Selchie, many thanks for those links. I found them very helpful indeed, especially the first one. I?d got a couple of sites from the Net, but they weren?t quite as explicit as that one.

The vet (a Canadian locum while our normal German vet is away) said that it would be very difficult to determine what is causing the seizures. It could be diabetes (but Purdey doesn?t drink very much at all), brain tumour or epilepsy, just for starters. Seizures in cats are quite rare compared to dogs. I?m making a log of all the events to show Elke, our usual vet, when she returns.

We?ve booked the fur into the vet?s for boarding when we go to NZ. Purdey is having her teeth cleaned then, as she has the beginnings of gingivitis, so I think I?ll ask Elke to take blood samples while Purdey is unconscious and perhaps that will give us some clue to what?s going on. Any other tests e.g. brain scans will be mega expensive and I wouldn?t like to say whether there are facilities here to do that. I wondered whether the fitting would cause any problems and the vet said it could cause brain damage, especially if the fit went on for more than a couple of minutes. I think it?s because the brain is starved of oxygen during the fit. When she?s in the vet?s, there won?t be anyone around at night to monitor her condition, which is a worry.

Purdey seems to want to stay indoors at night anyway these days, which is how we?re getting to keep track of her fits, which usually, and oddly, occur when she?s sleeping. Often she?s in our room and I find I?m alert to her every move in case she?s fitting again. The last twice, I?ve repeatedly called her name, hoping to bring her back to consciousness. Don?t know if it worked, but she has appeared to come out of the fit quite quickly. For all I know, she might be having other partial fits when I?m not around and I wouldn?t necessarily know, as she can appear normal afterwards. It certainly isn?t conducive to a good night?s sleep when I?m on edge all the time, so it would be great to find out what?s causing it. I?m always worried that she might have been kicked in the head, the way things are here, although I can?t say I?ve noticed anything to point to that.

I?d be very interested to hear how your friend copes with medicating her cat and if the twice a day ruling (if it is twice a day) is as strict as for vallium. The locum vet more or less said that vallium was the only treatment to suppress the fits, so it would be good to have a second opinion. Apart from when we go on holiday, it will be a tremendous worry when we have to move countries again. I doubt we can time our flights to fall in with Purdey?s medication timing. What a worry!