Kitty is always just a little sickly, sometimes has episodes

[redwoodviolet]

Hi all! I have a two and a half year old spayed female cat (Lily) that I got as a tiny tiny kitten with the rest of her litter-mates. Lily is primarily an indoor cat with the ability to go outside during the day. She is my primary house cat but her sister comes inside too. The rest of my cats are mousers in my barns. Lily has always been just a little sickly. When she and her sister (Jane) were spayed, she did not pull out of it very well and her sister bounced right back. Lily is more active than Jane, but she is prone to occasional sluggishness and episodes of sleepless nights where she writhes around in what I can only assume is pain.
I have taken Lily to the vet for this probably 6 times since she was a kitten and I expect I've dropped about $800 trying to figure out what the problem is. She has some stomatitis (gum inflammation) but I am not sure it is linked to this other problem. She eats wet food and is offered free choice Science Diet dry food but only weighs about 6 1/2 pounds, though her weight seems to be consistent. I have seen three different vets and none of them have offered any suggestions that have helped her.
When Lily has an attack, she stretches out as far as she she can and writhes around. She won't eat or drink or even sniff a treat. This lasts for hours and has always happened at night. She'll do it on my bed, then she'll jump down and go under my bed and then I can hear her doing it there too. It's not a seizure. Her eyes are big and black and she doesn't want any attention. After the attack is over, she'll stumble over to me and want to sit in my lap for quite a while. She always acts tired after it's over. I can't find any common factor for what triggers these episodes.
The last time she had one was December 1st, early in the morning around 2 am till about 8. I took her to the vet and he could find nothing. When I took her in, she acted pretty normal and alert, but she is scared of the truck and hates the vet's office. The time before that was Septermber 16th, and before that it was sometime in midsummer.
Would any of you have any idea what this could be? Lily and I would be so happy to solve this!

[yingying]

I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to Lily I'm not a vet so cannot offer any idea. I do read somewhere long time ago that a cat has weird periodical spasm and it takes his owner long time to figure out the cause. According to the owner, taking a video of what the cat look like when having an attack and then showing the video to the vet helped a lot. You may also want to check with different vets, maybe even a holistic one. Good luck!

[Tylt33]

Have you had her heart checked? The only thing I can think is that it could be neurological or heart related.

[Vivid Dawn]

Actually, that sounds like a seizure to me. I know in humans some types make them stretch out, others make them flail, others go in the fetal position. Just depends on the type of seizure. And afterwards they're tired, disoriented, sore/achey, and just 'blah" feeling in general.
YingYing is right though.... try to have some sort of recorder (even a smartphone) nearby and have it ready to go at any time and catch an episode. If not a seizure, it could be some other neurological thing too.

[redwoodviolet]

Thank you for the suggestions! The video camera idea is a very good one and I will definitely use it next time she has a problem. I have only had her heart checked insofar as the vet listens to it briefly each time I take her in. I've tossed the seizure idea around before; I've seen humans and dogs seize and it looks much different that what Lily does, but I haven't written it off as a possibility yet. The humans and dogs I've seen seize have been unconscious during the seizure, but Lily will look at you and squeak to acknowledge your presence like she normal does when she is touched. She's also a ready and willing purr-er, but won't even try during an attack. The vet has checked for inflamed liver, and has palpated for intestinal abnormalities, but everything seems to feel ok. Thanks!

[Vivid Dawn]

It could be a form of "simple partial" seizure. There's a lady that volunteers for the rescue group I'm in, and she said that she has episodes where she acts totally normal (sort of like on auto-pilot), for a while, and will suddenly realize she's been out of it. One time she was at her church helping with spring cleaning, and washed ALL the windows while having a seizure.

Or as stated, it could be other neurological stuff. Maybe a mild form of Cataplexy? The rolling around might be her trying to get up and move but she can't.