muscle spasm

Question
My Zeus is a little over one year old. A few days ago we notice he is
experiencing some muscle spasm on his left hind leg. It was bothering him,
because he was crying on and off for an hour. We decided to take him to the
emergency clinic. At the clinic, the vet could not find anything wrong with
him. The vet gave us pills for muscle inflamation. Have you experience
anything like that with one of your cats?

Answer
Hello,
I actually experienced something like this with one of my pug dogs about a week ago. Although not the same as one of my cats, I think it may be the same thing.

About a week ago, we had let our dogs outside for their last bathroom break before bed, as they are crate trained in sleep inside cages (pugs are very immature). When we brought them back in, the oldest one ran over towards the television and sat down. When we tried to pick him up, he refused to move and cried, and it was unlike anything we had seen him do before. His his right hind leg spasmed a bit and he seemed very sensitive there. He cried for about another 5 minutes before we decided to bring him to the emergency clinic as well. They took x-rays, did a whole physical, and checked his legs. They said there was nothing detectably wrong, and he had calmed down in the hour since it happened, so we brought him home. X-rays turned out fine, but the vet prescribed muscle relaxers for our dog. The next few days he stayed very calm, didn't run around too much, but now he is up and running just fine. The vet figures is was a minor sprain that caused the whole episode.

I can't guarantee it was the same thing for your cat Zeus, but it sounds quite similar. Because the emergency clinic didn't find anything wrong, the best thing to do is simply to keep an eye on Zeus, and if the symptoms reoccur, bring him back to the vet. If it acts up again, he will probably undergo another examination, and the veterinarian may want MRIs or some other imaging done, but this would likely require anesthesia as animals can't really sit still.

For now, it sounds like Zeus may have injured himself while jumping or playing, much like my pug. He should recover soon if that is the case, but if not, bring him back to the vet and push for more extensive testing. I wish you and Zeus the best.