We had to take Marbles to the Emergency Vet around 4:30 am.  He was twitching
his tail severely, kept flopping over on his side and then getting up right
away and twitching his tail again.  Sometimes his mouth stayed open, not really
panting but just open.  He was very vocal but he is anyway so that was hard to
differentiate from his normal behavior.  It was very scary to witness.  Anyway,
at the vet, he didn't do it, of course, and he was too scared to walk normally.
A general exam turned up nothing and I think the vet may have thought I was
insane.

A couple hours prior to this episode, he had a hairball and then a bowel
movement in his litter box.  Prior to all this he had been asleep for several
hours under the bed and I didn't really think this was all that unusual and I
was watching movies and Tony was out so it was pleasant to not have Marbles
yowling to get out of his room so I thought nothing of it.  He is, of course, a
totally indoor cat and I'm sure he couldn't have gotten into anything.  Earlier
yesterday afternoon he had been out with the other cats for a while and, while
I was back in another room, he managed to chase Scottie from where he had been
hiding from Marbles to under the futon.  It was quick and brief and I went and
got him away from Scottie right away and put him back in his room.  He acted
normal, crying to get back out again but finally giving up and going about his
business, looking out the window, etc.  He ate his dinner at around 6 and went
to sleep soon after that under the bed as I mentioned previously.

When we got home from the vet, he once again exhibited the tail twitching and
seemed restless.  I fed him breakfast and he ate all of it and then went under
the bed to sleep.  He is still there but that was only about 5.5 hours ago.  He
looks at me when I look under there, his eyes look alright, but he isn't making
any attempt to come out.  He is on amitryptiline for his aggressive behavior to
the other cats (2.5 mg twice a day).  I'm very worried.  He hasn't been vocal
at all since he went under the bed.

I'm wondering if it's feline hyperesthesia syndrome.  Tony had been petting him
and he was purring up a storm when his tail began the twitching.  It escalated
from there and became more violent tail twitching and the other symptoms I
mentioned.  He is a cat with aggressive issues and we have thought he must be
part siamese because of his incessant meowing.  Apparently, siamese and
aggressive cats are more prone to having this.  I don't know.  The weather has
been nice here in Phx so we had the doors and windows open and we do feed feral
cats outside.  Maybe something triggered this episode?  A scent from them?
When I look at him under the bed now I don't see any tail twitching or flailing
about as he did last night/early this am but he seems very tired and not
interested in coming out.

I can't miss work tomorrow so I am very nervous about all this. I suppose I
could drop him off at the vet before I go in and leave him there for the day if
he is continuing to act this way.  When he chased Scottie early yesterday
afternoon, Tony said he heard a bang like someone ran into something.  I
assumed it was Scottie because he was the one being chased but maybe Marbles
hit something and has a slight injury that didn't show up until later?  The
vet, of course, palpated him all over and didn't notice anything unusual but
maybe he banged his tail or tailbone chasing Scottie under the futon?  I guess
I will try to just leave him be for now.  Maybe rest is all he needs?  I was
thinking that if he is still acting that way when he comes out, I may give him
a prednisone 5mg in case he has a little inflammation.

By the way, he is 6 years old, neutered, tested neg for all cat diseases 3
months ago, has current vaccs from the rescue group we got him from.  He had a
complete blood workup on 9/2 prior to starting him on amitryptiline and
everything was normal.  

Right now he just looks exhausted but this is the time of day when he often
sleeps a lot.  If he were an unspayed female cat, it would have almost looked
like severe heat behavior.  Any ideas?

Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)

See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace

"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human."  (Loren Eisely)