Cat with tremors

Question
I'm wondering of cats can get something equivalent to Parkinson's disease?  My almost 18-year-old female cat (1/2 Persian, 1/2 "Tomcat") has for the past few months had a sort of minor "shaking/twitching" going on with her head. It is not a constant thing, a few times a day (we work so are not with her all day) we see her shaking her head, it some times looks like tremors people with Parkinson's get.  She will sometimes scratch her head afterwards, making it look as though it was because of an itch, so we didn't give it much thought -- her trip to the vet in February for blood & urine work (she has a hyper-active thyroid & takes methamazole, she has bloodwork done every 6 mos) showed she is in excellent health (other than the thyroid & arthritis), and her ears are always clean -- no mites.  It is happening more often now (almost daily we see her doing this), so I spoke with her doctor last night and we are going to stop the methamazole for a few days to see if it has anything to do with the medication (she's been on it for almost 2 years now).  I should mention that I have complete trust and faith in her doctor, but while I wait to hear more from her I wanted to try to get more info, if possible.  I did some searches for feline tremors and such on the internet and came up with nothing, other than a few reviews for the musical "Cats".  Her methamazole dosage is: 2.5 mg (1/2 tablet) every morning with her Cosaquin (glucosamine) and every other day she gets another 1/2 methamazole tablet in the evening (I dissolve the tablet in a little water and mix it with a little juice from water-packed chunk-light tuna rather than forcing her to take a pill).  She is mostly an indoor cat, going outside for maybe 1/2 hour when we are home and can keep an eye on her.  She doesn't chew on any indoor plants (eats the occasional grass when she's outside), eats a healthy diet (a mix of Purina ProPlan Senior & Hairball Control), urine & stool are normal. The one change that does concern me, though, is her new habit:  she started drinking water out of our cups/glasses when we leave them on the desk and seems to prefer this to her glass water bowl -- I think maybe the height might be better for her arthritis, she doesn't have to bend as far, so we got her a plastic (won't break if knocked over) margarita "glass" with a tall stem. We wash it every day and give her fresh water 2-3 times a day, but my concern now is that perhaps something is leaching into the water from the plastic "glass" -- I know this type of plastic is made for drinking from, but I'm wondering if having the water in it constantly makes a difference.  Also, perhaps the shaking/twitching could be related somehow to seizures?  Just some random thoughts --sorry!

Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.

Mary Smith

Answer
Hi there!

It could be related to the tapazole or her age. ask your vet to see a neurologist if this persists and they don't think its the meds. Tapazole can have side effects.

As far as the water goes, most cats LOVE fresh water from other spots other than the bowl :)