blame for the pet’s illness. Genetic problems could affect the development of the kitten and lead to brain pathologies. The disease could also develop as a result birth trauma baby or disorder nervous system still inside the mother cat.

Symptomatic epilepsy is an acquired disease and can be caused by:

• injury sustained by the animal;
• hypertension;
• dysfunction the most important organs(kidney or liver);
• brain tumor;
• heart disease;
• past infectious diseases;
• low sugar levels;
• poisoning;
• vascular diseases.

Symptoms of the disease

Like any disease associated with neurology, epilepsy in cats produces different symptoms; seizures may be preceded by other signs of the disease. Veterinarians recognize four stages of seizure development in cats, with varying symptoms.

1. The prodromic phase, which is considered to be a preparation for an attack. This phase lasts quite a long time; it can develop over several hours, and sometimes several days. At this time, the cat is characterized by anxiety, fearfulness, and attempts to hide from everyone.
2. “Aura” - refers to the second phase, begins on the eve of the attack itself. Different animals can behave in exactly the opposite way in this phase: some huddle close to the owner, constantly being near him, others hide away from prying eyes. At this time, salivation may appear, and the cat may also be extremely restless, close to a state of passion.
3. The ictal phase, which characterizes the attack itself. Symptoms of the ictal phase include falls, convulsions with loss of consciousness, convulsive contractions of the muscles of the limbs, extremely increased salivation, involuntary chewing movements of the animal, and possible respiratory arrest.
4. The postictal phase, which can be described as recovery period after an attack. It can last, like the first phase, from several hours to several days. During this period, the pet experiences disorientation, clouding of consciousness, salivation, and insensitivity to its usual stimuli. At the end of this phase, the animal returns to normal.

Most difficult case epilepsy, when the third phase lasts more than ten minutes, or attacks occur almost non-stop, replacing one another. In this case, the cat needs emergency help, without which she could die.

Treatment of epilepsy

Epilepsy is absolutely not a disease that can be cured at home. Moreover, self-medication in this case will have the exact opposite effect and can lead to the loss of your beloved animal. Without finding out the reasons why the cat started having epileptic seizures, treatment simply cannot be effective.

If the cat congenital pathology leading to epilepsy, then after full diagnostics four-legged friend the doctor will prescribe medications, alleviating the cat's condition. They will have to be given to your pet strictly according to the schedule prescribed by the doctor, in no case changing the dosage and number of medications taken per day.

This form of the disease complete cure does not lend itself, however, with the help medicinal effects, the number of seizures is significantly reduced, the time between attacks increases, and the cat’s recovery period is significantly reduced.

The owner of the animal must realize that the quality and life expectancy of the sick pet can only depend on him, because the medications prescribed by the doctor must be taken constantly, without interruption.

In the case of symptomatic epilepsy, the doctor determines what exactly led to the disease and what disease is the cause. In this case, the underlying disease is treated. If you can achieve positive effect, then the animal’s epilepsy will go away.

Helping a sick cat

If your pet is diagnosed with this illness, you need to be ready to help your pet at any time. If the owner sees a cat having a seizure for the first time, he may well be confused or scared. However, in this case, the cat can only receive help from the owner.

1. When an attack approaches, you need to ensure that the cat is in a warm room, where she will have soft bedding or several pillows that can prevent the cat from hitting hard surfaces or objects. It is undesirable for the room to be brightly lit, this will aggravate the attack; it is better to shade it slightly.
2. The owner can put the animal on its side and sit next to it. You cannot press the cat to the floor while holding back the convulsions. This can lead to even more injury.
3. You can place your palm or a low pillow under the cat’s head to prevent convulsive blows to the floor.
4. Under no circumstances should you put your fingers into a cat’s mouth during an attack; during convulsions, it can seriously injure the owner. If the animal is lying on its side, then it is unlikely that its tongue can stick into its larynx, but you can help your pet avoid biting its lips or cheeks by carefully inserting the edge of a spoon between its teeth.
5. It is advisable to keep a kind of diary where you record all the details of each attack. This is necessary so that in the future the doctor has the most complete picture of the disease and its manifestations, and therefore can effectively help the animal cope with the disease.

After the attack ends, the cat may be very thirsty; some beauties experience an unbearable feeling of hunger and eat a lot. After satisfying its needs, the cat can sleep for quite a long time.

Keeping and caring for a sick animal

In fact, the life of a pet with epilepsy is different from life healthy cat only big amount attention required from the owner. First of all, this concerns, of course, taking medications. Every day, at the same time, the cat must be given the tablets and medications prescribed by the doctor.

It is extremely undesirable to let a cat with such an illness go outside. After all, an attack can happen so suddenly that the animal itself is unlikely to react to its approach, much less be able to protect itself from injury. If suddenly an epileptic seizure catches your pet in a tree, she will certainly fall from it, because she will not be able to concentrate and hold on; if she falls, a cat with convulsions will not be able to group herself, so there is a possibility of receiving very serious injuries.

A loving and attentive owner usually notices the approach of an attack in his pet, so he takes all measures to ensure that the cat survives an epileptic seizure without getting injured, without running the risk of falling from a height, hitting its head, or falling down the stairs.

An important point for the sick beauty is the atmosphere in her home. Scandals, quarrels, screams, sharp sounds can provoke attacks, so it is very important to protect your pet from any stressful situations. Very often, cats suffering from this disease quickly become seizure due to light exposure.

A flickering TV screen in a completely dark room, color music, flashing flashlights or alarm lights, even New Year's garlands can trigger a seizure. Therefore, it is recommended to prevent your pet from being exposed to such external factors in order to reduce the risk of an attack.

Naturally, the food of a sick pet must be of very high quality. If this is food, then it must be of at least a premium class; natural food must include all the substances necessary for the pet, and also be supplemented with food special vitamins for your four-legged friend.

A cat with epilepsy should be examined regularly by a doctor. If the number of attacks or their duration increases, you should urgently take your pet to the doctor, because adjustments to the treatment regimen may be required.

Video

Cats rarely suffer from epileptic seizures. Much more often, such symptoms, indicating abnormal brain function, appear in dogs. However, if a breeder is faced with such a problem, he should know how to stop epileptic seizures in cats. This will save the animal from suffering. There can be many reasons for the appearance of epilepsy, which is extremely difficult to call a disease. However, in most cases it is almost impossible to identify them. But there are still ways to make your pet’s life easier and give him a chance for a full recovery.

Types of epilepsy

In most cases, true seizures of epilepsy appear in an animal at the age of 5 months. There is no specific breed dependence on of this disease. However, many scientists believe that exotics are more prone to its manifestations. If we take into account gender predisposition, females suffer from epilepsy much less frequently. Research has noted that when epilepsy is congenital, the first symptoms appear at five months of age. This is the time of puberty. Scientists cannot yet explain such statistics.

Before starting treatment for epilepsy in cats, a thorough diagnosis of the animal is required. The disease is divided into acquired and congenital. Idiopathic epilepsy is the result of abnormal brain function and nervous system development. There may be several reasons for its manifestation: chronic infections, poisoning of a pregnant cat's body toxic substances during pregnancy, as well as inbreeding. In idiopathic epilepsy, many processes of inhibition and excitation in the brain are disrupted.

Acquired epilepsy

Special attention should be paid to symptomatic epilepsy. Seizures that occur in a cat may be manifestations of completely different diseases. No less common reason– insufficient blood sugar levels. This inevitably leads to brain starvation, provoking epileptic seizures. Once the symptom is eliminated, the disease is cured, and you can forget about seizures forever. What are the most common causes of epilepsy in cats?.

• Tumors in the brain.
• Severe poisoning from household chemicals.
• Traumatic brain injury.
• Long-term lack of magnesium and calcium in the body.
• Viral infections.

Also, scientists studying the symptoms and treatment of epilepsy in cats claim that the impetus for the development of the disease can even be quite severe stress. Pet cats are very sensitive creatures, in dire need of the affection of their patron. Often epileptic seizures are also signs oncological diseases. This is why it is so important to conduct a high-quality diagnosis before starting treatment and try to identify the root cause of the cat’s seizures.

First aid for an animal

When they see an epileptic seizure in their purring pet for the first time, many breeders get scared and don’t know what to do. Of course, the sight is terrifying. Adored Murka or Barsik has a frightening appearance, suddenly falls to one side, knocks convulsively lower jaw and flails his paws. An epileptic seizure is accompanied by glassy eyes and the release of pinkish saliva from the cat’s mouth. However, you shouldn’t panic, but you need to help a suffering pet.

• It is necessary to place the pet on the floor. This will avoid injuring the unconscious cat.
• Thick material should be used. It is necessary as a softening bedding so that the cat does not hit the hard surface of the floor. You should not restrict the animal’s movements or touch it sharply, so as not to provoke an even more severe attack.
• If a cat develops a pinkish discharge during an attack, it means that she bit her lip, tongue, or cheek. To avoid such injury, you should insert the tip of the spoon into your pet’s mouth as carefully as possible.

In most cases, the attack lasts from a few seconds to 5-7 minutes. Then the frightened and confused cat wanders around the apartment for some time. She looks around restlessly, being in a rather tense state. In other cases, cats go straight to their bowl, starting to eat greedily and quite a lot. Despite numerous studies, it has still not been possible to find out why some animals suffer from attacks only once a year, while others have them every week. It is also impossible to explain the duration of a cat's seizure.

How is epilepsy treated?

Every breeder must understand that epilepsy is not a death sentence. The seizures themselves are for pet do not pose much of a threat. Unhappy cats are much more likely to die from injuries they receive during seizures. At such moments, they really need the care of their owner. After all, an animal cannot control itself and only a person can alleviate its suffering at least a little. For frequent attacks of epilepsy or prolonged seizures health care must be provided immediately. On average, a seizure should not last more than 3 minutes.

With properly selected treatment, you can not only minimize the risk of new seizures, but also completely rid your cat of the disease. Modern drugs will provide your beloved pet with quality and long life. D

For the treatment of primary epilepsy, such medical supplies, such as pregabalin, phenobarbital, diazepam. The admission process is long-term, in some cases it can even be lifelong. The drugs help control the amplitude of attacks and frequency, but do not completely relieve the animal from the disease.

Veterinarians often exclude the use of drug therapy. If a cat has seizures every 1-3 months, then there is not only no need to prescribe medications. In this case medicines can bring much more harm than good. Gentle cats are quite sensitive to various side effects of drugs; you should not add new torment to them. In addition, it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of taking medications when attacks occur rarely.

Epilepsy in cats is much less common than in other pets, such as dogs. The disease may have more than one root cause - a metabolic disorder in the body, severe drug effects. The endurance threshold of animals is quite different, so each case should be taken as individual. Early detection and treatment can reduce the frequency of seizures and their duration.

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What is epilepsy?

Predisposition

The tendency to epilepsy does not depend on the breed of the pet, which cannot be said about the gender - in cats the disease is diagnosed much more often. With a congenital disease, symptoms appear at an early age and during puberty. In injured animals (acquired epilepsy), seizures may appear after one or several weeks, and often after a year. There are known cases of the disease being transmitted by inheritance, but not always directly from the mother cat to the kittens. In any case, the risk of genetic pathology cannot be excluded.

Symptoms

There are three stages of the classic seizure state:

What should an owner do during a cat seizure?

Of particular danger to your pet are the injuries that he can inflict on himself during a seizure. At the first symptoms, the cat should be placed on open space, away from sharp corners and hard objects. You cannot press the animal to the floor: firstly, this will not stop the seizure, and secondly, with an uncontrolled movement the pet can injure the owner. You should not try to fix the tongue - if the cat is lying on its side, it is not in danger of suffocation. To prevent errors, it is better to watch a video that demonstrates correct position cat's body during a seizure.

Does it pose a direct threat to the pet's life?

Timely diagnosis of epilepsy in cats, proper treatment and care will prevent irreversible damage to health. Life-threatening status is represented by status epilepticus - a series of seizures, during which the pet loses consciousness. Without veterinarian supervision emergency treatment You can't do it in a clinic. Each subsequent attack threatens with severe brain damage, heart failure and suffocation. If epilepsy is a symptom of another disease, the pet’s life depends on the stage and complexity of the latter.

Diagnosis and treatment

The first step to diagnosis is to observe and determine the cause of the seizure: bright light, noise, medication. It is necessary to carry out many tests: examine blood, urine, do an ultrasound internal organs, V in rare cases- MRI. The final diagnosis is made based on the data, and subsequent treatment is carried out based on it. The veterinarian selects an individual dose of sedatives and anti-seizure medications. Treatment does not always relieve your pet of the disease, but it reduces the risk of seizures to a minimum and ensures long years of life.

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If the animal does not lose consciousness during the attack, there is no danger to life, but examination is necessary. In case of loss of consciousness, anticonvulsants are prescribed by the attending physician, the duration of which ranges from 4 months to life. Under no circumstances should you carry out treatment on your own based on knowledge obtained from various forums. The body of each animal is individual and the owner runs the risk of causing irreparable harm pet's health. If in local clinic have not determined the cause of epileptic seizures, you need to contact another, more experienced veterinarian.

Video "Epileptic seizure in a cat"

The video shows a short-term seizure, and you will also understand the dangers of limited space for an animal.

Aggressive, early start Epilepsy treatment may be successful because the cat can avoid cluster seizures and refractory epilepsy. The decision to initiate treatment should be made on a case-by-case basis after considering the severity of the seizure, ictal symptoms, the risks of treatment, the owner's ability to comply with prescriptions, the possibilities of serum monitoring, and the difficulties of long-term oral administration drugs.

Treatment for epilepsy may be required throughout life. A reduction in medication doses may be considered based on seizure freedom for an extended period of time (after 6-24 months). Dose reductions should be made gradually and abrupt discontinuation of drugs is contraindicated.

Several oral medications are available for the treatment of epilepsy in cats (Table 5). Phenobarbital is generally recommended as a first-line drug, although there are no studies yet comparing the effectiveness of phenobarbital with other drugs in cats. The reason for its use is its low price, a relatively long elimination period, tolerability and a long observation period for its use. More detailed description pharmacological properties antiepileptic drugs can be found in different sources.

The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) has developed evidence-based principles for classifying studies with 4 classes of study quality. Classes I and II include only placebo-controlled, randomized, double-controlled studies with a large number of animals. Proof III class include open-label research, while class IV includes expert opinions and case reports. Several double-blind, placebo-controlled studies in dogs have recently been published. However, there is no comparable evidence high level, studies on the treatment of epilepsy in cats and the literature contain only case reports, case series and expert opinions. Human epileptologists have made significant efforts to strengthen the evidence-based power of research, thereby improving treatment of these conditions and patient outcomes. Of course, epilepsy in cats is still at the beginning of this journey. Clinicians should be aware of these limitations because knowledge of epilepsy in cats in general is based on the lowest grade of evidence ((IV).

Table 5 Oral drugs for the treatment of feline epilepsy

Drugs		Doses	Possible side effects			Notes		Sources
Phenobarbital		1-5 mg/kg every 12 hours	Sedation, ataxia, PU/PD/PP, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, lymphadenopathy, skin erosions, coagulopathy			Monitoring serum levels (100–300 μmol/L, 23–30 μg/mL)
Diazepam		0.2–2 mg/kg every 8–24 hours	Sedation, PU/PD/PP, liver failure			Monitoring is desirable liver function
Potassium bromide		30–40 mg/kg every 24 hours	PU/PD, vomiting, eosinophilic bronchopneumonia			Serum level monitoring
Clorazepam	3.75–7.5 mg/kg every 6–12 hours			Same as diazepam
Levitiracetam		10–20 mg/kg every 8 hours	Lack of appetite, sedation, hypersalivation
Gabapentin		5–20 mg/kg every 6–12 hours	Sedation, ataxia
Zonisamide		5–10 mg/kg every 12–24 hours	Sedation, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea
Pregabalin		1-2 mg/kg every 12 hours				No available clinical trials
Propentofylline		5mg/kg every 12 hours				No clinical studies available
		100–400 mg/cat every 24 hours				Amino acid inhibition
Topiramate		12.5–25 mg every 8–12 hours	Sedation, lack of appetite			No clinical studies available

PU, polyuria; PD, polydipsia; PP, polyphagia.

The prognosis is based on the etiology of the underlying disease and its treatment. There are observations that when treated with phenobarbital or diazepam, 40% of cats with idiopathic epilepsy disappear from seizures, 40% show a reduction of more than 50% in frequency seizures and 20% do not respond to treatment. Other researchers have noted that the prognosis varies widely depending on the diagnosis and response to treatment, but despite severe seizures, the outcome can be good to excellent in most cases. In a recent study, the majority of cats (50-80%, depending on the study period) with suspected idiopathic epilepsy showed excellent or good seizure control (less than 6 seizures per year) when treated with phenobarbital for feline epilepsy, although some cases showed treatment resistance . Approximately 50% of cats were seizure-free for several years, although discontinuation of treatment resulted in relapse in 75% of cats. Similar results, with 50% of cats becoming seizure free, were reported in another study.4

Prospects

Abnormal, excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain is the essence of epilepsy. Because changes can be subtle and difficult to detect, improvements in the current diagnostic capabilities of electroencephalography will be critical to advance our understanding of epilepsy in cats. Only through systematic research into various aspects of electroencephalography (including electrode placement, electrode type, fixation techniques, and standardization) will we be able to determine diagnostic methods, which can be recommended for practical clinical use.

Seems reasonable definition clinical syndromes to establish various forms epilepsy and this research has already begun for feline temporal lobe epilepsy. Based on work in human patients, such syndromes are identified based on the typical onset of symptoms, specific electroencephalographic characteristics, seizure types, and often other features that, taken together, lead to a specific diagnosis. Modern neuroimaging techniques that allow functional study brain, can also help more accurately establish the localization of the pathology.