My cat seems fine after the seizure — do I still need a vet?

Yes. A cat can appear completely normal within minutes of a seizure ending, but that does not tell you what caused it, and several causes are serious even when the episode itself was brief. Ring your vet and describe what happened.

What does a seizure look like in a cat?

It can range from brief twitching or staring with a loss of awareness, to the whole body going rigid or paddling with the legs. Loss of bladder or bowel control sometimes happens too. It looks different from a cat simply startling or having a muscle twitch.

Should I try to hold my cat during a seizure?

No. You cannot stop a seizure by holding your cat, and doing so risks an accidental scratch or bite as they are not in conscious control of their movements. Clear the area around them instead and keep the room calm and dim.

How do I find an emergency vet for my cat out of hours?

Your own practice's answerphone will normally direct you to the out-of-hours service covering your area. Our directory of local vets also lists practices offering emergency and out-of-hours cover if you need to find one quickly.

My cat has had a seizure — what to do

A cat having a seizure needs a vet as soon as possible, not in the morning. Ring your practice now, or an emergency out-of-hours service if they are closed, and tell them what you are seeing. Everything below is for while you get there — it does not replace that call.

Emergency — ring a vet now

This is a sign that needs a vet straight away, not later today. Ring your practice, or an out-of-hours service if they are closed, and describe what you are seeing.

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Do this now

Ring the vet before anything else. If your own practice is closed, their answerphone will normally give you an out-of-hours number, and most areas have a dedicated emergency service covering them. Tell them a cat is having, or has just had, a seizure and roughly how long it has lasted.

Keep the area around your cat clear and do not try to hold or restrain them during the seizure itself — you cannot stop it, and you risk being scratched or bitten unintentionally. Move anything nearby that could injure them, such as furniture with sharp edges, rather than moving your cat.

Do not put your hands near your cat's mouth. Cats do not swallow their tongue during a seizure, and trying to hold the mouth open is far more likely to injure you than to help them. Keep the room dim and quiet if you can, since noise and light can prolong or worsen a seizure in some cats.

Once the seizure has stopped, keep your cat warm, calm and somewhere safe while you get them to the vet or the vet's advice. Do not offer food or water until they are fully alert and steady.

What to tell the vet

Note how long the seizure lasted, what your cat's body was doing — rigid, paddling, twitching on one side or the whole body — and whether they lost consciousness or seemed aware throughout. Mention if there was any loss of bladder or bowel control.

Say whether this is the first seizure you have seen or whether it has happened before, how your cat behaved immediately afterwards, and mention anything unusual in the hours before it — a change in behaviour, appetite or energy is all useful information.

If it is safe to do so and someone else is driving, a short phone video of the seizure is genuinely useful to a vet who will not see the episode themselves and can help distinguish a true seizure from something that looks similar.

What a seizure can mean

A seizure is a sign that something is affecting the brain's normal electrical activity, and the causes range widely — epilepsy, a head injury, poisoning, an infection, low blood sugar, liver or kidney problems, and in older cats, a growth affecting the brain, among others. A single brief seizure is not automatically the most serious explanation, but it still needs proper investigation.

Cats who have more than one seizure in a day, or a seizure that lasts more than a couple of minutes, need emergency treatment, since prolonged seizure activity is itself dangerous. Do not wait to see whether a second seizure follows the first before seeking help.

Afterwards

Expect your vet to want to examine your cat and likely run tests to help identify the cause, since seizures look broadly similar from the outside regardless of what is behind them. Blood tests are often the first step, since they can rule some causes in or out quickly, before considering anything more involved.

Write down what you saw, including timings, while it is fresh in your memory. If your cat has repeated seizures, a diary of when they happen and what they looked like becomes one of the most useful tools your vet has, and it can reveal a pattern — a time of day, a trigger, a build-up beforehand — that is easy to miss episode by episode.

Caring for a cat recovering from a seizure

It is common for a cat to seem disorientated, wobbly, or briefly blind for a short period after a seizure ends. Keep them somewhere quiet, safe and enclosed rather than letting them wander, since their coordination and awareness may not be fully back to normal straight away.

Some cats want to be left alone to recover, while others seek out their owner — follow your cat's lead rather than forcing contact either way, and avoid handling them more than necessary until you know from your vet whether there is anything specific to watch for in the hours that follow.

Common questions

My cat seems fine after the seizure — do I still need a vet?: Yes. A cat can appear completely normal within minutes of a seizure ending, but that does not tell you what caused it, and several causes are serious even when the episode itself was brief. Ring your vet and describe what happened.
What does a seizure look like in a cat?: It can range from brief twitching or staring with a loss of awareness, to the whole body going rigid or paddling with the legs. Loss of bladder or bowel control sometimes happens too. It looks different from a cat simply startling or having a muscle twitch.
Should I try to hold my cat during a seizure?: No. You cannot stop a seizure by holding your cat, and doing so risks an accidental scratch or bite as they are not in conscious control of their movements. Clear the area around them instead and keep the room calm and dim.
How do I find an emergency vet for my cat out of hours?: Your own practice's answerphone will normally direct you to the out-of-hours service covering your area. Our directory of local vets also lists practices offering emergency and out-of-hours cover if you need to find one quickly.

Sources

Written against guidance published by UK veterinary and welfare organisations. Always confirm specifics with your own vet.

Written by Matt Garnett, who runs Giddy Pets and is a lifelong pet owner — not a vet. This is general information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot replace an examination by the vet who knows your animal. How we write these guides.