Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 Mar-Apr;28(2):255-63.
doi: 10.1111/jvim.12297. Epub 2014 Jan 17.

Epilepsy in cats: theory and practice

A Pakozdy  1 , P Halasz, A Klang
Affiliations
Review

Epilepsy in cats: theory and practice

A Pakozdy et al. J Vet Intern Med. 2014 Mar-Apr.

Erratum in

  • J Vet Intern Med. 2015 Jan;29(1):485

Abstract

The veterinary literature on epilepsy in cats is less extensive than that for dogs. The present review summarizes the most important human definitions related to epilepsy and discusses the difficulties in applying them in daily veterinary practice. Epileptic seizures can have a wide range of clinical signs and are not necessarily typical in all cases. Whether a seizure event is epileptic can only be suspected based on clinical, laboratory, and neuroimaging findings as electroencephalography diagnostic techniques have not yet been developed to a sufficiently accurate level in veterinary medicine. In addition, the present review aims to describe other diagnoses and nonepileptic conditions that might be mistaken for epileptic seizures. Seizures associated with hippocampal lesions are described and discussed extensively, as they seem to be a special entity only recognized in the past few years. Furthermore, we focus on clinical work-up and on treatment that can be recommended based on the literature and summarize the limited data available relating to the outcome. Critical commentary is provided as most studies are based on very weak evidence.

Keywords: Diagnosis; Etiology; Review; Seizure; Terminology; Therapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Fischer RS, Boas WVE, Blume W, et al. Epileptic seizures and epilepsy: Definitions proposed by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) and the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE). Epilepsia 2005;46:470–472. - PubMed
    1. Fisher RS, Leppik I. Debate: When does a seizure imply epilepsy? Epilepsia 2008;49(Suppl 9):7–12. - PubMed
    1. Berg AT, Berkovic SF, Brodie MJ, et al. Revised terminology and concepts for organization of seizures and epilepsies: Report of the ILAE Commission on Classification and Terminology, 2005–2009. Epilepsia 2010;51:676–685. - PubMed
    1. Platt S, Garosi L. Seizures In: Platt S, Garosi L, eds. Small Animal Neurological Emergencies. London: Manson Publishing; 2012:155–172.
    1. Thomas WB, Dewey CW. Seizure and narcolepsy In: Dewey CW, ed. A Practical Guide to Feline and Canine Neurology, 2nd ed Ames, IA: Wiley‐Blackwell; 2008:237–259.

Substances