Angel, a female British Shorthair cat, would be euthanized at the recommendation of three veterinarians, after she manifested epileptic seizures starting from seven months old. Due to her owner and one veterinarian love and effort, she well passed through many seizures and a non-regenerative anemia episode and she survived for five years from the onset of the disease. The mineral-vitamin supplements improved the life quality for four years and the homeopathic therapy successfully removed the seizures for one more year

Alina Ghișe

Janos Degi

Laura Rațiu

Liliana Cărpinișan

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Liliana C rpini an et al.                                                                                                                      Medicamentul Veterinar / Veterinary Drug                                                                                                                                                                                          Vol. 7(2). December 2013  44    An alternative approach to cat’s epilepsy treatment – Case report  O abordare alternativ  în tratamentul epilepsiei la pisic  – Prezentare de caz  Liliana C rpini an1, Laura Ra iu2, J. Degi1, Alina Ghi e1  1 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Timi oara 2  “Bassy Veterinary Clinics” Timi oara  Key words: cat, epilepsy, phenobarbital, anemia, homeopathy Cuvinte cheie: pisic , epilepsie, fenobarbital, anemie, homeopatie  Abstract  Angel, a female British Shorthair cat, would be euthanized at the recommendation of three veterinarians, after she manifested epileptic seizures starting from seven months old. Due to her owner and one veterinarian love and effort, she well passed through many seizures and a non-regenerative anemia episode and she survived for five years from the onset of the disease. The mineral-vitamin supplements improved the life quality for four years and the homeopathic therapy successfully removed the seizures for one more year.  Rezumat  Angel, o pisic  femel  din rasa British Shorthair, a primit recomandarea de eutanasie din partea a trei medici veterinari, dup  ce a manifestat crize de epilepsie începând de la vârsta de apte luni. Datorit  proprietarului i a unui medic veterinar, pisica a supravie uit mai multor crize epileptice i unui episod de anemie aregenerativ , pentru înc  cinci ani de la declan area primei crize Reac ia advers  ap rut  in timpul utiliz rii fenobarbitalului a impus schimbarea conduitei terapeutice. Suplimentele mineralo-vitaminice i medica ia homeopat  au îmbun it calitatea vie ii. Tratamentul alternativ a asigurat cu succes o via  normal  pentru Angel, pentru înc  un an.  Introduction  Epilepsy is a chronic neurologic disease that is difficult to be emphasized on cats, because of the secondary diseases (3, 5, 6), which assume a lot of investigation and a hard work from veterinarians and owners.In the last time, an increase of cat epilepsy cases was reported, due to the increase of the owner’s interest for theirs pets and for their pet`s clinical signs monitoring.  The paper aim is to offer another approach on the cat epilepsy management, in order to avoid euthanasia, in condition in which the usually specific drugs could not represent an option.  1. Material and methods  Angel, a British Shorthair female cat, was born on April 2003, together with other seven kittens, following a difficult birth of 13 hours. The kittens were supplementary fed with cat specific powder milk for two months and after two months they received super premium category food. The vaccines and the antiparasitic treatments were made normally. Angel lived only indoor, together with another 10 cats and two dogs. She was a shy and dominated cat.   Liliana C rpini an et al.                                                                                                                      Medicamentul Veterinar / Veterinary Drug                                                                                                                                                                                          Vol. 7(2). December 2013  45 The onset of disease was at five months old, when the cat had manifested bruxism signs. The cat was sterilized on January 2004 and four months later the first seizure occurred. Starting from the first seizure, the owner noticed all clinical manifestations.  2. Results and discussion  The observation of the cat revealed different clinical signs, specific for all epileptic phases: prodromal stage, ictus, post-ictus and inter-ictus (3, 5, 6). In the prodromal stage there were observed, for several hours, agitation and dromomania. The ictus phase started suddenly, frequently during the sleep, and persisted for approximately 30 seconds. If the cat was awake, lateral falls could be observed, together with medication without food, hyper salivation, nystagmus and generalized tonic-clonic seizures. The crisis ended with urinary and/or faeces incontinence (sometimes) and prostration (frequently). In the post-ictus phase it was noticed the fast returning to the normal healthy state, followed by a period of approximately 30 minutes during which the cat required attention and affection from the master.  The cat interacted with the other cats and dogs and, for several hours, she manifested polydipsia, increased appetite and she slept well. In the inter-ictus period the cat  was shy and secluded, she was sleeping or she was observing the animal community. Also, she was washing herself and sharpening her claws, she was eating and drinking water and she has urinated and defecated normally. Sometimes the cat has played alone, with her toys. She did not like to be hold in arms (normal for her breed). Based on the clinical signs, the duration of phases, the inter-crisis comportment and the haematological and biochemical parameters (Table 1), four veterinarians appreciated that Angel was epileptic (idiopathic epilepsy).  Table 1. Blood parameters evidence of Angel cat  Parameter UM Normal* 16.08.2005 03.09.2005 23.09.2005 19.10.2005 19.12.2005 02.02.2009 RBC mil/mm3 6-10 1,91 2,95 2,93 5,73 8,6 10,38 Haemoglobin g/dl 9.5-15 5 5 5,6 33 14,3 14,3 Haematocrit % 29-45 17,1 17,3 18,6 33 38,9 50,2 WBC 1000/mm3 5.5-19.5 14,1 1,5 3,8 12,7 16,6 13,19 PLT 1000/mm3 150-600 264 40 0,7 394 155 410 MCV fl 41-54 90 60 - 58 45 48,4 MCH pg 13.3-17.5 24,7 17,1 - 17,9 16,7 13,8 MCHC % 31-36 28 21,6 - 31,1 36,8 28,5 Neutrophils % 35-75 13 22 64 62 45 76 Lymphocytes % 20-55 62 72 28 28 42 17 Monocytes % 1-4 2 4 6 2 1 5 Eosinophils % 2-12 2 2 2 8 12 2 Basophils 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Reticulocytes % - - 1 1 2 2 1 Triglycerides mg/dl 20-90 - - - - - 162 Glucose mg/dl 70-150 - - - - - 50 Urea mg/dl 15-34 16,2 10,4 - - 17,4 42 Creatinine mg/dl 0.8-2.3 0,7 0,84 - - 1,01 1,16 Cholesterol mg/dl 82-218 - - - - - 172 ALAT/ALT U/l 28-76 72,3 68,6 - - 45 45 Amylase U/l 500-1500 1850 1300 - - - 1278 Total proteins g/l 59-85 87,2 90,2 - - 71,6 82,8 Direct bilirubin  mg/dl 0-0.1 - - - - - 0,01 Total bilirubin  mg/dl 0-0.4 - - - - - 0,19 ALKP U/l 0-62 16 - - - 88 43 * Parent, J.M. (2008)(4) Liliana C rpini an et al.                                                                                                                      Medicamentul Veterinar / Veterinary Drug                                                                                                                                                                                          Vol. 7(2). December 2013  46 As the medical practice recommend (3, 6) the cat received phenobarbital as treatment, 2,5mg/Kg/q12h. The increase of seizures frequency, under treatment, leaded to the increase of the phenobarbital dose to 3,5mg/Kg/q12h. According to the studies which underline the risk of the seizure occurrence in periodically vaccinated pets (7, 8), the decision to interrupt the vaccination protocol was taken (June 2005). For a short period of time the cat received interferon (immunostimulative) and enrofloxacin (due to an infection). In August 2005, Angel manifested astasia, inapetence and dispneea. Blood investigation revealed physiological liver and kidney parameters and severe anemia (aregenerative). The emergency care was oxygen therapy (for 6-8 hours) and transfusion (from one of his brothers). Taking into account the haematological disorders, the case history and the adverse effects of phenobarbital administration in pets (1, 2), the veterinarian and the owner decided to interrupt the treatment. After two months without phenobarbital, the blood values returned to normal (Table 1). Following this episode, three years regaining the healthy state the seizures occurred two or three times per month and the cat received only a vitamin-mineral complex (Natural Cat Daily). In September 2008 the seizures recurred abruptly and it was decided to start a homeopathic cure with a plant tincture (Ease-Sure: Passiflora incarnata, Scuttelaria leterifolia, Hyoscyamus 30C, Belladona 30 and Cuprum mettalicum 30C), 2-3 drops/q12h.  After four months of tincture administration the seizures ceased and disappeared. After nine months of homeopathic treatment Angel regained the control of his state, was more active, affective and participative. Unfortunately, in sixth of May 2009 Angel died following a brain attack.  3. Conclusions  In case of Angel, the epileptic cat starting from seven months, the occurrence of anemia under phenobarbital treatment led to the interruption of therapy. Due to the love and dedication of the caretakers the first option was the alternative therapy and not euthanasia. Starting from this moment the cat had four years of normal life, only with mineral-vitamin therapy. In the fifth year, thanks to the homeopathic therapy, there were no seizures.  The emphasized data entitle us to recommend the alternative therapy as a method to improve the life time and the life quality of the epileptic pet.  References  1. Berendt, M. (2004). Epilepsy. In: Clinical neurology in small animals: Localization, Diagnosis and Treatment, Ed. Braund, K.G., International Veterinary Service, Ithaca, New York, USA.  2. Kojima, S., Nakashima, N., Harada, T., Sasaki, J., Tomita, M., Saka, M., Ishizuka, K., Kawakatsu, H., Yoshida, T., Kosaka, T., Enomoto, A., (2009). Multiple organ toxicity, including hypochromic anemia, following repeated dose oral administration of phenobarbital (PB) in rats. The Journal of toxicological sciences, 34, 5, 527 – 539.  3. Pakozdy, A., Sarchahi, A.A., Leschnik, M., Tichy, A.G., Halasz, P., Thalhammer, J.G., (2013). Treatment and long-term follow-up of cats with suspected primary epilepsy, Journal of Feline Medicine And Surgery, 15, 4, 267 – 273,  4. Parent, J.M. (2008). Five Minute Consult Drug Formulary. In: Blackwell's Five-Minute Veterinary Consult: canine and Feline, Edit.Tiley L.P. and Smith F. W. K.Jr, .Wiley- Blackwell Publishing. 5. Shell, L.G., (1998). Seizures in cats, Veterinary Medicine, 93, 6, 541-552.  6. Thomas, W.B, (2012). Idiopathic epilepsy in dogs and cats, Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, 40,1, 161-179.  7. www.dogsadversereactions.com/scienceVaccineDamage.html 8. www.squidoo.com/rabiesvaccine#module161852269  

An alternative approach to cat’s epilepsy treatment – Case report

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An alternative approach to cat’s epilepsy treatment – Case report

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