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My cat has seizures daily, but her bloodwork is normal. What's wrong?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Female | spayed | 5 years and 2 months old | 9 lbs

I have a 5 year old female spayed cat. Up to date on vaccines and inside only. 2 years ago she started having seizures only 1 a year. Just recently she started having them every other day. She's now trying to walk before fully coming out of her seizure. Her blood work came back normal. She is bigger than her siblings. She's eating the same cat food, and hasn't been introduced to anything new or different. Why is she having seizures? And why so often?

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3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

Published on July 5th, 2017

I'm sorry to hear that Maci is having this problem! Idiopathic epilepsy, which refers to seizures without any underlying cause, is rare in cats but can occur. Other possible causes would include a brain tumor or neurologic disease of some kind, as there would not be any evidence of these issues on normal bloodwork. If you are concerned and want to try and get a definitive diagnosis, you can request referral to a veterinary neurologist for further testing, which would likely include an MRI or CT scan of the brain as well as a CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) tap. If going to see a specialist is not an option for you, your veterinarian should still be able to prescribe medication to control Maci's seizures even without knowing what the underlying cause might be - I would definitely recommend this at this point, if she is having seizures every other day.

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    Answered By Dr Stafford, BVetMed, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Seizures can be due to epilepsy which is an incurable but treatable disease. It usually starts between 6 months and 3 years. Other causes of seizures would be organ issues such as liver or brain problems. However I would suspect epilepsy if the bloods were ok. If you visit your vet they can start an appropriate treatment.

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    Answered By Daniel Fonza, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on December 28th, 2017

    Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. If blood work has not been done I would consider having this done along with any infectious disease tests the vet recommends running based on the lab work. If the seizures become more frequent or longer in duration, he will likely need to be on an anti seizure medication. I would also recommend consulting with a neurologist if the seizures become more frequent or longer in duration, especially if any new symptoms arise. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

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