Help and advice needed - please

[Bailey]

My mother has an 8 yr old Burmilla (Burmese/Chinchilla x). Every 2 or 3 months he collapses on the floor, his breathing becomes erratic and fast, with open mouth panting (but with no sound), he does not go unconscious but he is not aware of his surroundings. He sometimes howls & loses control of his bladder and poos himself. It can last 30 – 60 minutes and then he returns to normal. The vets have carried out loads of test but can find nothing wrong. They have prescribed PREDNIFOLONE to help with his breathing but can’t offer any other advice This has been going on for about 3 yrs and happens every 2 or 3 mnths. Can anyone suggest what it might be?

[smudgley]

Hi, I'm not sure... do the vets think it could be Epilepsy? Is he permanently on the preds? Or just when he has a turn?

[Bailey]

No the vets have said they don't think its epilepsy. I used to foster and epileptic cat and the loss of bowel control and howling are very similar but he does not have any of the movement like my epileptic cat used to. I guess it could be a mild form but the vets did not seem interested in that suggestion. Thanks for the reply :-)

[Mags]

The first thing that came to my mind was Epilepsy too but I would have thought the vets would have been able to test him for that..:?

It must be very distressing for your mother to see him like that..:(

Welcome to Catsey by the way, sorry you had to join us under such worrying circumstances..

I hope, maybe tomorrow now, that other members will be here to give you more help and advice..

[Moli]

Has the vet not given you any idea what the cause is ??Not sure but think PREDNIFOLONE is a steriod?

[Moli]

Forgot to say..
Welcome to Catsey....look forward to chatting..

[Tanya]

When I read this post I instantly thought of Epilepsy. It sounds like Spike (my nans dog) , when he is having a fit.

[smudgley]

Has the vet not given you any idea what the cause is ??Not sure but think PREDNIFOLONE is a steriod?

It's prednisolone ;) & it is a steroid, that's why I asked if he's on them all the time.

[Fran]

Certainly sounds like some form of epilepsy. Have they ruled out diabetes? could be some form of hypoglycaemic attack?? I might be inclined to seek a second opinion if my current vets weren't terribly interested in getting to the root of the problem. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[yola]

Hi and welcome. I really think you Mother should consider visiting another vet, maybe one who wants to help get to the bottom of what is actually wrong with this poor cat. It does sound like epileptic fitting but I'm no expert at all.

Please do let us know how he gets on.

[dinahsmum]

Hello and welcome. I'm sorry that you have found us through such a difficult situation.
Like the others who have expressed an opinion, I think you should ask a second vet for advice. We are only amateurs of course, but it sounds so much like epilepsy.
Good luck

[Fran]

Sorry, I forgot to add, warm welcome to Catsey :)

[dandysmom]

Welcome to Catsey; sorry it was for such a sad reason. I agree that a second opinion would be an excellent idea if the current vet isn't particularly helpful. Like the others said, it does sound very much like epilepsy......

[Bailey]

Hi thanks for all the posts. I have not seen my mums cat have one of these funny turns but when she described it to me I thought epilepsy too as I used to have an epileptic cat. The howling and the loss of bowel control are the same but he does not do the twitching, paddling movements that my cat used to do. Does anyone know if they can have a fit but remain still? She did suggest epilepsy to the vet but they did not seem to think this was the problem.

[Bailey]

Oh and I forgot to say he is only on the medication if its needed. I think they only gave it to her as they did not know what else to do.

[Amber]

Hi and welcome to catsey.

I would definately be inclined to seek a second opinion from another vet. The vet just shrugging off the suggestion, and not being willing to even consider it is definately not the way to be in my opinion. From what you have described it definately sounds like some form of seizure, and I don't really know if just chucking steroids at the cat is the right thing to do to be honest :? surely controlling the situation in the first place would be better?

xxxxx