Help with a seizure

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judy and squamee(GA)

judy and squamee(GA)

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A little while ago, Squamee had a seizure. I am including history of her condition below. It is long and maybe more than one wants to read. My question at the moment is---aside from protecting her from falling and hurting herself, is there anything for me to do for her if this happens again? Is it painful to her? I am wondering about euthanasia---how do I know if she is suffering? Her difficulty eating is awful to watch, but I don't know how awful it is for her.





Sept 13 2010 So far no one has been able to successfully diagnosis Squamee.
A year and a half ago she developed what looked like a jaw symptom. She would start eating and then move her jaw around like she was trying to dislodge something stuck in her mouth, while pawing at the sides of her face. There was also a slight clicking noise. She would stop eating and return again a few minutes later. Sometimes she would then be able to eat. She was put on long acting steroids which resolved the problem and she developed diabetes. She was on insulin for several months and then went OTJ on Aug 20 2009. About a month ago the jaw symptom returned. It did not respond to oral medicam. My vet thought it might be a tooth or TMJ. I took her to a dental specialist who could find nothing amiss on oral examination, but with x-rays found a badly rotten tooth which was extracted on Sept 7. That night she was able to eat more freely (anaesthesia?) and in the following days was on buprenex, but the difficulty eating got worse. My local vet has seen her and said the extraction was healing well and saw no inflammation. Gave injections of Medicam and Buprenex which seemed to help for a short while. Is considering x-rays of skull to look for bone spurs(?) and also sonogram of stomach, (which the dental specialist recommended---said cats often present with mouth problems when it is really their stomach---but I wonder why that would make her rub the sides of her face). Took her in again today (this is running into thousands!) and he took blood for a full workup which he will get back tomorrow. Also gave a shot of Buprenex to see what the effect would be, and it did not alleviate the symptom. Watching her struggle to eat is very painful. (I am giving her soft, mostly liquefied food, using canned foods that have a lot of gravy---Fancy Feast, Friskees, Meow Mix).

Her behavior is somewhat changed. At times she sleeps a lot more, and she is much more affectionate and wants more physical contact with me and my husband than she has in the past---frequently lying next to one of us, with a paw on us, and the other night when I was in bed she lay down on my chest! (not unwelcomed, but definitely a first!).

Sept 14 She had skull xray and stomach ultrasound, found nothing. Dental specialist recommending endoscopy, and if that shows nothing, cat scan. Discussed with vet, and am not going that route. We are talking thousands, and lots of suffering for her (I can’t begin to adequately describe what a screaming banshee she is at the vet’s, and I know it is fear) . So the vet recommended doing the steroids again, since that worked a year ago, with the plan of treating the likely diabetes that will ensue.
Sept 16 Her symptoms are not much better and she is not herself, sleeping a lot and not being around much and just seeming off. Her BG was 235 last night and 205 this morning. I am afraid that maybe we are turning her into a diabetic for nothing. How cruel—she is going to be very hungry and yet can’t easily eat.
Spoke with the vet who said the steroids have not really kicked in yet, and still may be beneficial with respect to the mouth symptom (which I am thinking is probably a swallowing problem).

Sept. 17 BG 288 this morning. Today she is very listless, moving slowly. Eating some, and the mouth thing is not as bad. \This afternoon she began yowling and drooling. Took her to covering vet who said no temperature, and physical exam of stomach, etc. showed nothing. Some sugar in the urine. Said maybe nausea, and gave a shot of Pepcid. We took her home and she began yowling again and then had a seizure, and urinated during it. Called vet who said maybe a brain tumor. Am supposed to call my regular vet on Sunday.
The plan was for me to keep track of her BG and then we would decide when to put her on insulin (probably ProZinc).



I am most grateful for any thoughts and suggestions.
 
Oh I'm sorry you are dealing with this .. I really don't have any advice as far as what to do, I suppose that is something you need to think about and talk over with your vet and with squamee ... But I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers ....
 
I'm not going to be any help at all with Squamee's diagnosis, but I can tell you during a seizure you should do pretty much exactly what you do with a human: Protect them from banging their head or otherwise getting into potentially dangerous circumstances and hurting themselves - exactly what you are doing now.

I hope the vet is able to figure out what is going on with your fur-baby. Hopefully someone will be along soon that can address the symptoms Squamee is having.
 
(((Judy))) (((Squamee)))

I am so very sorry that you have to watch your baby go through this. I can't imagine how worried and frustrated you must be, after all this time and money and heartbreak watching Squamee struggle so. I don't have any thoughts on a dx or alleviation of symptoms, I'm sorry. I will definitely keep you in my prayers and am sending healing vines to Squamee. Please let us know what your regular vet says on Sunday.
 
Hi again - this sounds disturbing to me, and I can't imagine how you feel. I don't think it is a jaw thing. And if they don't see anything in the stomach, then it must be somewhere else. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I suspect you are thinking about it too.

Instead of taking her in for another scan of some sort, have you thought about a consult with a veterinary oncologist? They may have seen this whole panoply of symptoms before and it may not be any mystery to them.

Whatever it turns out to be, I really hope that things work out well. I'm so sorry you and Squamee are going through this. I share your concern for her suffering. Laura
 
Thank you all for your concern and your responses. It means a great deal to me.
Laura, my thoughts are that she has some kind of brain cancer. I don't think I can go to an oncologist---emotionally and financially, I think it is too much for me. I think the only treatments would be chemo or surgery---which I don't think would be possible for us. (and she fights like the dickens at the vet---so it is more trauma for her) I want to make her as comfortable as possible, but I just don't think I can do more than that---much as it tortures me.
 
around age 3 Buster started having seizures - with her, it started in short duration and then recovery, there is no pattern or timing as to when it will happen.

Sometimes, I get a warning, like a cry out or a thump when she falls off the furniture.

As time has passed, she is now 7, the seizures last longer and she drools and pees while in the midst of the seizures. I try to grab a large towel to wrap her in and contain the pee, also I wipe her mouth while she's seizuring as puddles of drool come out.

I hold her or keep her on the sofa, bed or chair until she comes out of it. When she does, she is typically wobbly and disoriented, but always starving! I figure whatever is firing in her brain is telling her she's hungry that or it's using a lot of energy and she needs food. This is another reason why I always have wet food out - so if she has an episode when I'm not home or I happen to sleep through one, she has access to food, which she needs and then she goes to sleep.

After several hours of sleep, she's back to normal.

I don't know if the seizures hurt her or not, but because she does come out of them and she's fine, putting to sleep isn't an option. I do realize that one day, I may have to make that decision, if she doesn't come out of it. I also realize that I could come home and find her passed away. It's a reality that I live with and try not to think about, but one that I realize very possibly could happen.

I hope this helps, as least so you can see that it can progress - last longer, be more violent, and lose control of bodily functions.

And yes, after 4 years, it still upsets me when it happens. I don't cry anymore, but it takes me time to get over it.
 
I am holding my breath when Squamee eats, the mouth/jaw(?) problem seems to be diminishing. She is eating and drinking more, (drinking a lot) so I am assuming her BG is rising. I will test her again tonight and tomorrow morning, when I am scheduled to consult with the vet. He has not wanted to put her on insulin as of yet, but we have discussed it and I think he is in accord with giving ProZinc. At the moment it is refreshing that several of the vets in this practice have recently responded positively to my home testing. (last year they were saying it was not necessary).

She has not had another seizure (that I know of). The last one involved drooling and urination, which took her quite a while to clean up. She is moving very slowly, like someone in pain, and does NOT want to be picked up (I tried to pick her up last night to take her to my bedroom, because I was afraid she might fall down the stairs if she had a seizure and she seriously objected). I do not know how to evaluate if this means she is in pain. I once read something about a "meat-loaf" position indicating pain. What is that, exactly?

I am also wondering if she might be having trouble seeing or smelling. She stands over her food in a strange way that she never did before---just sort of standing there for a few moments, not really putting her head to the food. Then sometimes she proceeds to eat, other times, not.

Once again, I want to thank everyone for your concern and your thoughtful responses. It would be much harder for me if I did not have all of you to talk to.
Judy
 
Judy-
I am glad to hear that Squamee's jaw trouble seems to be diminishing. I hope that trend continues and lets her eat with no problems. I will keep sending good thoughts and healing vines. When my drooler passed away a few months ago and I received so much support here, I really realized just how comforting it is to know that people are thinking of you and know what you are going through. (((Judy)))

I believe that a "meatloaf" position is when they tuck all their legs directly underneath them, and the result is a cat which resembles a loaf of meat. :smile: My cats do this sometimes when I don't think they are in pain, though, so unless I have the definition of meatloafing wrong, it might not always mean they are in pain.
 
Spoke to vet this morning. (Sept 19). He said it is most likely she has a brain tumor. THe only way to know for sure is to do a CAT scan. But unless we are prepared to go ahead with brain surgery, there is no reason to do it. (and it would cost $1,000). He said the probability is that it is not malignant, but these things do tend to grow back. He is probably going to start her on insulin tomorrow, and depending on the frequency of the seizures, maybe eventually on phenobarbitol. He thinks to do the surgery would cost a minimum of $5,000. I can't do it. THis situation is breaking my heart. And it also is killing me that I just don't know how to evaluate if and how much she is suffering.
I told him I wanted her insulin to be ProZInc, so I guess I will be moving to the PZI forum. Thanks again for your responses.
Judy
 
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