HAS ANYONE heard of WORMS getting into the brain and Seizure

Hi,
Does anyone know anything about worms getting into the brain and causing Seizures? Alley has started having seizues the last couple of months, but didn't really know it until a week ago. We also found that she had a tapeworm, but the only time she was exposed to flees was about 8-12 months ago. She was de-fleed then and hasn't had any since. But we just found out about a couple of weeks ago that she had a tape worm. The Vet said the only way they get worms is from flees. So, she must have had this for awhile!!

She has just started to have a problem w/seizues and they can not figure out why!! She has CRF but her Kidney just went down 40 points after a stay in the Hospital because of the seizures a week ago. They checked her blood pressure and Thyroid and they were both normal. She is 15 1/2 and has never had seizures before. Although, her legs went out after this happen and about 3 months ago her legs went out as well..but she was very anemic then. She had just been walking again about 5 weeks when we actually woke up to her have really bad seizures and saw it for the 1st time. I have a feeling that she probably had one or some when her legs went out the first time and just didn't know. I had found her the 1st time her legs gave out and she was in the kitchen and looked kind of out of it and like she was watching something on the floor but nothing was there. She seemed dazed, so I took her to the er and we started her on epogen.

Now looking back...I think she probably started having them then, but they were mild. Sometime's it looked like she was having a hard time trying to poop..since she couldn't use her back legs during those 4 weeks before she started to walk again.Her stomach would contract and she would lay on her side just staring forward and sometimes smacking her lips. Now I am thinking..they were probably mild seizures. That is kind of what she looked like(trying to poop but laying on her side) when I picked her up at the Vet's this last week.

I have a friend of mine who just told me that she had adopted a kitten and about 2 weeks after having her ....she went into seizures that wouldn't stop. She got her to the er but the kitten didn't make it. They found out that the kitten had worms and they had gotten in her brain. They said that is what was causing her seizures!! My Vet said it is really rare...but it would make sense w/Alley. She has never had seizures before and we just found out that she has a tapeworm or worms recently. But she was never expected to have worms since she is indoors, it wasn't till I saw part of a very large worm where she had been laying that we knew.

Anyone know anything about this??

 

You need to spend some time on google...a quick search showed me that toxoplasmosis in some rare cases can happen in cats and the parasite can go into the brain (usually they don't get sick and just shed it when they defecate)....

 

Epogen "may" cause seizures. It's listed as an adverse effect/warning in Plumb's Drug Handbook. Seems like all drugs have side affects. Are you registered at the feline crf-support group at yahoogroups? You need to do some reading there because you are describing some common symptoms of crf...hard poops, inability to walk, anemia, lip smacking which can be a sign of nausea. You can also read Helen's site at www.felinecrf.com. She has a symptoms chart listed you can read that has what a symptom might mean.

Good luck with your kitty.

 

I never heard of tapeworms migrating to the brain. However, larva of raccoon roundworms can migrate to the brain of cats, dogs and humans. See:
http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/inf ... ascariasis

 

Other possible causes of seizures are:

The flea medication you used. Sometimes the chemicals in flea treatments can cause harmful effects to particular cats, such as seizures, particularly if the does was too high or if she is sensitive to such things.
Medications purchased over the counter have a higher risk of harmful side effects also.

Is she on insulin? Could these actually be hypoglycemic related?