Hormones, diet and epilepsy

Sparky has epilepsy. When she was a little kitten, she had big seizures, and as a result she suffered brain damage. You can tell when she walks...she falls down often, and sometimes she jumps into walls and windows. But otherwise she seems fine.

From observing Sparky, I think there is a connection between diet, seizures and hormones. I've mentioned this connection to our Vet's but they don't THINK there is a connection, but agree that there MAY be a connection.

This is what I found: January 2008...Sparky goes in heat. You can't miss it - she changes into a totally different cat. She WANTS everyone to pat and touch her. She is nice to the dog and other cats. Before she goes in heat (every few weeks for 2 years), her appetite increases. She goes from 3 cans a day to 6 or 7. This increased eating usually lasts for 5 to 7 days. So, in January, I begin to wonder what would happen if she does not get that extra food. Will she still go in heat? What would happen? Would she lose weight?

So, I put her on a tighter eating schedule. 3 cans a day only... no more eating on demand.


A few weeks pass, and she is asking for more food (follows me around, and is always under my feet.) She survives the new diet...sometimes she gets a few bites of the other cats food, but not too much. And she doesn't go into heat. Not in February...not in March. She also does not lose weight. She also has NO siezures, none at all.

I take her to the Vet in April to get weighed and get her phenobarb blood levels checked. She lost a tiny bit of weight..a few ounces. And her phenobarb levels are perfect.

It is now September and she hasn't been in heat since January. She has had a few seizures in July, when we traveled across country in the car and slept in hotels. She stayed at a kennel in Niagra Falls Ontario and they messed up her eating routine and missed a pill. It took a month to get her stabilized again, but she has been great ever since.

So, is there a connection betwwen hormones, diet and epilepsy?