Cats and humans suffer from similar forms of epilepsy

Epilepsy arises when the brain is temporarily swamped by uncoordinated signals from nerve cells.  Research at the Vetmeduni Vienna has now uncovered a cause of a particular type of epilepsy in cats.  Surprisingly, an incorrectly channelled immune response seems to be responsible for the condition, which closely resembles a form of epilepsy in humans.  The work is published in the current issue of the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine.