Cat having random spasms...

Please help...one of my cats, right around 2 years old, has been having random mood swings/spasms the past few months.

She will go from regular activities, such as bathing or cuddled up purring with me and then suddenly sit up in an alert position and take off really suddenly. This happens really quickly, at least several times per day, and I have to be careful when it happens so she doesn't accidentally scratch me.

I'd dismiss this as just being a kitten, but she didn't start this until after she stayed with my parents for a month and was horrified by a giant thunderstorm. I'm afraid there might be some neurological damage.

After she has an episode, which is real brief, she resumes whatever she was doing beforehand.

Any thoughts are welcome--thanks.

Is she actually having 'spasms', or more like tremors, like she is scared? It most likely is post traumatic stress syndrome and could take a long time, if ever to disappear. She was in a strange place at the time and she had a horrifying experience, it will take a LOT of calm reassurance to calm her down. When my cats were kittens I held them in my arms during storms and talked to them constantly. Now storms don't bother them a bit. Good luck, I wish you all the best!

Thanks Di and Bob. Yes, I suppose spasm isn't quite the right word. She just sits up alert really quick, her pupils dilate, then she darts off. It does sound like a post traumatic stress thing...I've just never heard of cats getting that and was concerned it may have been something more serious. It just happens so randomly and doesn't seem to be caused by anything in particular.