CLINICAL MANAGEMENT AND OUTCOME OF CATS WITH SEIZURE DISORDERS - 30 CASES (1991-1993)

Objective-To determine outcome of clinical management of cats with sei zure disorders. Design-Case series. Animals-30 cats referred to the On tario Veterinary College for recurrent seizures. Procedures-Treatment was dictated by the cat's seizure frequency and by the underlying caus e. Cats that were having cluster seizures or status epilepticus at the time of admission were treated orally with phenobarbital and with con stant IV administration of diazepam. The other cats were treated with long-term oral administration of phenobarbital if the frequency of the ir seizures justified it. Follow-up included evaluation of seizure fre quency, serum antiepileptic drug concentrations, and hematologic and s erum biochemical values. Outcome was documented on the basis of surviv al and seizure frequency at the end of the followup period, which rang ed from 3 to 21 months. Results-6 cats were euthanatized without any t herapeutic attempts al the owners' request. Twenty of the remaining 24 cats were alive at the time of final follow-up. Seventeen had a good outcome; 11 were not having any more seizures and 6 were having a low frequency of seizures. For 3 other cats, seizures were not well contro lled. Four cats had been euthanatized (2 because of intractable seizur es, 1 because of post craniotomy complications, and 1 because the owne rs did not want to pursue treatment). Clinical Implications-Results su ggest that severity of seizure disorder in cats is not a good predicto r of outcome and that aggressive treatment is often rewarding, even in the most severe cases.