I'm looking for any suggestions on how to help my lovely Mina. She is 13 and has had a hard year. A month ago I came home to find her hiding in the corner and seizing. A few vet visits later, I had a list of possible afflictions and diagnostic tests I couldn't afford. Everything was normal for a month, then two nights ago I came home to find the nightmare waiting for me again. Considering the remission and manner of the seizures, the vet feels that most likely she has a brain tumor or lesion. I can get blood tests to rule out organ failure but the timing of th attacks kind of does that already. A stroke or epilepsy is unlikely given her history. An MRi to diagnose a tumor is thousands of dollars and even then it's unlikely anything could be done about it. We talked about drugs to control the seizures but there are side effects and while it's only once in a while I don't think the benefit would warrant the pills. Does anyone know of anything I could do to help her? Things to avoid that might trigger her seizures, or something I could give her that could help suppress them? There's really no medical treatment other than sedatives which she absolutely hates. Thanks for any advice.
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Re: what to do about seizures?
Sat, September 22, 2007 - 7:29 AMI'm sorry for the pain you and your cat are going through. I don't have any advice or answers, but someone else might. You might also try posting this in the Veterinary Medicine Tribe. -
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Re: what to do about seizures?
Fri, September 28, 2007 - 10:58 AMI coudn't find that Tribe. Can you post a link?
I'm coming to accept that there isn't much I can do. Can't control the uncontrollable. The big decision now is whether to subject her to phenobarbitol. Does anyone have any experience with this anti-seizure sedative? How much of a sedative is it, because Mina truly hates those. -
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Re: what to do about seizures?
Fri, September 28, 2007 - 11:18 AMI just sent you an invitation to the tribe. -
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Re: what to do about seizures?
Thu, October 4, 2007 - 9:12 PMWe've just put my 10-year-old on Pheno, and what we've noticed is that she has become VERY aggressive - attacking her housemate cats, and an intervening human! This is *SO* not like her!!! I'm calling our vet tomorrow to ask about this. It is just so upsetting to witness a seizure, isn't it? Just horrible - and how terrifying it must be for our furbabies! :o( Poor little things! -
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Re: what to do about seizures?
Sat, October 6, 2007 - 12:56 AMIt was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to witness, my Mina having a seizure. Put me in a total panic. I wish I didn't have the image in my memory. She has been on Phenobarbitol for five days now, and I haven't seen any aggression. Quite the opposite, she is suuuuuuper mellow. I'm still waiting for her to emerge from the sedative cloud. Every day is a little improvement. Today she was in full swing with her annoying habit of waking me up by tearing up paper in my ear. As exasperating as it is, it was a joy to hear her do it, since that means my girl is still in there. She finally started batting her ball around (weakly) this evening. All good things. I have no other pets, so no one for her to aggro on, and with me she is very sedate. I guess it is just as personal as a human's response to a drug regimen. -
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Re: what to do about seizures?
Mon, October 8, 2007 - 10:48 AMMisha and Polly,
Having twice witnessed seizures in humans, I understand how upsetting it is. I knew a guy with epilepsy who told me that it's not nearly as bad as it looks. He said the seizures just make him feel tired afterwards. Maybe you can take some comfort from knowing that the seizures are more disturbing for you than they are for your furry friends. -
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Re: what to do about seizures?
Mon, October 8, 2007 - 7:59 PMThat is a comfort, though while she's in the middle of one, it's really easy to forget. -
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: what to do about seizures?
Mon, November 12, 2007 - 11:29 PMShe had been on phenobarb, 8.1 mg twice a day for five weeks. Almost a week ago she had her check-up and we talked about her 'fog' and how her motor skills never seemed to recover. I just felt that it was due to the drug and not the seizures/tumor. As an experiment, we decreased her daily dosage by 25% and also spread it out to three doses a day. I had been seeing an arc in her behavior with the twice daily dose, and I wanted to get more of the stable middle section, less of the zonked out first bit and twitchy last bit. So it has been less than a week now at 4.05 mg three times a day so I know it's early to say, but what a difference! She is so much less wobbly, and she doesn't ever fall over when walking on her own anymore. I watch her like a hawk for any sign that less phenobarb is letting the seizures back in, but so far (knock on wood) so good.
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