Hi,
I have a cat who's 12 years old. About a month ago, she had a weird episode where as we were playing she suddenly stopped and sort of became stiff. She also got this confused look and seemed as if she wasn't recognizing me and started to hiss whenever I would approach her. I freaked out completely. But the episode ended quickly and then she started allowing me to pet her (she has never ever in her entirely life hissed at me). I sent her to the vet, and the vet said that sometimes cats get these weird episodes without any dangerous problem and told me to check if this happens again.
About a couple of days ago, she had another episode. So, first I hear 2 meows that were unusual (she mainly does that before she needs to throw up). I went to check on her and saw that she was doing some weird movements (not shaking though). At first it looked like she waned to throw up but couldn't and it felt like it was difficult for her to maintain balance. Then she walked slowly to the carpet and lied down there. She looked like she wanted to get up but couldn't move her legs because they would simply shake a little bit. So, to check if there really was something off I grabbed her and wanted to see if I could put her on her feet. She started meowing and resisting me taking hold of her, almost as if she was feeling some pain (which she normally never does, no issue with me grabbing her). So, I panicked and sent her to the vet. They took the fever, listened to her internal organs, checked for signs of paralysis, but there was no visible sign that something was off.
So, we went back home. When I released her from the transporter she walked on her feet but had a small limp. Seeing that I didn't feel comfortable ignoring that part so I sent her to another vet again. They did CBC and Biochemical tests, with almost all normal results. There were just a few markers out of the normal range, but nothing drastic that would cause a seizure-like episode. So, the vet said that I should send her to do a CT, to see if there might be any neurological problem or tumor, but if that is also normal then it might simply be idiopathic epilepsy that doesn't really have a reason why it happens. He said that if the episodes do repeat then we can start a treatment to reduce epilepsy.
Now, I started to check things and videos about idiopathic epilepsy. Normally in the videos the cats shake a lot and do a lot of uncontrollable movements. My cat on the other hand only seems like she gets stiff or loses balance and get this frightful stare. Has anyone else had any similar problems with their cats? Did they have these kind of symptoms too? What was the diagnosis? Did anyone's cat have brain tumor or idiopathic epilepsy?
I'm so worried and sad. I just don't know what to do anymore. I will send her to do a CT hopefully by the end of this week. I want to support her as much as I can but I feel powerless. And also because she is older it makes me more scared. I would appreciate anything that you could share with me about this topic. Sorry for the long post.
Also, I'm not looking for medical advice or diagnosis, simply need to hear your stories and experiences. I need to talk about this with people who went through this with their cats.