Seizures in cats are characterized by sudden surges of uncontrollable muscle activity, often described as fits or convulsions. They can last for as little as a few seconds or up to a few minutes, with some even lasting for hours. Seizures are caused by a temporary disturbance of the brain’s normal functions. There are multiple causes of seizures in cats, including:

• Metabolic disturbance: One-time occurrences of a seizure in your cat may be caused by a metabolic disturbance, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), severe fever, or toxin.

• Toxins: Toxins that can cause seizures in cats include ethylene glycol (antifreeze), rodenticide (rat poison—specifically neurotoxic types), and medication overdoses such as antihistamines or certain behavior-modification medications.

• Extracranial causes: Seizures may be caused by something outside of the brain, such as toxins, poisons, or metabolic diseases such as diabetes. Infectious central nervous system diseases including feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), toxoplasmosis, feline leukemia virus (FeLV), cryptococcus, and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) can also lead to seizures in cats.

• Intracranial causes: Seizures can arise from structural diseases within the cats brain such as a tumor, inflammation of the brain, an infection (encephalitis), brain malformation, head trauma, or stroke, or from functional issues within the brain (primary epilepsy).

• Epilepsy: Epilepsy in cats is when a cat has repeated episodes of seizures. Epilepsy-related seizures may occur at regular or irregular intervals, varying from days to months or even years. Epilepsy is either genetic (which is rare in cats) or caused by abnormal brain development, brain trauma, infectious disease, or cancer. Sometimes, no cause is found after a multitude of testing, and in this case, the seizure disorder is called idiopathic epilepsy.

If a cat has regular seizures (more than one every six to eight weeks), it is important to receive veterinary care to determine the underlying cause.