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My old cat just had a seizure. What does this mean for his future?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | American Bobtail | Male | neutered | 13 years and 4 months old | 10 lbs

My 12 (aprox) yr. old cat, Pheonix, just had a fairly bad seizure. He fell down and his paws were locked up and He urinated. Lasted about 45 seconds. He went to the Vet 08-14. Leukemia, rabies, distemper shots. He seems fine now but my question is how will this affect his future. Oh, he is an out side cat. Thanx for your time! Curtis

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Ricardo Fernandez, DVM

Veterinarian, Veterinary Oncology Resident

Published on August 23rd, 2019

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Seizures can occur due to many reasons that go from a toxicity, metabolic diseases, inflammatory diseases and even tumors. I highly recommend that you have him evaluated by a veterinarian as soon as possible for further assessment and treatment. Diagnostics that will be recommended will include bloodwork and advanced imaging such as an MRI. They would also be able to start him on anti-seizure medications to try to avoid the onset of more seizures. Good luck and have a good day! Hoping for a speedy recovery!

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS
Veterinarian
Published on September 24th, 2018
Baby is a very handsome boy! Yes, I would be very worried about him, as having seizures is not normal. He needs to see a vet for this problem, as in a senior cat, I would be concerned that a cause of the seizure could be something like cancer. I would give his vet a call today to make an appointment. If he seizures again before you can seek vet care:
- Don't put your hands near his mouth
- Keep some rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle to spray on the pads of the feet for cooling
- Monitor him at all times during the seizure to ensure that he cannot hurt himself by crashing into furniture, etc
- If the seizure continues for more than 5 minutes, seek emergency care immediately

Best of luck, I hope this helps!
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Lauren Celestin, DVM
Veterinarian, Veterinary Dentistry Resident
Published on September 17th, 2017
Poor Tigger! I'm sorry to hear that he is having some health concerns. The short answer is yes, keep an eye on him. If Tigger has another seizure with in a 12-24hr period he absolutely needs to be seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible. If he does have another (hopefully not) if you can record it on your phone, that can be extremely helpful for the veterinarian treating him, as sometimes what people think are seizures are actually not.

There are not many primary neurological diseases that cause seizures in cats as there are in dogs. Potential causes are toxicity, brain tumor, and idiopathic (a fancy way to say we don't know why it happened).

Hopefully this information is helpful, but most importantly I hope that this was Tigger's first and last seizure! Best of luck to you an Tigger.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA
Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer
Published on March 12th, 2017
I'm sorry to hear that - how scary for both of you! Seizures are uncommon in cats, so I would be concerned that Mayo may have a serious neurologic problem, or may have gotten into something toxic. I would recommend taking him to the nearest emergency clinic in your area right away - the vet there can do a complete neurologic exam as well as blood work or other testing if needed to help diagnose the problem.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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