# cat with seizures? Taurine deficient?



## werecatrising (Oct 15, 2010)

Ugh, where to start?

Grizzy is my youngest cat- a little over a year. The rest of her litter died and I hand raised her. I weaned her from a home made formula directly to raw. She did well on chunks of meat but I could never get her to eat bone.

About 5 or 6 months ago I decided to switch all of the cats to raw.I had tried in the past to get them on whole meats but it did not work. I finally started feeding pre made grounds in the morning and giving canned at night since I worried about it being balanced. I put Grizzy on the same diet so I could stop worrying about getting her to eat bones.

Fast forward to a couple of months ago. One night my husband and I were sitting on the couch with Grizzy next to us. Out of no where she went racing around the house in a state of panic. She was knocking things over, running into walls, etc. After about 45 seconds she went and hid until late that night. We figured something spooked her. It has happened several more times since then. Both Levi and I ave several deep scratches from being in the way. I have a large one on my face I got wen I was asleep. The frequency of episodes is decreasing while the time it takes her to recover is increasing. She is constantly creeping around the house, she acts paranoid. She jumps at every little noise. It is heartbreaking to watch. 

After lots of consults and diagnostics, the vet thinks she is having seizures. I was worried about a taurine deficiency. He is saying it is most likely just idiopathic epilepsy. His reccomendations for now are to keep on a low dose of valuim for a few weeks and see what she does.He said to try some feliway and to ditch the pre ground and canned and feed only foods I prepare myself. I just bought a meat grinder and got some taurine to supplement with. 

Has anyone ever heard of similar problems being caused by a lack of sufficient taurine? I am hoping she gets better, but if I change diet and start valium at the same time I won't know which it is that is helping.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

Wow, I can't help you on the seizure part. Thats something! I know the cat I brought home from work, Smokey will get CRAZY sometimes after a good nap. He starts tearing around the house, jumping from furniture to furniture, jumping on the dogs and all. But he's just about 8 months old so hes playing being a kitten. I worried a lot about the taurine as well when I was switching him to raw. Once I odered beef heart and cut it in sizes for him, he loves it and would eat it all day if I let him. As far as the bone, I have been trying with Smokey on that and this has finally worked for him. I got chicken necks and smashed them up with the smooth side of a meat tenderizer. Then cut them into smaller sizes but still big enough that he has to work at it and chew on it. I'm still smashing them right now but once he learns to chew the bone better I will stop. I hope in your case its not lack of Taurine, but I don't know really all the effects of a deficancy. Best of luck! When you find something more out let us know.


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## cprcheetah (Jul 14, 2010)

From what I understand Taurine mostly affects their heart. I don't think I've heard of it causing seizures. I have a cat who does something similar, we have determined she has Feline Hyperesthesia syndrome, she'll wiggle/ripple her back, then run around like crazy chewing on herself like something bit her.
Taurine Deficiency in Cats | Information on Feline Taurine Deficiency
Symptoms of taurine deficiency in cats are usually associated with visual changes, failure to reproduce, poor oral health, and symptoms that are associated with a heart condition known as dilated cardiomyopathy. Cats with this condition may also look unkempt and unhealthy and may become depressed or lethargic.Taurine deficiency is a very slow occurring condition that may take many months to years to develop. Symptoms usually appear slowly and progressively worsen over a long period of time.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I agree with Heather. This doesn't sound like a taurine deficiency to me at all, or any nutritional deficiency. If you are worried about a taurine deficiency make sure you feed heart muscle meat as whole as you can get it, and if they wont eat it whole, chop or grind it RIGHT before you feed it so the taurine has less exposure time to oxygen to break down. 

I'm sorry I can't be of much help, but I hope that putting her on low dose Valium might help her.


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## Donna Little (May 31, 2011)

DaneMama said:


> I agree with Heather. This doesn't sound like a taurine deficiency to me at all, or any nutritional deficiency. If you are worried about a taurine deficiency make sure you feed heart muscle meat as whole as you can get it, and if they wont eat it whole, chop or grind it RIGHT before you feed it so the taurine has less exposure time to oxygen to break down.
> 
> I'm sorry I can't be of much help, but I hope that putting her on low dose Valium might help her.


I've gotten my cats transitioned over but it hasn't been easy. They love beef heart mostly and I chop it into small pieces. They won't eat it if it's a large piece. It goes into the freezer already chopped up. Is this going to be good enough or am I messing up a good thing? I never heard that chopping or grinding it decreases the taurine. 

I hope you can figure out what's going on with Grizzy. That must be scary to watch, especially when you don't know how to help.


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## Imgliniel (Sep 1, 2011)

Yeah that doesn't sound like a taurine problem to me either. And especially since you are feeding half canned which will have taurine added I doubt her diet is deficient. Grinding itself does not destroy taurine it is the exposure to the oxygen over time degrades it (freezing helps, if left in the fridge it degenerates faster) If you are going to grind please follow a good recipie, as some nutrients are affected by the grinding process. I use ground as half my cats diet because I need something to mix their fish oil in lol. They won't swallow the capsule in peanut butter like Lucy haha.

As far as what to do I am sorry I can't help you there. Hopefully you have a holistic vet on your side. Probably the reason he said switch to what you make yourself is the possibility of some kind of contaminent causing it since you don't oversee production of what you are feeding. Call him and ask him about that part and why he suggested it and maybe his answer will help you decide.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Donna Little said:


> I've gotten my cats transitioned over but it hasn't been easy. They love beef heart mostly and I chop it into small pieces. They won't eat it if it's a large piece. It goes into the freezer already chopped up. Is this going to be good enough or am I messing up a good thing? I never heard that chopping or grinding it decreases the taurine.
> 
> I hope you can figure out what's going on with Grizzy. That must be scary to watch, especially when you don't know how to help.


If you can leave it in the largest whole pieces possible before freezing or feeding that would be best. The more time or opportunity for the meat to be exposed to oxygen the more taurine (and other enzymes) will be lost. Oxygen has a nasty habit of readily oxidizing molecules making them "inactive" so to speak. This is why ground meat is a no no for cats due to the lack of taurine in the meat left over from grinding. If you do give cut up or ground meat to cats its best to give it IMMEDIATELY after doing so.


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## werecatrising (Oct 15, 2010)

Yeah, I guess everyone is right. It really doesn't sound like a problem with taurine. A few text books I looked in mentioned it as a possible cause but didn't say much about it. I guess I was just hoping it was something easily remedied. I am really upset by the thought of her having epilepsy.

On the bright side, she was acting completely normal when I got home from work today. It's been about 36 hours since we started the valium and today was te first she's been herself for a couple of weeks.


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