u/Amadornor

Happy Saturday! It’s been almost two weeks since dudeman started having seizures, and began medication for them. I’m so happy to report back that he is almost 85% back to his normal self.

He is still a little zoned out after his medicine, but he has thankfully been seizure free, and happy. His judgement with jumping is slowly improving except for his right hind leg, so I’m keeping an eye on that. He goes back to the vet in August for a dental visit and Dr F said they would do blood work to monitor his liver then, and again in November at his 15 year well visit. We have made the living room as friendly for him as we can in hopes of encouraging him to stay downstairs, and so far that is working. He’s pretty bonded to Prudence our black cat, Jaeger our pit boxer mix, and Tilli our whippet mix and has always been in the middle of everything.
He has his little hiding spots, tree, water fountain, and food in the living area, and access to multiple windows throughout the house. With an adult male servant at his beck and call when I’m not here lol.

We have been blessed to have Jude as a member of our family since 2/29/2012, and he is a huge part of our home. I rescued him from a shelter when he was a tiny fluff ball.

Last Saturday he started having seizures, never had one before, and had 4 before we could get him into the animal hospital Monday morning. I tried to get him in with his regular vet, but he and multiple clinics around are not equipped to diagnose what’s causing the seizures. At the animal hospital he was seen by a neurologist who believes he has a brain tumor. Physically the only thing they can find wrong with him is his pupils; one is very slightly larger than the other. His blood work looked good, and he is strictly an indoor kitty so they didn’t think he’d gotten into something. They cannot confirm a brain tumor without a MRI and quoted us $3-$5k, which we cannot afford, and we definitely cannot afford brain surgery. We have had to decide to treat him with palliative care, so he will be on phenobarbital twice daily for life.

I have never had to deal with any medical condition like this; human or feline and need advice on how to approach our new normal in life.

How do I keep him comfortable, seizure free, safe, and happy? He’s currently so drugged up that I’m scared he’s going to hurt himself trying to jump on furniture.