Muscle twitching as a symptom?

[Librarianista]

Sometimes while Chloe is in my lap or laying next to me, I will feel her front legs/shoulders or her head twitching. She’s also usually purring while this is happening. She doesn’t flinch away or anything when I pet her twitching areas, but I’m not sure if this is a symptom of something diabetes-related. The twitching kind of reminds me of horses’ skin reacting to flies.

She was just doing it a few minutes ago. BG has been pretty stable all day (+5 was about 20 mins ago) and I’ve not noticed anything else out of the ordinary.

 

[Librarianista]

bumping up

 

[tiffmaxee]

Both Max and Tiffany did that. I don’t think its fd related. I never got an answer but thought maybe kidney related in Tiffany’s case or due to low potassium.

 

[Katsallday]

bumping up

Could be a general skin sensitivity to being touched. A few of my cats do it, especially the true ferals I domesticated.

 

[Katsallday]

https://imgur.com/a/dapgYkD

Does it look like this?

 

[Librarianista]

https://imgur.com/a/dapgYkD

Does it look like this?

No, it doesn't look like that. It's more of a tremble or a tremor. There's also an occasional head twitch. It doesn't matter if I'm touching her. It's not constant. The head twitch makes me wonder if it's neuropathy. So I started her on B12 to see if that clears anything up.

 

[Katsallday]

No, it doesn't look like that. It's more of a tremble or a tremor. There's also an occasional head twitch. It doesn't matter if I'm touching her. It's not constant. The head twitch makes me wonder if it's neuropathy. So I started her on B12 to see if that clears anything up.

Do you have a recent blood electrolyte level?

 

[Librarianista]

Do you have a recent blood electrolyte level?

No, any tests I have are on her spreadsheet.

Since another member mentioned a similar issue with her cat improving on B12 on another thread, I'm going to start there.

 

[FarmKitty]

My cat also has this (both in the head and front legs). She was unregulated diabetic when I took her in a year ago, so I can't say if she had this before that or not.

I believe that she did it more when she was unregulated. Sometimes she would be purring a lot and doing the head twitches a bit more often, which kinda worried me since I was thinking it was a sign of a hypo, but her BG levels were normal.

I talked to a couple of vets about it. My current vet said that she just doesn't have an answer as to why she is doing it, or why it would get better when her BG numbers were lower. The only other thing I remember is that she mentioned that if it was happening in the eyes then that could be a sign that they are mini seizures. She said I could try Gabapentin and see if it helps (but I never tried it).

Have you talked to your vet about it? If no, then try to get a few videos of it happening beforehand and take them in.

 

[Librarianista]

My cat also has this (both in the head and front legs). She was unregulated diabetic when I took her in a year ago, so I can't say if she had this before that or not.

I believe that she did it more when she was unregulated. Sometimes she would be purring a lot and doing the head twitches a bit more often, which kinda worried me since I was thinking it was a sign of a hypo, but her BG levels were normal.

I talked to a couple of vets about it. My current vet said that she just doesn't have an answer as to why she is doing it, or why it would get better when her BG numbers were lower. The only other thing I remember is that she mentioned that if it was happening in the eyes then that could be a sign that they are mini seizures. She said I could try Gabapentin and see if it helps (but I never tried it).

Have you talked to your vet about it? If no, then try to get a few videos of it happening beforehand and take them in.

No, I haven't yet talked to my vet about it. I will try to get video footage, but I usually don't see the body twitching happening. I feel it. The head twitch is noticeable.

I haven't noticed anything with the eyes, so that's a good pointer to know. She did not seem to have any other symptoms of seizing, so I didn't think it was that. But I'm not an expert either.

 

[Katsallday]

No, any tests I have are on her spreadsheet.

Since another member mentioned a similar issue with her cat improving on B12 on another thread, I'm going to start there.

I personally struggle with hypokalemia (low potassium) and have to get blood tests to check my levels if my muscle spasms are too bad. It is life threatening if the levels are too low. If you can get that test it could help to see if an electrolyte imbalance is causing the issue. If so, a digestive issue can cause electrolytes to be off. In my case we assume IBD, I'm sure a similar issue can happen in cats.