Feline neurology research sharpens the workup for seizures

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Neurological disorders in cats remain a broad, clinically important category, with seizures, vestibular disease, spinal cord disease, inflammatory conditions, neoplasia, and metabolic causes all on the differential list. Recent veterinary literature and reviews continue to reinforce a key point for pet parents and clinicians alike: true idiopathic epilepsy appears to be relatively uncommon in cats compared with dogs, and many feline seizures are secondary to structural brain disease, inflammatory disease, toxins, or metabolic problems. A newly published UK referral-hospital review of feline neurology cases described the spectrum of diagnoses seen from 2016 to 2025 and said the findings should help improve recognition of neurological disease in cats. Meanwhile, a 2026 feline seizure review in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery emphasized structured classification of reactive, structural, and idiopathic causes, and highlighted the value of video history in distinguishing seizure types. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the message is practical: a cat presenting with seizures or other neurologic signs often warrants a broader workup than a presumptive epilepsy label. Age at onset, interictal neurologic status, seizure semiology, and pet-parent video can all sharpen the differential list, while MRI, CSF analysis, infectious disease testing, and metabolic screening may be needed to identify an underlying cause. Emerging work also suggests feline neurology is becoming more subtype-specific, including growing recognition of autoimmune encephalitis linked to LGI1 autoantibodies and newer descriptions such as spontaneous late-onset myoclonic epilepsy in older cats. (pdfs.semanticscholar.org)

What to watch: Expect more species-specific guidance on feline seizure classification, diagnostics, and long-term management as newer referral data and autoimmune epilepsy research mature. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)