cats skin

Question
I have two Ragdoll cats whose fur (skin) will ripple at times. Would you know what might causes this?

Answer
Hi Lina.  Can't say for sure I know what you mean, but one thing that comes to my mind is Rolling Skin Syndrome, so named because cats suffering the condition will "roll" their skin when having an episode.  The medical name for it is feline hyperesthesia.  

It's a relatively rare condition that causes epsidosed of extreme pain, typically along the back and tail.  Cats with hyperesthesia may have mild symptoms like twitching or rolling skin, or they may have severe symptoms including howling in pain, dashing through the house trying to escape the pain, biting at their back and tail, sometimes to the point of bleeding, some even zone out completely and seem to be in a trance.

Feline hyperesthesia is not well-understood.  It may be related to extreme sesnitivity to everyday items to the point that they that become toxic, such as hairsprays, cigarette smoke, plastic food bowls, food preservatives, etc.  In many cases, it's believed to be similar to a seizure disorder, and cats treated with seizure medications show marked improvement.

There may be a genetic component.  But as I mentioned, it's not a common disease, so unless these two are related, I'd say it's very unlikely this would be the case.

The only other thing I can imagine you might be referring to is a twitch that cats will have when something is tickling their back.  A light breeze or a bug or any soft touch that might give us goosebumps can be ticklish and cause a kitty to twitch their back.