![]() ![]() This time is an “aura” leading up to loss of consciousness that can include brain fog, sleepiness, and confusion. Some cats will hide during this phase, while others will seek attention from their family. Often, pet parents note a change in behavior, which can be sudden lethargy, dullness, or hyperactivity. Pre-ictal (before the seizure): This phase can start up to a few hours before a seizure occurs. In grand mal seizures, there are often three distinct phases: ![]() Seizure symptoms can vary greatly depending on the seizure pattern and types. Determining the type of seizure pattern can help determine diagnoses and treatments to administer. ![]() The age when seizures start, seizure type, and frequency are considered patterns. A well-known example of a psychomotor seizure is a “fly-biting” seizure because a cat will abruptly start chomping their mouth at the air as if trying to catch flies. These are similar to focal/partial motor seizures and are even sometimes considered a specific type of these seizures, as they do not affect consciousness. Psychomotor Seizures/Complex Partial Seizures: These types of seizures cause involuntary strange behaviors, including growling, violent chewing at the tail or skin, loud vocalization, or random racing spurts. Often, cats will clench their mouth, drool, urinate, or defecate during the seizure due to loss of normal body function. Muscles in the body will move involuntarily and often drastically. The entire body is affected since a larger area of the brain is often affected. Generalized Seizures/Grand Mal Seizures: This type of seizure leads to a loss of consciousness and total body function, causing tonic-clonic movements or convulsions. These are usually nonviolent seizures that can be missed by pet parents as the signs are usually subtle-ear flicking and whisker, mouth, and eye twitching. There is usually no loss of consciousness, although the cat may seem dazed. From most common to least, the types of seizures in cats include:įocal Seizures/Partial Motor Seizures: These types of seizures are the most common in cats and only affect a focused part of the brain, leading to localized body effects, depending on which part of the brain is affected. Although this is common in cats, seizures can also exhibit different symptoms, and not all of them are obvious or violent. Many people who are unfamiliar with seizures probably picture full-body shaking, foaming at the mouth, and loss of consciousness. That’s why it’s important to investigate all possible causes of seizure activity in cats to appropriately treat them before simply arriving at a diagnosis of epilepsy. Unlike the human and canine worlds, epilepsy is a rare condition in cats. Epilepsy, for example, is a disorder of the brain that causes repeated seizures from an unknown cause when there’s no obvious brain injury. Most seizures are symptoms of an underlying condition inside or outside the brain. They can either be intracranial, meaning they’re caused by factors inside the brain, or extracranial, meaning they’re caused by factors outside of the brain. Seizures can occur for many reasons in cats. In general, seizures themselves are usually not life-threatening unless they are violent or prolonged. Seizures of any kind are frightening to watch, especially when they happen to our feline friends. A seizure is defined as a sudden, controlled electrical disturbance in the brain that can lead to behavioral changes and a change in levels of consciousness. ![]()
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