Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome

Re: Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome

Suze — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 10:47:15 GMT

thanks Angiy, gonna try the anxiety drops for a few weeks and if that doesnt work maybe clonicalm.

as he is not too bad with it I dont want to give him anything too strong with adverse affects so will see how things go.....have also just bought him some new interactive toys!

have a great trip to Africa.......am very jealous....

Re: Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome

Angiy Michael — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:29:38 GMT

Hi ! Mine started with more full on symptoms about 2 - 2y 6m. Apparently common around 2-3yrs..suppose a bit like epileptic dogs ?!? Yours does sound like it's likely...if you are lucky yours might not progress to mutilation..when mine does have a proper episode it can be pretty dramatic and it starts in a very similar way to your cat's my the sounds of it. You can try all the natural products first, give them 2-3 weeks to work..if no joy I suggest you try to video it to show to your vet, defo do full bloods and if possible a series of xrays just to check for spinal problems etc. If you do need to try meds then I would start with Gabapentin rather than Amitrptyline...Less side effects.. You have to allow about 4 weeks of a consistent course to judge if you are getting full effect...my vet colleague advised 4-6 weeks to assess if it's working before introducing anything new ..I have a feeling with my cat I may need to add in Amytrip at some point but I'm holding off for now ..Usually they try Gabapentin for 4-6 weeks ..if that doesn't work you gradually weaned them off that then commence amytrip but you do liver bloods a couple of times a year...and in worst case scenario they need both. Gabapentin has def def helped my cat..markedly reduced about of skin "rippling episodes " hardly any of the weird twitchiness but we are now starting to get some intermittent tail swishing and attacking again..however I'm not sure how much has become habit with him now and whether he automatically does it as a stress response. My cat can do it at any time but we have notice it is more frequently late night and early morning and he does do it at stressful times as well such as when his food is due ..we have increased the feedings times and changed where we feed him as a consequence . If you are on facebook there is a Feline Hyperaesthesia group for owners..only down point as a vet nurse is you find yourself butting it to commnet on some of the general advice on there ! LOL ! Otherwise thought it can be useful . Wishing you lots of luck, let us know how you get on. I'm away for six weeks to Africa from saturday so I'm not ignoring you if you don't get a reply straight away XX

Re: Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome

Suze — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:15:48 GMT

Great info there, thanks for that Angiy. Thankfully my guy isnt mutilating his tail yet. He could be lying on the couch when suddenly he will start swishing his tail, then he jumps up and hisses at it before jumping to the ground and attacking it and growling at it. he seems to do it nearly every night now for the last week or two.

He is an awful stress bunny and I have a feliway plugged in the sitting room. Think I might try anxiety drops 1st or someone also recommended Clonicalm . Want to avoid anything too strong, see if the milder options might work 1st. Its awful to watch him doing it and very hard to distract him once he starts , he is only 3 years old.

Re: Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome

Angiy Michael — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:41:47 GMT

Here are some video's of common manifestations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q-cIM2X-IE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs615QbDJYo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsMCyCouxJg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPstXP5PEWw&list=UUCKPrecGkdGkhzToqFvBeNA&index=2&feature=plcp

The last one is my boy..however this was taken some time pre-diagnosis and before the tail mutilation started..he manifests somewhat diff now..however our vets feel this was an early sign video wise he had the problem :-(

Re: Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome

Angiy Michael — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:34:11 GMT

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/healthinfo/HyperesthesiaSyndrome.cfm

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=2873

Re: Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome

Angiy Michael — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:31:20 GMT

Excuse all the typos :-D

Re: Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome

Angiy Michael — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 20:23:54 GMT

Hello ! Thanks Kate My cat does indeed have it. He gets strange twitching to is skin along is back which ripples and rolls spontaneously , his pupils dilate and his ears frequently flicker and his tail starts to wave as though he has no control over it. He tends to freak out and mutilate his own tail as a consequence..which then gets wounds which become sore and infected which he then constantly interferes with and it is a vicious cycle getting it to heal or getting him to leave it alone.

The general advice if you suspect you cat has this is to do a full work up..you need bloods and a full clinical exam especialy skin to rule out any other issues..if the tail is involved then an anal gland check is advised also. Next step after that is usually MRI .. You need to exclude all behavioural problems other than hyperaessthesia ..treatment may involve behavioural and medical referral and you may have to go through a process of excluding various things first .

In my case I work with a couple of vets who have treated the condition so I described it to them , had my cat blood tested and examined and video-ed the behaviour. Based on that we concluded it is def hyperaesthesia and commenced treatment without doing an MRI but I subjected him to a a series of xrays of EVERY part of his body and a mega blood profile, several mega clincal exams and numerous different opinions of some of the referral vets at work prior to this..We started to think it was hyperaesthesia and then I managed to video it and this confirmed it . . We had to use a course of ab's and metacam to deal with the tail wound as well as this was not helping matters so he had a prolonged course of trying to get on top of that as well as then commencing treatment for the actual hyperaesthesia

. The condition is commonly treated with Amitryptiline ..the downside to this is is can have negative effects on the liver over time...so you have to check your cats liver status first. Current thinking is to trial Gabapentin first and do a 4-6 week course ( as it has a cumulative effect) and if responding well then can continue with that long term ..if not then can change over to Amitryptline or add it in in addition to the Gabapentin. To cover all bases it is important to lok at environment and stresses etc during the assessment process..so all the usual environmental enrichment, vertical climbing spaces, places to express normal behaviour , Feliway etc. I also introduced KalmAid on the off chance it might help and if not would certainly do now harm. I do not have ideal behavioural circumstances as I have an overcrowded indoor cat house ( 4 cats ..2 males 2 females) in a small house plus a mad Border Collie..so I have made some enrichment improvements but it is a compromise in our current circumstances..I hope to improve more on this in a new property with more space later on.

My cat is currently on Gabapentin twice daily. We have noticed a marked decrease in the behaviour and have witnessed no rippling of his skin along his back etc although we still get intermittent tail attacks..these have reduced in frequency and severity and it is difficult to know how much may be habit that has formed and how much is due to the prolonged period of time it took to get the tail to heal..I suspect he will need intermittent treatment for his tail every now and again..but previously we were coming home to a blood bath and a cat that looked like his skin had a mind of it's own and was moving spontaneously .

What I have learnt is the condition is still very little known. it is more common in oriental breeds and oriental crosses...which ties in with our experience as our cat Rufus def has some Bengal in there ! It is really important to rule out dermatological causes and other behavioural issues before commencing treatment and it may help to video your cat. There are several schools of thought about the condition, originally it was thought to be entirely behavioural but now it is believed it has a neuropathic root with behavioural triggers that may set it off . Certainly with my cat an extreme episode manifests itself almost like a seizure type behaviour ..except that he is conscious..it is very odd to witness and quite distressing. It seems to manifest in different ways in different cats but the rippling rolling skin I described is a classic sign and self mutilation or overgrooming in response to this is a common problem frequently of the tail or a limb. When you observe your cat closely during an episode it is notable that it's pupils will be dilated and the cat may vocalise strangely, growl or yowl generally or growl at parts of itself..mine freaks at his tail. I have been advised to interupt episodes ..I tend to pick my cat up and just hold him calmly and he often calms down..or I try to break the cycle by distracting him on to something else.

It is def worth working the condition up and reading up on some treatment..when my cat first started one of the vest was advocating amputating his tail as they assumed he had a tail injury or problem that was triggering the self trauma ..thank god I argued about it as this would have spelled disaster for my cat...it wouldn't have solved the problem and we would have started to run out of tail to cut off !

Re: Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome

Kate Claxton DipAVN(Med)VN — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:15:07 GMT

Angiy Michael has a cat with it - sure she'll be along soon to answer! x