Cat Tremors/Muscle Spasms

Question
My 11 year old male cat has been experiencing what appears to be tremors or muscle spasms of his right front and back legs. They last about 15-30 seconds, he tries to walk and ends up walking in circles or leaning to his right side. After the spasms subside he is fine with no lingering after effects. We have seen these symptoms 3 different times in the past week. Any thoughts of the cause?

Answer
Hi Chris.  I think there could be a good possibility your kitty may be having seizures.  We tend to think of seizures as a state of collapse wherein the cat goes unconscious, the entire body convulses and the mouth foams.  This is not extremely common in cats.  Instead, we often see "complex partial seizures".  In these cases, a cat can be going about a normal behavior, but it will be altered in some way - walking may turn into staggering, circling or paddling.  Cats may maintain a degree of consciousness during these seizures.  Sometimes the cat becomes hungry afterwards, or sleepy.

But there are some things that could also be causing him muscle cramps.  Low calcium and low potassium can both cause muscle spasms, and these may be off due to dehydration or for other reasons.  Kidney problems can cause a loss of potassium and calcium on a number of levels.  Overactive thyroid and diabetes can also cause the loss of these electrolytes because they cause the cat to urinate so much that they lead to dehydration.  Anemia will also lead to muscle cramps, and this can be caused by kidney failure as well.  Diseases like feline leukemia and feline AIDS, any sort of cancer, an autoimmune disease, and parasites (hookworms, fleas, and microscopic blood parasites) may also have to be considered if the red blood cell count were found to be especially low.

Finally, some cats end up with luxating patellas - kneecaps that slide out of place in their back legs.  The kitty will become very stiff and uncomfortable when he tries to move.  The kneecaps usually slide back into place once the kitty tries to walk for a couple of minutes.  But since cats don't have kneecaps in their front legs, it doesn't explain why one of his front legs would be bothering him unless he's got some arthritis up there.

Time to see the vet!  These are a few ideas of things my own cats have experienced, but it sounds like something pretty mysterious is going on.  To me it sounds like more than just quirky behavior and definitely warrants a vet visit.