Sheesh, 4 cats. I'd have to quit work and never leave the house just to make sure they were OK!!
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Cat has temporary weakness in back legs and falls twice this week - any ideas?
- Thread starter obamy
- Start Date
When we had a cat who tended to roll off the bed, we surrounded the bed with pillows -- not expensive, just bed pillows from the Dollar Store -- to 'catch' him. Later, for other reasons we got rid of the bed frame and springs and put the mattress on the floor. This worked better than the pillows since pillows often became toys and were moved.
The original incidents from 10 years ago could have been from some injury that irritated/damaged nerves, that over time healed. Now that he is older, the nerve condition could rear it's ugly head just because he IS older. I don't know if an x-ray would be able to detect a nerve issue, but might show something else potentially related? X-rays can be done without sedation, and are not as expensive as an MRI. Just a thought.
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My cat Faye has luxating patellas in her back two legs, and while she was diagnosed young most animals don’t display early signs, and it can be rougher if they gain weight or with weather changes. It’s not super common in cats but definitely do what you can. I give her glucosamine and fish oil, along with plenty of water and good food per my vets reccomendation and do weekly swimming with a lifejacket to strengthen her legs. Get it checked out because it could be that, diabetes or heart problems which I’ve seen listed above.
When I lived in Cali, my cat would jump up on the bed and her back legs would start twitching. I stopped using tap water in her water bowl and these episodes stopped.
Now I am home in Denver and she has started the back legs freezing temporarily for a very brief time and then moving stiffly and then being ok. I don't remember any injuries, but lots of good advice here as she did try scratching her ears (which I clean for her) and then the freeze. I am also going to try bottled water instead of the filtered water I use (no straight tap water). But then, she is 24 years young and still spry.
Now I am home in Denver and she has started the back legs freezing temporarily for a very brief time and then moving stiffly and then being ok. I don't remember any injuries, but lots of good advice here as she did try scratching her ears (which I clean for her) and then the freeze. I am also going to try bottled water instead of the filtered water I use (no straight tap water). But then, she is 24 years young and still spry.
I know this is an old post but i thought i would reply in case someone finds the thread (like i just did).
If you don't want to read a lot skip to the summary at the end.
My cat is a former stray and has always squatted rather than sat. By squatted I mean the position a cat takes to eat or drink. He does this for hours on end and as part of my job is massage therapy i've always tried to massage his legs, which does help loosen up his muscles which i know have always bothered him (from the squatting). But he still squatted and the issue would return. Long story short he now trusts me enough to massage him in other areas and i discovered his shoulder blade area (rhomboids and trapezius in humans) is extremely tight, not surprisingly given all the squatting, so the last few months I've been massaging there.
A few weeks ago he had his first episode of temporary weakness in his legs and he's just had his third today. It comes on after he's been sleeping and then squats to eat, walks away and things don't seem to work for about 20 seconds. He doesn't seem in pain and then he's fine and goes trotting off with his tail up. If he was one of my human clients I would think it's a muscular issue. Years of extremely tight muscles loosening up from massage can do strange things, like spasm or cramp and impinge nerves, which causes a temporary paralysis. Anyone who's ever had sciatica (like me) will confirm that do the wrong thing and a tight muscle can compress the sciatic nerve and cause your leg to just give way. Sometimes it's agony and sometimes totally painless. The fact that this started with my cat soon after he's let me massage his shoulders isn't a coincidence, but if he let's me carry on treating him i'm confident this will resolve in a few weeks at most. My other cat stopped doing much and didn't like being stroked, I discovered very tight back muscles (she hates massage) and did a couple minutes a day whether she liked it or not. Now she races around the house and up and down stairs like a kitten (she's 12)
SUMMARY: the reason the vets can't find anything wrong and cats are living for years with it is because it could be just muscular. Your cat could just have a "bad back" and every so often the wrong move causes a spasm. That's why a few seconds or minutes later, once the muscle relaxes, your cat is back to normal. This can be resolved with massage. You can do it yourself a couple of minutes a day. If anyone wants to know how leave a comment and I'll do my best to help. Remember though, I'm a human physio not an animal physio just offering free advice based what worked for my cats. Also, it goes without saying get the vet to do bloods etc as the muscle spasms can be exacerbated by low electrolyte (salt) levels, which would show on the results.
If you don't want to read a lot skip to the summary at the end.
My cat is a former stray and has always squatted rather than sat. By squatted I mean the position a cat takes to eat or drink. He does this for hours on end and as part of my job is massage therapy i've always tried to massage his legs, which does help loosen up his muscles which i know have always bothered him (from the squatting). But he still squatted and the issue would return. Long story short he now trusts me enough to massage him in other areas and i discovered his shoulder blade area (rhomboids and trapezius in humans) is extremely tight, not surprisingly given all the squatting, so the last few months I've been massaging there.
A few weeks ago he had his first episode of temporary weakness in his legs and he's just had his third today. It comes on after he's been sleeping and then squats to eat, walks away and things don't seem to work for about 20 seconds. He doesn't seem in pain and then he's fine and goes trotting off with his tail up. If he was one of my human clients I would think it's a muscular issue. Years of extremely tight muscles loosening up from massage can do strange things, like spasm or cramp and impinge nerves, which causes a temporary paralysis. Anyone who's ever had sciatica (like me) will confirm that do the wrong thing and a tight muscle can compress the sciatic nerve and cause your leg to just give way. Sometimes it's agony and sometimes totally painless. The fact that this started with my cat soon after he's let me massage his shoulders isn't a coincidence, but if he let's me carry on treating him i'm confident this will resolve in a few weeks at most. My other cat stopped doing much and didn't like being stroked, I discovered very tight back muscles (she hates massage) and did a couple minutes a day whether she liked it or not. Now she races around the house and up and down stairs like a kitten (she's 12)
SUMMARY: the reason the vets can't find anything wrong and cats are living for years with it is because it could be just muscular. Your cat could just have a "bad back" and every so often the wrong move causes a spasm. That's why a few seconds or minutes later, once the muscle relaxes, your cat is back to normal. This can be resolved with massage. You can do it yourself a couple of minutes a day. If anyone wants to know how leave a comment and I'll do my best to help. Remember though, I'm a human physio not an animal physio just offering free advice based what worked for my cats. Also, it goes without saying get the vet to do bloods etc as the muscle spasms can be exacerbated by low electrolyte (salt) levels, which would show on the results.
If it only happened a few times, went away, then came back 10 years later I personally doubt it's seizures. They don't tend to disappear for a decade. More likely he had an impinged nerve from tight muscles or maybe an injury which healed itself, then 10 years later he's aggravated it or his muscles are tight again, which given his age isn't surprising. I've left a post on this thread about my experiences. Give your cat a massage and you'll probably find lots of very tight muscles, especially on his back, which is where the impingement is most likely to be
