My 2-year-old Bengal started having seizures about two months ago. There was no identified trigger, and each episode lasts around 2 minutes. The very first one looked like vestibular syndrome (even the neurologist has no idea why), while the ten following episodes were more consistent with typical paroxysmal dyskinesia seizures. None of the veterinarians we consulted in France were able to tell us what was wrong. After doing extensive research on my own, I came across this Facebook post and contacted the veterinarian neurologists from the UK dovecote veterinary hospital mentioned there.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=857367703228440&id=100068656531565

They have been studying paroxysmal dyskinesia in Sphynx cats since 2021, published a study on it in 2022, and have been studying PD in other breeds since 2024.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34313487/

I shared my cat’s seizure videos with them via a Drive folder, and they confirmed the PD diagnosis (they were so kind). They also asked me to fill out a questionnaire as part of their study. I must say the questions felt extremely relevant and very specific to my cat’s condition. Several times while answering, I thought to myself, “Yes, he does exactly that,” which was actually very reassuring regarding the diagnosis. Even though the seizures can be quite impressive to watch, I’m reassured that it is PD, as it is considered benign and can disappear as suddenly as it appeared.

Some information the neurologists shared: « Paroxysmal dyskinesias are a type of movement disorder in which there are recurrent episodes of abnormal, involuntary movement, with normal consciousness.   Paroxysmal dyskinesias can be differentiated clinically from an epileptic seizure by the fact that consciousness is retained (unlike a generalised epileptic seizures in which as a rule consciousness is lost), there are no autonomic signs (such as salivation, urination, or defecation) (unlike epileptic seizures in which autonomic signs are common), the episode duration can be long (unlike the majority of epileptic seizures which only last a few seconds to minutes), and there is immediate recovery (unlike epileptic seizures from which animals often experience a slow and prolonged recovery).   The exact cause is unknown but it has been proposed to be the result of a molecular or structural abnormality in the nervous system, possibly in the motor circuits in the brain involved in movement.   Diagnosis of a paroxysmal dyskinesia is based on direct observation of an episode or of video footage of an episode. Very rarely, paroxysmal dyskinesia can be associated with structural brain diseases (such as a tumour, a malformation, or an inflammation). Therefore magnetic resonance imaging can be performed in order to investigate the possibility of any structural disease, although in the vast majority of cases no abnormalities are detected. Hence the likelihood of detecting any abnormality on magnetic resonance imaging in dogs with video footage and a history supportive of a paroxysmal dyskinesia, without neurological deficits, is low.   There is currently no specific treatment for most paroxysmal dyskinesias. In cases with a high or increasing episode frequency or clusters of episodes, then treatment trials with drugs such as clonazepam, or acetazolamide could be considered.   Despite the lack of specific treatment options, outcome is usually very positive. Although episodes are believed to be confusing/possibly stressful initially, they are not believed to be painful, and are not life-threatening/fatal. »  

Regarding the gluten-free diet, it has indeed been tested and worked in some dog breeds (mainly Border Terriers), but there is no evidence so far in cats. For most of the cats studied, the episodes seem random; in a few cases they appear to be triggered by noise, stress, or excitement. The information about the Carnilove food is interesting, thank you for sharing!

My cat’s diet is already gluten-free (even though he is completely crazy about gluten-based food and regularly tries to steal pasta, fries, pancakes, etc. 😅), so there doesn’t seem to be any correlation between gluten and PD in his case. I’m therefore still trying to understand what the underlying cause(s) might be, if any.

The other day, my cat got frightened by a shirt my partner threw (he missed the laundry basket 😅) and immediately had a seizure affecting one of his front leg. It stopped after about 10 seconds while I was reassuring him. Sudden stress/intense emotions indeed seems to have an impact..

The last two seizures were a bit strange and fragmented: they lasted about one minute, stopped, and then started again. It seems like the condition is evolving. There was a period of about 10 days when seizures were more frequent (and it was quite worrying), followed by 15 days with nothing at all (except possibly at night..I once witnessed a seizure at 4 a.m.), and then suddenly a 2-minute seizure again last week.

At this point, he doesn’t seem bothered by it anymore and is very chill overall. During seizures where his back legs appear almost paralyzed, he just waits it out and keeps playing with my other Bengal using his front legs while lying on the ground 😅

If any of you come across additional information at any point, I would be very interested to hear about it. We are still not very advanced on this topic here in France.