Symptoms List

Symptoms of Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome
are clearly identified as they only occur during episodes
and from correlating Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome
stories on the Internet seem to be mostly uniform:

1. Dilated pupils
I'm not sure about this one. It is difficult to tell
when she stairs at you for so long as it is,
with wide pupils, but not quite extreme.
In any case, this was never used to judge the onset of an episode with Nekko.

2. Twitching of the tail


3. Appearing to be annoyed with the tail


4. Biting at the tip of the tail,
sometimes to the point of mutilation,
sometimes also at the hind feet.


5. Behavior may change from loving, to scared and depressed
(these shots were taken seconds apart)



6. Sensitive to touch around the tail
Notes added 9/17/2007:
It seems the cauda equina area is where the
ill sensations start, and so is perceived by Nekko
to be the touchy area.
With the mid 2007 addition of the
ADHD like Holding technique,
this is specfically the area where
petting her gently
while Holding her forcefully,
would be most effective in calming her down.

7. Staring into space


8. Persistent, loud meowing
Nekko does not have this symptom at all
Just the vocal tail attacks during episodes.
I attribute this to owner-vet misinterpretations.
Virtually all internet reported symptoms - except this one -
were identified with Nekko over time.

9. Dashing off madly and aimlessly around the house
Nekko has room crossing jerk sprint runs,
hitting walls and furniture,
several minutes before the self attacks will start to occur.
Dash Sprints Video

10. Rippling of the skin from mid-torso towards the back legs,
over the back and the sides of the torso

11. Gently biting on heads,
initially starting by chewing on hair
like cats usually do with grass and other plants.
With Nekko, automatic selection is there to insure that
she only bites heads that want to get bitten.
If the head is not waiting patiently until the hair chewing bit
is over with, it will never get bitten.
I was her earliest target, when I discovered the habbit,
allowing her to chew on my hair, never to be repeated.

She would not chew on my hair even if I am asleep and she
is right by. She knows well enough I will be awake in a split
second and refuse her. This is one of the gentlest and earliest
stages of an episode, and she is calm and in control,
almost like the ordinary cat she usually is,
except that now she has this sudden obsession of
chewing a piece of human hair.
Little does she know she would soon be biting a head genetly,
and later with more force, and later run off to attack her own
body - much more aggressivly - in some remote corner.

12. Showing extra care for the owner as if worried.
Nekko can stare at me for fifteen minutes straight without
motion, sitting some 4-10 inches from me.
Other times she would walk around me in a 'nagging' attitude,
keeping tense closeness of no more than a half a meter,
reminiscent of a trained dog, only out of control,
sometimes entering the bath tub while I shower,
in a split second to leap out again from the horror of
the newly discovered stream of water that just hit her.
This never happens outside of
Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome episodes,
though eating bathtub foam has always been a favorite game.
See also: Worrying Obsessively

Horse Tail

While stricly NOT a classic FHS symptom,
rather the 'opposite', this is the first and very early
pecularity I found in Nekko at a very early age and is worth
documenting.

Cat owners know that the only time one sees a cat with
an erect tail - sort of erect, not quite in a straight line -
is when the cat is very furious or fearful of a clear and present
danger. In this case the hair sticks out as if electrified,
making the tail look swolen, or expanded.
Humans know to take a distance from a cat in this
state, or else they are likely to be attacked when approaching.
Such is the case with ordinary cats

Nekko - since she was very young, long before FHS -
uses this body language conciously to express
a desire and invitation for me to join in a playful game.

What usually happens is about like this:
I would be crossing from one room to the next,
suddenly having Nekko in my view. Typically this
would happen just after I wake up,
not having been with her for some time.
She would then immediately raise her tail high an swollen,
not straight erect like with FHS,
but like all cats do accasinaly when under huge stress or fear.
So untypical this behaviour is for this istuation,
that at the first few times I wasn't sure whether I should be cautious. In fact, she is dancing in front of me,
walking mostly sideways, like a horse in
a horse show, and so I knick named this behaviour horse tail,
long before FHS.
She would be dancing like this in front of my walk,
keeping a measured distance, making funny as-if
furious faces, smacking me on the legs as I walk,
encourage my walk to join in the dance.
As I starts dancing, she would amplify.
If I completely ignore her, she would discontinue
and relax the tail in an instant.
It only takes less then two seconds for Nekko's tail
to shrink to width, which I found to be very odd.
An ordinary cat will take much time to relax
after a fearful event had caused the tail to expand in this manner.

It is also important to note that Nekko's control of
keeping the claws retracted varies with FHS episode level,
and this serves as a very accurate measure during episodes.

During horse tail, she is always with exact control,
and she can smack me many times with much force,
as well as jump at my walking legs with gentle bites,
never to let a claw go out un-noticed, nor have a bite
that is any harder or longer in duration then a gentle
show-off bite.

I always liked horse tail as it shows Nekko in its most playfulness and friendliness.

It is interesting that Nekko's tail is also a central
part in her body language pecularities.
Over time I grew to suspect that this pecularity
is reserved only to FHS gene owning cats.

Nekko still excersizes horse tail somewhat frequently.
Today, (9/24/07) she ambushed me right when I woke up.
Much like she would wait patiently while I'm asleep,
only to ask for food when I wake up,
she was waiting patiently to play.

I have yet to catch horse tail on camera.
Its not the tail itself, which would like
that of a cat in the sudden presence of a large
unfamiliar dog.
The dance and the sideways walk
of wooing my attention is worth noting on video.
As this is not an FHS thing,
and does not occur in proximity of episodes at all,
it is impossible for me to predict,
and be ready with a camera.

Split Personalities

This is just a notion of mine that helps me understand
Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome.

When not during episodes, Nekko is just an ordinary cat,
playful, healthy, eats, drinks, goes to the bathroom and
sleeps just like any other cat would.

Nowadays, this is most of the time.
During previous much worse periods,
this was still some five hours in the day, even in bad days.

During episodes she gradually becomes a completely different cat.
Not nearly as alert to real surroundings in a coherent way,
at the same time over-alert and jittery with every minor
irritation or distraction.

From a totally different perspective, the split personality
notion takes a different tone when an episode becomes
severe:

Nekko is literally attacking herself as if specific certain
parts of her body are viewed as the pain causing enemy.

Biting Heads

There used to be her favored seat,
where if a guest would sit there they would
almost automatically become a target
for head biting, given enough time.

Except for Tally, who live in the house
and she was frinds with and comfortable,
and would also be subject to head biting on the sofa.
Then there was me, who would simply not allow it
as the Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome episode
stage is so immature, that ordinary
owner-cat communication can take place
with her cooperation.

At first there is the watchful intent.
Then she starts chewing at the hair,
with mild I-wanna-throw-up-like obsession,
like cats do when they chew on grass.
Next, a small nibble at the head,
as if testing the grounds.
The a gradual and slow increase in the strength
and frequency of the biting.
If I were fast asleep, I would be awake by then,
letting my wake up laziness yield to her
until it feels un-educational to let her continue.

With other guests, they would have to be yielding to get
to this point, and I would have to be away or distracted
to let things go this far.

At this point I will surely chase her off,
which is easy to do at this stage.

When chased off, most often she would run wild,
as if I am very scary, and might disappear in the other
room in a split second, thereby marking the next stage
in the episode.
If I follow quickly to close the door and leave her
in near silent darkness, I might prevent the episode
and she would relax there.
More often than not, a full blown
Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome
episode will follow in 15 to 30 minutes.