Convulsions Or Fits

Convulsions or fits in the cat occur occasionally. The symptoms vary considerably according to the period of the convulsion in which the animal is seen, and according to the severity of the attack. At the outset the animal becomes excited, runs, jumps, and if caught, struggles to escape without using any special judgment or volition. It may froth at the mouth, the legs become rigid, or the muscles contract and become relaxed alternately in quick spasms. Following this comes a period of depression, in which the animal may lie in a state of coma, absolutely senseless and apparently dead. From this condition it may awake to a renewed attack of spasm, or it may gradually sleep it off, and be apparently perfectly well, except somewhat weakened and depressed for a short period. Convulsions in cats are far more frequent in young animals than in old, and are usually due to digestive irritation - either that of overfeeding or of the ingestion of irritating food. In summertime they are often the result of heat, perhaps also at other times from the same cause; but I myself doubt if heat alone is frequently a cause, unless combined with an overloaded stomach.

Epilepsy

In epilepsy, with few premonitory symptoms, unless it be a single scream, the cat falls to the ground, its mouth frothing, its eyes rolling in the sockets until the whites show, the legs stretching in spasms, with moments of temporary relaxation, and then a complete subsidence of the symptoms, when the animal falls to sleep to wake up apparently unharmed. If the cat has frequent attacks it becomes very much debilitated and loses its vivacity. The diagnosis of epileptic attacks from those of ordinary convulsions is based upon the absence of delirium and the presence of the pivoting eyeballs in epilepsy. Sometimes in epilepsy the cat may bite its tongue or injure its lips against the ground in its struggles, when we have a mixture of blood with the froth in the mouth. The first thing to do for a cat in convulsions is to prevent foolish meddlers from scaring it to death. "Wrap it up at once in a soft cloth so that it cannot injure itself. A small dose of chloral or laudanum may be useful to quiet the attack, but combine this with a full dose of castor-oil or syrup of buckthorn.

Bleeding at the ear, cold water over the head and body, and such measures have been recommended, but I prefer a warm, soft blanket.