Weak Rear Legs

I don't really know how to explain it. Lears seems fine, I mean he's walking, eating, jumping & purring like normal, but I've noticed that his rear legs, especially his right rear leg seem kinda weak or not in total control.

If he runs & turns a corner his legs will slip out from under him. Also when he walks he kinda swings his right rear leg out a little bit. It looks to me like if he can't control it very well, it kinda gets away form him. I really don't know how else to explain it.

I'm a little worried about him, but as my wife said, if there is something Neurological wrong with him then there really is nothing we can do. He doesn't seem to be in any pain

I mean I don't care having a gimpy cat, I love that little guy either way but I just wonder if it is something I should REALLY be worried about.

Is this a recent thing? Has he always been that way?

Remember, cats ailments can be very tricky to detect since they are very stoic. Also, cats purr when they are in pain as well as when they are happy, it's a way of calming themselves down and comforting themselves. Look to see if he purrs more than normal while walking or whatnot. You have to keep a close watch on all of his habits, as a change in any of them could be a sign that he is actually in pain.

How old is your cat? Could it be Luxating Patella?

Luna is 7 months old now, we found out she has Luxating Patella last month. She was kinda limping on her back paws. We took her to the vet. Luxating Patella is what the vet said, and she said it had to do with the way Luna is growing. It can heal up on it's own. Or they can do surgery. Maybe that's what your cat has?

You should take him to the vet anyway, just to make sure nothing is broken, or sprained.

Lears is about 7-8 months old.


I found him & his brother back in June & the vet said they were about 7 weeks old at that time.

Originally Posted by c1atsite

Is this a recent thing? Has he always been that way?

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nah, I think it's a pretty recent thing. He was VERY active when he was younger.

Then about a little over a month ago he started acting weird. We thought that he may have had a UTI, since he was peeing on my slassic car cover in the garage & he would hide under one of the beds. He also wouldn't jump up on things.

We took him to a new vet & he said that no, he didn't have a UTI, but that the injury was Lumbar & put him on some anit-inflamatories. He got better, stopped peeing & hiding, but since I've noticed his weird little walk. He's also more careful when he jumps up on the couch & stuff like that.

It's also kinda like he loses his balance, but only in his rear legs. I find it really hard to describe.

Has Lears gone through a growth spurt lately? It could be Luxating Patella like My4LLMA said. It could also be the kitten growing too fast for its joints to keep up. Sometimes complications lead to them having this problem for life, but mostly it goes away as the kittens muscles and tendons grow to accomodate his longer bones.

Originally Posted by rad65

Has Lears gone through a growth spurt lately? It could be Luxating Patella like My4LLMA said. It could also be the kitten growing too fast for its joints to keep up. Sometimes complications lead to them having this problem for life, but mostly it goes away as the kittens muscles and tendons grow to accomodate his longer bones.

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yeah, he's grown, but he's not big. Actually has pretty runty, his brother is MUCH bigger. Lears is kinda long & lanky, but he's always been like that since I found him. That's why he's named Lears: he was all Legs & Ears when I found him, lol.


I'm hoping it's just something like you said, again I don't even really care if he's kinda gimpy forever, I'm just hoping that it's not something life threatening.


We've also noticed that his whiskers on that side of his face are constantly twiching. IDK if that matters or is related.

It's neurological. The twitch in his face & ear is related. We're going to take him to a specialist.

I'm relieved to read that you're taking him to a specialist - here's hoping that they find something and that Something is not serious!