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Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Multi-system Monitoring for Identification of Seizures, Arrhythmias and Apnea in Conscious Restrained Rabbits
Published on: March 27, 2021
Clinical signs, underlying cause, and outcome in cats with seizures: 17 cases (1997-2002)
Heidi L Barnes1, Cheryl L Chrisman, Christopher L Mariani
1Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32607, USA.
Objective:
To determine clinical signs, results of diagnostic testing, underlying cause, and outcome in cats with seizures.
Design:
Retrospective study.
Animals:
17 cats with seizures.
Procedure:
Only those cats in which an underlying metabolic abnormality causing the seizures had been identified, diagnostic imaging of the brain and CSF analysis had been done, or a necropsy had been performed were included. Seizures were classified as being a result of metabolic disease, symptomatic epilepsy (ie, epilepsy resulting from a structural lesion of the brain), or probably symptomatic epilepsy (ie, epilepsy without any extracranial or identifiable intracranial disease that is not suspected to be genetic in origin).
Results:
3 cats had seizures associated with an underlying metabolic disease (hepatic encephalopathy), 7 had symptomatic epilepsy (3 with neoplasia and 4 with meningoencephalitis), and 7 had probably symptomatic epilepsy. Six of the 7 cats with symptomatic epilepsy died or were euthanatized within 3 months after the diagnosis was made, whereas 6 of the 7 cats with probably symptomatic epilepsy survived for at least 12 months after the diagnosis was made.
Conclusions And Clinical Relevance:
Results suggest that cats with probably symptomatic epilepsy may have a good long-term prognosis.
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