Pinched nerve or something more serious?

I have a 14-year-old cat who, except for an increasing fondness for couches, seems to be reasonably healthy. The only chronic condition he's been identified with is a dust mite allergy, for which he's taking Atopica. But this morning I watched him have considerable trouble walking for about five seconds. He's had two blood panels done in the last six months, one for a checkup related to the Atopica and the other just prior to a dental cleaning. Both of those came back clean.

He seemed to have a lot of trouble getting his hind legs under control. He'd try to step forward, and his back end would fall over to the left. It was like he could not progress except by moving sideways. But after a little bit of this he straightened up and ran a straight line down the hallway. Within three minutes I saw him walking and jumping up and down off of things normally. 

I'd like to think this is just age-related stiffness or his leg went to sleep, but is that a reasonable guess or just rationalization? Thanks!

I just spoke to a vet tech at his regular office and she thinks his leg went to sleep, since he wasn't exhibiting any other symptoms.  

Is this the first time you have noticed this, or is it something that has been going on for a while? As long as it appears to be something that resolves itself rather quickly at the beginning of his walk, it just might be older age joints acting up. I would definitely call your vet and make sure they are aware of it, and ask their opinion. It definitely is not 'normal'. Maybe it could be a bad side effect to his medicine, or any million other things that can happen, the vet is the one who can help. Good luck and keep us posted!

I saw you talked to the vet tech, good! I wanted to tell you about some 'treats' that made my 13 year old much more lively, they were on Amazon and were called 'Joint supplements', they had chondroitin and other joint support in them and he started running around like a kitten again!  They worked for him any way!

Thanks, yes -- I called the vet and the tech said, given his rapid recovery, it was probably just his leg going to sleep. But I'll keep an eye on it and see if it keeps happening.