Seizures in Cats: Signs, Causes, What to Do, and Treatment

Seizures in cats are frightening to watch, but knowing what you are seeing makes the next few minutes far easier. A seizure is a sign that something is affecting the brain, not a diagnosis on its own, and the cause can range from a toxin to epilepsy.

This guide covers what seizures in cats look like, how to keep your cat safe during one, the causes a vet will look for, how seizures are treated, and the clear rules that tell you when a seizure has become an emergency.

What is a seizure in a cat?

A cat seizure is a burst of abnormal electrical activity in the brain. The peer-reviewed review in Veterinary Medicine: Research and Reports describes it as an abnormal, hypersynchronous discharge of brain cells, and VCA Animal Hospitals calls it a temporary, involuntary disturbance of brain function.

The two broad cause groups are problems outside the brain, such as toxins and metabolic disease, and problems inside it, such as tumors, inflammation, or idiopathic epilepsy. Whatever the cause, one rule matters most: a seizure lasting longer than five minutes is an emergency.

Seizures in cats are less common than in dogs. The Merck Veterinary Manual puts the reported incidence at around 2 percent. Kittens, adult cats, and feline seizures in older cats all occur, including seizures in cats with renal failure, and the likely cause shifts with age, which is why a vet will ask how old your cat was at the first episode.

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Some searches point to specific situations. Here is where each one is covered:

• Anti seizure meds for cats: phenobarbital, levetiracetam, and others are explained under treatment below.
• Audiogenic reflex seizures: these noise induced seizures affect older cats, triggered by sounds, and are covered under causes.
• Cerebellar hypoplasia: a balance condition that makes cats wobbly; the sources reviewed do not link it to seizures, and vets distinguish it from epilepsy on examination.
• Fly biting: snapping at the air is not described in the sources reviewed, so film any episode and show your vet; look-alikes are covered under symptoms.
• A natural remedy for seizures in cats: none has evidence of controlling seizures, so start with a vet plan; see the emergency section.

What a cat seizure looks like: symptoms and types

Many owners first ask how to tell if a cat is having a seizure at all, and what a cat having a seizure looks like. Seizures usually follow three phases, and recognizing each one helps you describe the episode to your vet.

• Before (pre-ictal): the cat may seem nervous, seek attention, pace, vocalize, drool, or growl. International Cat Care and VCA both list these early signs of seizures in cats; Merck notes behavior changes can start hours to days before.
• During (ictal): milder events look like a dazed stare or mild shaking. A full seizure can mean collapse, jerking or paddling limbs, and legs stiff and extended.
• After (post-ictal): confusion, wobbling, temporary blindness, hunger, or thirst.

A generalized (grand mal) seizure involves the whole body. The cat loses awareness, collapses, and violently shakes all four legs, sometimes with drooling. This is what most people picture among the symptoms of seizures in cats, and grand mal seizures in older cats look the same as in younger ones.

Focal or partial seizures affect only part of the body and are harder to recognize. Signs include:

• Drooling
• Twitching of the eyelids or face
• Unusual vocalizing or growling
• Odd head, neck, or limb movements
• Sudden biting, licking, or running

Owners sometimes call these mini seizures, and older terms for some types of seizures in cats include complex partial, psychomotor, or petit mal seizures. The sources reviewed do not describe a true absence seizure in cats.

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Reports differ on how common focal seizures are. VCA calls them very rare, while International Cat Care says cats show partial seizures more often than dogs do. A large cohort in PMC: Clinical and Diagnostic Features of Feline Epilepsy found 19.5 percent of cats had focal-onset seizures and 80.5 percent began generalized.

If you can, film an episode on your phone. Seizures in cats on video help a vet tell a seizure from a look-alike, which is why owners sometimes share clips on forums such as Reddit. A home camera can catch the episodes that happen while you are out or asleep, since seizures that happen while a cat rests are easy to miss.

What can mimic a seizure in cats?

Several conditions can look like seizures. Feline hyperesthesia causes dilated pupils, rippling skin along the back, and drooling, and a Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine neurologist notes it may itself be a seizure-type problem. Fainting (syncope) can resemble or even trigger a seizure, according to Vet Times. In narcolepsy the muscles go limp, while a seizure usually stiffens them. Vestibular episodes and normal dreaming are other commonly confused events. This seizure look-alike table sums up the differences:

What causes seizures in cats

There is no single answer to why cats have seizures. Vets sort the reasons for seizures in cats into three groups, and Today's Veterinary Practice recommends ruling out reactive causes before investigating the brain itself.

What causes seizures in a cat?

International Cat Care lists toxins, metabolic problems, brain tumors, encephalitis, stroke, and head trauma as cat seizure causes. The groups are:

• Reactive (outside the brain): toxins, hypoglycemia, liver disease, kidney failure, hyperthyroidism, severe high blood pressure, and electrolyte problems.
• Structural (brain disease): tumors, inflammation, infection, stroke, or trauma.
• Idiopathic epilepsy: repeated epileptic seizures with no cause found after testing.

What is the most common cause of seizures in cats is disputed. Today's Veterinary Practice says structural and metabolic seizures are more common than idiopathic epilepsy in cats, yet a referral cohort in the PMC feline epilepsy study found idiopathic seizures in about 81 percent of cases, structural disease in 15.7 percent, and metabolic or toxic causes in 3.4 percent.

The details within each group, from the PMC feline seizure review and Today's Veterinary Practice:

• Metabolic causes: liver disease (hepatic encephalopathy) is an important cause. Hypoglycemia from an insulin overdose is a key risk, so a diabetic cat seizure needs immediate attention. Uremia and hyperthyroidism are other triggers.
• Structural causes: meningioma and lymphoma are the most common brain tumors, and meningiomas are usually slow growing. Toxoplasma, Cryptococcus, and Bartonella are reported causes, and neurologic FIP is uniformly fatal.
• Age: onset after 7 years or under 12 months is more likely structural, which shapes kitten seizure causes. Idiopathic epilepsy typically starts between 1 and 5 years, with regular seizures lasting 1 to 3 minutes.

Some older cats develop feline audiogenic reflex seizures (FARS), brief myoclonic jerks triggered by sounds, with onset typically around 15 years of age. The sources reviewed do not identify stress or catnip as a cause of seizures in cats, and they do not link cerebellar hypoplasia to seizures.

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What household items can cause seizures in cats?

The dvm360 toxicology brief and the emergency literature name these hazards:

• Dog-only permethrin flea products: spot-ons or dips meant for dogs cause full-body tremors and can cause seizures. The sources link seizures to the wrong flea treatment, not to fleas themselves.
• Human pain relievers: some NSAIDs can cause seizures at high doses.
• Antifreeze (ethylene glycol): the Merck Veterinary Manual (pet owner) warns kidney failure develops within 12 to 24 hours and delay worsens the outlook.
• Others: lead, organophosphate insecticides, xylitol, and caffeine.

Lilies are a different danger: the sources describe vomiting and kidney failure rather than seizures, so read are lilies toxic to cats and our list of plants toxic to cats to keep a safe home.

My cat has a seizure after vomiting. Is this normal?

It is not something to ignore. VCA notes some cats vomit or have diarrhea in the restless phase just before a seizure, so vomiting can be part of the episode. Vomiting followed by a seizure can also point to poisoning or metabolic disease, so call your vet promptly. Vomiting on its own in a bright cat is covered in cat vomiting but acting normal.

What to do if your cat has a seizure

If your cat had a seizure for the first time, your calm actions matter most. Here is what to do when a cat has a seizure, drawn from VCA and International Cat Care:

• Note the time the seizure starts so you know if it passes five minutes.
• Keep your hands away from the mouth. VCA warns that fingers or objects near the mouth risk a severe bite, and cats do not swallow their tongues.
• Move objects away and protect the cat from falling off furniture or knocking things onto itself.
• Stay calm and do not disturb the cat while it seizes.

The sources do not spell out the following, but as common-sense safety: do not restrain a seizing cat, keep lights low and the room quiet, and keep other pets away.

Use this timed what to do sequence as a quick reference during an episode:

Once the episode is over, write down what you saw while it is fresh: start time, length, which body parts moved, and how long recovery took.

A printed first aid reference kept with your vet's number and the nearest emergency clinic address means you are not searching online mid-crisis.

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What do cats act like after a seizure?

After a seizure, cats are often confused, wobbly, temporarily blind or deaf, or unusually hungry and thirsty, and some become restless or aggressive. International Cat Care says full recovery may take a few minutes to a few hours, while VCA says this post-ictal phase can last up to 24 to 48 hours. Keep your cat somewhere quiet and safe until it is steady.

When a cat seizure is an emergency

Most single seizures stop on their own. On how long seizures last in cats, VCA gives one to two minutes for a typical seizure and International Cat Care one to three minutes.

Cluster seizures in cats are defined slightly differently by source. The PMC emergency review uses two or more within 24 hours, Today's Veterinary Practice uses more than one in 24 hours, and Merck frames the window over 24 to 48 hours. Treat two or more in a day as urgent, and note that some vets count any repeat.

What causes multiple seizures in cats, including cluster seizures, is the same list of toxins, metabolic disease, and brain disease. Can cats die from seizures? Prolonged status epilepticus needs urgent treatment, and serious causes such as neurologic FIP are fatal. A cat seizure before death can occur with end-stage illness, and symptoms then follow the underlying disease.

Are focal seizures in cats dangerous? The five-minute and cluster rules apply to every seizure type. The sources describe no home remedies or natural remedies for seizures in cats, with or without epilepsy, and you should never give human medicines.

Can a cat have a seizure and be ok?

Yes. A single short seizure with full recovery is often followed by a normal-looking cat, and International Cat Care says cats with epilepsy can live happy, healthy lives with treatment. Your cat still needs a vet visit, because the seizure may be the first sign of an underlying illness.

My cat had two seizures in one day. Should I be worried?

Yes. Two or more seizures within 24 hours meets the definition of cluster seizures in the emergency literature, and that needs an emergency vet now, not a wait-and-see approach. If you are weighing the bill, our guide to emergency vet cost explains what to expect.

How vets diagnose seizures in cats

Diagnosis starts with your description and any video, then a physical and neurologic exam. Today's Veterinary Practice and the PMC feline seizure review list these steps:

• Blood work and urinalysis: a complete blood count and chemistry panel screen every new-onset seizure cat for metabolic causes.
• Blood pressure and thyroid testing where indicated.
• MRI and spinal fluid (CSF) analysis to look for tumors or inflammation.

Idiopathic epilepsy is a diagnosis of exclusion, made only when no other cause is found. If your cat is also not eating or sluggish, mention it, and see cat not eating and lethargic for related warning signs.

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Treatment for seizures in cats

Treatment for seizures in cats means treating the cause where one is found, such as correcting low blood sugar or removing a toxin. When seizures keep recurring, vets add anti-seizure drugs:

• Phenobarbital: first-line therapy in cats per Today's Veterinary Practice. Merck gives a target trough blood level of 23 to 30 mcg/mL, so regular blood tests are part of treatment.
• Levetiracetam: popular because it has few systemic side effects, and effective for myoclonic seizures in FARS according to the Lowrie levetiracetam study.
• Zonisamide: increasingly used as a first choice, per Merck.
• Add-on drugs: levetiracetam or pregabalin, per Vet Times.

Potassium bromide is not recommended in cats. The sources reviewed do not name gabapentin for seizures in cats, and whether gabapentin can cause seizures in cats is not addressed, so ask your vet. No feline trial has shown that CBD controls seizures.

Your vet will tailor medication options and monitoring to your cat. VCA warns never to stop anticonvulsants abruptly, and that even with treatment, seizures may not be fully prevented. How to prevent seizures in cats largely comes down to giving medication on schedule and avoiding toxins.

That includes flea medicine. Seizures in cats from flea medicine usually follow a dog permethrin product applied to a cat, so can flea treatment cause seizures in cats? Yes, which is why only cat-labeled flea treatment should be used.

Living with a cat that has seizures: outlook and life expectancy

International Cat Care notes that anti-seizure drugs are often given for life, and that cats with epilepsy can live happy, healthy lives with appropriate treatment. Keep a seizure diary with dates, lengths, and recovery times for every recheck.

Seizures in senior cats deserve extra attention. Onset after age 7 is more likely structural, and seizures in elderly cats can stem from tumors, kidney failure, or hyperthyroidism. A 17 year old cat that has a seizure needs a full work-up, because the causes in old age differ from those in a young cat.

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How long do cats live with seizures?

There is no single answer. In a study of 90 cats with epilepsy in Animals (MDPI) via PMC, median survival was 720 days, and older age and structural brain lesions predicted shorter survival. So how long a cat can live with seizures, and seizures in cats life expectancy overall, depends heavily on the cause.

When seizures cannot be controlled or quality of life declines, when to euthanize a cat with seizures is a decision to talk through honestly with your vet, who knows your cat's history.

Seizures in cats questions