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Old December 11th, 2009, 09:21 PM
paddlerinpa paddlerinpa is offline
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Cat leg spasms???

Hi! this is my first post to this forum. I have grown up with animals all of my 50 years and feel like I have seen alot, helped alot and understand a lot about cats & dogs plus many farm animals.
A year ago I adopted a feral kitten through a local group to keep my 5 year old Golden Retriever company. We had lost 2 canine friends that year, but, my job was not going to allow me to adopt another dog & my daughter adopted her own, who spends a great deal of time with me.
Malia is a tuxedo who was brought in from the wild. She is petite in stature, however, the most loving, adventurous & dog friendly cat I have ever known!
In the past few months I have noticed that she seems to have spasms in her back legs and one from leg. Sort of reminds me of a rabbit "thumping." The back legs extend back and shake that when she is near a wall make a thumping....ththththththth sound, both legs do this then the front left and her head shakes as though she just tasted something sour!
Sorry, just do not know a better way to explain! At first I thought she was just doing it but I am wondering if it is a sort of epileptic attack.
Any thoughts? Any one that has seen that before? I have had so many cats and have never witnessed something like this.
Thanks in advance! Christine
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Old December 12th, 2009, 01:09 AM
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Welcome to pets.ca Christine

Sorry to hear about Malia. :sad: There are many things that could be causing this and I think your best bet would be to take her to the vet for a proper diagnosis. Good luck and please keep us updated.
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Old December 12th, 2009, 11:07 AM
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Welcome to the board, paddlerinpa! Good luck with your kitty!
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Old December 12th, 2009, 11:22 AM
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I don't know what would cause this, but if it becomes necessary to take Malia to the vet, is there any way you could get a vidoe of her doing this? you can't guarantee she will do it on demand and it might be eaasier to show than explain.
On a happier note, welcome to the board, and since the other members seem to be neglecting their duties: Pleeease post pictures of your animals so we can admire them for you?
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Old December 13th, 2009, 03:19 PM
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RUSTYcat RUSTYcat is offline
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A warm welcome to pets.ca, Christine!

Just so that you know, there's a specific cat health area right here http://www.pets.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=75

If this began happening with one of mine, I'd be speaking with my Vet and asking that, if she has no personal experience with this, that she "ask around" - whether that be with a specialist or through her network of contacts...a video would certainly help. I would not want to start a "guessing game" or any series of diagnostics at the outset.

I'd also be monitoring things closely for any changes in frequency/intensity etc.

Keep us posted.
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Old December 13th, 2009, 05:06 PM
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my cat does his. not the head thing tho. sometimes he leg twitches. since i have the same think (tiwtching leg) from time to time i didn't think much of it. mentioned it to the internist who didn't know either. if you are concerned go for full bloodwork to rule out anything
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Old December 14th, 2009, 05:34 PM
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I'm not a vet or vet tech, but your description does sound like the beginning of epilepsy because of the head shake with the back leg movement. Here's a link:
http://www.petplace.com/cats/idiopat...ats/page1.aspx

Sometimes cat do this "thumping thing" with their back feet to shake off some litter that may be stuck in between their toes. Malia should be taken to a vet for an evaluation. If you could take a video of her during one of her episodes to show the vet it would be helpful.

Hope a vet can give you an answer to Malia's behaviour.
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Old October 29th, 2012, 04:26 PM
bingocakes bingocakes is offline
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Thumping cats

So I was surfing for a reason or similar thing that my cat does, and this is the closest I came. I know what it is when they are kicking litter or fleas or something they stepped in off their feet. This just isn't the same thing. My cat Rebe is the only one of six that does this strange thumping. I call it wall thumping because she literally backs up to a wall or door or cupboard door and thumps her back foot as fast as she can against it. I'm really glad she isn't the only one doing it. I was thinking she does it to ward off other cats or maybe she hears or smells something and is warning whatever it is that this is her domain. These are the best explanations I can come up with. If I can catch it on video I will post it. She is also the kind of cat that gets into everything and anything especially when she knows she's not supposed to. Haha. She is very intelligent and even pulls her own pull string toys to make them go. I do have that one on video. She dumps the toy basket just to find the one she wants to play with. So I think it's some form of communication (wall thumping) that she's doing, I just haven't figured out what she's saying yet.
Cat lover forever!
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Old October 29th, 2012, 08:07 PM
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I recently posted something about cat spasms as well. In my cat's case it's different though however I think one of the advices given to me would be good for you too and that is to try to catch it on video so your vet can see it.
I know it's hard but if you could that would help.
Blood work could help a lot too to discard a number of things. (including seizures)
Best of luck and good vibes for you and Malia she sounds like a wonderful little lady.

P.S. bingocake's kitty sounds so cute and awesome.
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Old July 18th, 2013, 07:45 AM
daveygreen daveygreen is offline
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I have a small oriental SH female and she thumps alll the time! On her toys and particularly on my feet. She primarily does it while standing and its a quick hard thump usually 4-5 beats or more. This breeds is known for it's intelligence and I think this is her way of showing ownership and dominance. She owns her toys and I'm also hers!
Dave
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Old July 18th, 2013, 04:22 PM
pattymac pattymac is offline
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My neighbours cat used to that when he wanted in from outside. He'd back up to the screen door and start knocking with his hind leg. I saw a video on youtube with some Siamese cats doing the same thing when they wanted inside. Smart kitties.
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Old September 21st, 2014, 09:51 AM
paddlerinpa paddlerinpa is offline
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Smile Malia, the thumping cat!

We'll here I am several years later having had many laughs with my very demanding little tuxedo cat, Malia, aka.... Thumper!
As it turns out, she is a very healthy, very personable cat that let's you know when she wants something or simply wants attention! This thumping is especially 'aggressive' on the weekends when the alarm does not go off and we actually stay in bed past 5:30am! She moves between the door, the dresser, then the bed....thumping away like a rabbit thumps.
One day I was on the phone when I got home and had not even acknowledged her yet and she thumped my leg after I paid mno attention to all of her pounding around the kitchen.
Not sure how she learned it but it is part of her sweet personality and I swear she does it to make us laugh sometimes!
She is now 6 years old, healthy, happy and when she is not thumping like a rabbit she think she is a dog and pick on her Golden retriever brother, Brody!
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Old September 21st, 2014, 11:33 AM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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Ha! That's so funny, paddlerinpa! I'm glad it turned out to be just a bid for attention! Malia's a real character! Also, she's a doll....and so is her golden, Brody!
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