EDMOND Q: My cat Muffin is just about to be 5 years old. He is just a plain cat, no fancy breed but we love him. Recently he has started having seizures. They only last 2 or 3 minutes, but I know they are seizures because many years ago we had a cocker spaniel that had seizures. I did not know cats could have seizures. Is there a treatment for cats having seizures or can they be just fixed and stopped? As far as we know he has never been injured or even sick. He gets his shots every year and has always been healthy.
A: Yes, unfortunately cats can have seizures. It is a much lower percentage however than dogs at less than 1 percent.
Epilepsy or epileptic seizures can occur for many reasons and have several causes. The cause may originate from the brain as might happen if there is a head injury or trauma to the head. Other causes might be a disease such as rabies, kidney or liver failure, or abnormal electrolytes such as might happen in the summer heat.
Toxins can certainly cause seizures and these include sprays and fertilizers being put on plants and lawns this time of year. Rat and mouse poisons are certainly on the list of seizure-producing toxins as is antifreeze. Another one topping the list is products labeled to be used only on dogs for fleas, ticks, etc., that when used on cats can be deadly and certainly cause seizures.
If you have recently applied sprays to your yard you should bathe Muffin in a good shampoo to remove any remaining spray residue. If it might have been tracked in on shoes you should mop with a good cleaning agent or clean the carpet anywhere it might have been tracked. Go down the list of other possibilities such as any recent use of antifreeze, the presence of rodent poisons in his environment, etc.
Your veterinarian will want to do blood work to check for physiologic or disease causes. If everything else can be ruled out, his condition will be diagnosed as idiopathic epilepsy, meaning we cannot place an exact cause for it but he has epilepsy. If a cause is identified, it may be treatable and the seizures controlled.
His age is correct for idiopathic epilepsy since it is normally seen in younger cats before the age of 6 or 7 years. You did not say how frequently he was having seizures but criteria for starting an anti-seizure medication would be if they occur frequently, once or twice a week or more frequently, if they last more than four to five minutes or if they cluster or one follows right after another and another.
Keep a log of his seizure activity and share it with your veterinarian. The anti-seizure medications are not without side effects themselves and can, after many years of taking them, cause liver and/or kidney problems. While he is taking the anti-seizure drugs, your veterinarian will want to run blood work frequently to monitor liver and kidney functions. If he only has a seizure once every four to six weeks and it is short like you described, you may not want to use the drugs. Your veterinarian will help make this decision.
DR. M. MARGARET KING, a longtime Edmond veterinarian, is a guest columnist. If you have any questions for her, email them to
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Epilepsy can affect cats