I Think My Kitten Has Cerebellar Hypoplasia
 

I have a 6-week old foster kitten. He is from a litter of four, with two
dying at birth, and one dying about one day old. He is the sole survivor.

I've been increasingly worried about his motor skills. At 4-5 weeks I
expected to see him grow stronger, and by week 6, stable on his feet.
Instead, he seems to have plateaued at around week 4 - falls over all
the time, can't coordinate. Can't really use the litter box, because he
cannot hold himself up. He's started trembling, especially after eating.
At first I thought he was straining to make a bowel movement, but after
researching I think it is another symptom of Cerebellar Hyperplasia. I
viewed a few videos on youTube of cats with this disorder, and I am
pretty sure now it is what he has.

So - what do others here know about the disorder? I've googled around,
and see that cats can live a long, pain-free life with the disorder. I
am fostering him from our shelter, so IDK if they'll want to put him
down. I'm trying to get as much info I can right now to determine if I
should fight to keep him alive, get him adopted, or if I should let him
be put down (he belongs to the shelter, not to me).

Thanks in advance.

I Think My Kitten Has Cerebellar Hypoplasia
 

Have you taken him to a vet That would be my first move.
"Poe" wrote in message
...


I have a 6-week old foster kitten. He is from a litter of four, with two
dying at birth, and one dying about one day old. He is the sole survivor.

I've been increasingly worried about his motor skills. At 4-5 weeks I
expected to see him grow stronger, and by week 6, stable on his feet.
Instead, he seems to have plateaued at around week 4 - falls over all the
time, can't coordinate. Can't really use the litter box, because he cannot
hold himself up. He's started trembling, especially after eating. At first
I thought he was straining to make a bowel movement, but after researching
I think it is another symptom of Cerebellar Hyperplasia. I viewed a few
videos on youTube of cats with this disorder, and I am pretty sure now it
is what he has.

So - what do others here know about the disorder? I've googled around, and
see that cats can live a long, pain-free life with the disorder. I am
fostering him from our shelter, so IDK if they'll want to put him down.
I'm trying to get as much info I can right now to determine if I should
fight to keep him alive, get him adopted, or if I should let him be put
down (he belongs to the shelter, not to me).

Thanks in advance.

I Think My Kitten Has Cerebellar Hypoplasia
 

Granby wrote:
Have you taken him to a vet That would be my first move.


Since he belongs to the shelter, I need to go thru them. I talked with
them today, and was told to wait for a call back. I will eventually end
up bringing the little guy into the shelter vet tech. I expect that will
happen in the next few days. I expect this diagnosis when I do, so I
wanted to prepare for it.



"Poe" wrote in message
...

I have a 6-week old foster kitten. He is from a litter of four, with two
dying at birth, and one dying about one day old. He is the sole survivor.

I've been increasingly worried about his motor skills. At 4-5 weeks I
expected to see him grow stronger, and by week 6, stable on his feet.
Instead, he seems to have plateaued at around week 4 - falls over all the
time, can't coordinate. Can't really use the litter box, because he cannot
hold himself up. He's started trembling, especially after eating. At first
I thought he was straining to make a bowel movement, but after researching
I think it is another symptom of Cerebellar Hyperplasia. I viewed a few
videos on youTube of cats with this disorder, and I am pretty sure now it
is what he has.

So - what do others here know about the disorder? I've googled around, and
see that cats can live a long, pain-free life with the disorder. I am
fostering him from our shelter, so IDK if they'll want to put him down.
I'm trying to get as much info I can right now to determine if I should
fight to keep him alive, get him adopted, or if I should let him be put
down (he belongs to the shelter, not to me).

Thanks in advance.

I Think My Kitten Has Cerebellar Hypoplasia
 

"Poe" wrote in message
...


I have a 6-week old foster kitten. He is from a litter of four, with two
dying at birth, and one dying about one day old. He is the sole survivor.

I've been increasingly worried about his motor skills. At 4-5 weeks I
expected to see him grow stronger, and by week 6, stable on his feet.
Instead, he seems to have plateaued at around week 4 - falls over all
the time, can't coordinate. Can't really use the litter box, because he
cannot hold himself up. He's started trembling, especially after eating.
At first I thought he was straining to make a bowel movement, but after
researching I think it is another symptom of Cerebellar Hyperplasia. I
viewed a few videos on youTube of cats with this disorder, and I am
pretty sure now it is what he has.

So - what do others here know about the disorder? I've googled around,
and see that cats can live a long, pain-free life with the disorder. I
am fostering him from our shelter, so IDK if they'll want to put him
down. I'm trying to get as much info I can right now to determine if I
should fight to keep him alive, get him adopted, or if I should let him
be put down (he belongs to the shelter, not to me).

Thanks in advance.

If your shelter even thinks about killing kittens with cerebellar
hyperplasia, you're with the wrong shelter. Almost all the kittens I've seen
with CH learn to compensate and live long and happy lives. They grow
stronger and learn to adapt more and more with each passing day. If your
shelter wants to kill him, I'd keep him and continue fostering him on my own
until he's 10-12 weeks. Then I'd bring him in on adoption days. You just
have to wait for the right person to see him- they're out there- you just
have to be patient.

Best of luck,

Phil

I Think My Kitten Has Cerebellar Hypoplasia
 

Phil P. wrote:
"Poe" wrote in message
...

I have a 6-week old foster kitten. He is from a litter of four, with two
dying at birth, and one dying about one day old. He is the sole survivor.

I've been increasingly worried about his motor skills. At 4-5 weeks I
expected to see him grow stronger, and by week 6, stable on his feet.
Instead, he seems to have plateaued at around week 4 - falls over all
the time, can't coordinate. Can't really use the litter box, because he
cannot hold himself up. He's started trembling, especially after eating.
At first I thought he was straining to make a bowel movement, but after
researching I think it is another symptom of Cerebellar Hyperplasia. I
viewed a few videos on youTube of cats with this disorder, and I am
pretty sure now it is what he has.

So - what do others here know about the disorder? I've googled around,
and see that cats can live a long, pain-free life with the disorder. I
am fostering him from our shelter, so IDK if they'll want to put him
down. I'm trying to get as much info I can right now to determine if I
should fight to keep him alive, get him adopted, or if I should let him
be put down (he belongs to the shelter, not to me).

Thanks in advance.

If your shelter even thinks about killing kittens with cerebellar
hyperplasia, you're with the wrong shelter. Almost all the kittens I've seen
with CH learn to compensate and live long and happy lives. They grow
stronger and learn to adapt more and more with each passing day. If your
shelter wants to kill him, I'd keep him and continue fostering him on my own
until he's 10-12 weeks. Then I'd bring him in on adoption days. You just
have to wait for the right person to see him- they're out there- you just
have to be patient.

Best of luck,

Phil



Thanks Phil. This is the sort of information or opinion I was looking
for - potential quality of life for the little guy, and people's
experiences (I am also doing a lot of googling).

I am not sure the shelter will suggest putting him down. It's generally
a "no kill" shelter, but I've never fostered a disabled kitten before. I
actually have no idea how they'll respond, but the foster coordinator
sounded alarmed when I described the situation yesterday, so I got to
thinking they may react negatively. I was worried in particular about
his inability to use the litter box - that would really hurt his chances
going forward. I am glad to hear he'll likely learn to compensate over time.

I do wonder now what happened to the mother during gestation. The
shelter said when she came in she was sickly and her fur was all patchy.
They thought she had ringworm, but she tested negative. I wonder if she
was poisoned or something. It was odd that 3 out of 4 kittens died, 2 of
them being stillborn.

Thanks again for your feedback!

I Think My Kitten Has Cerebellar Hypoplasia
 

Any chance this could be panleukopenia?

W

"Poe" wrote in message
...


I have a 6-week old foster kitten. He is from a litter of four, with two
dying at birth, and one dying about one day old. He is the sole survivor.

I've been increasingly worried about his motor skills. At 4-5 weeks I
expected to see him grow stronger, and by week 6, stable on his feet.
Instead, he seems to have plateaued at around week 4 - falls over all the
time, can't coordinate. Can't really use the litter box, because he cannot
hold himself up. He's started trembling, especially after eating. At first
I thought he was straining to make a bowel movement, but after researching
I think it is another symptom of Cerebellar Hyperplasia. I viewed a few
videos on youTube of cats with this disorder, and I am pretty sure now it
is what he has.

So - what do others here know about the disorder? I've googled around, and
see that cats can live a long, pain-free life with the disorder. I am
fostering him from our shelter, so IDK if they'll want to put him down.
I'm trying to get as much info I can right now to determine if I should
fight to keep him alive, get him adopted, or if I should let him be put
down (he belongs to the shelter, not to me).

Thanks in advance.

I Think My Kitten Has Cerebellar Hypoplasia
 

"Wendy" wrote in message
...
Any chance this could be panleukopenia?


CH is almost always caused by parvovirus infection (the virus that causes
panleukopenia) during pregnancy. My guess is the kitten became infected
during the middle third of gestation or immediately after birth- any earlier
than that and the kitten probably would have been born dead or the fetus
would have been resorbed.

P.

I Think My Kitten Has Cerebellar Hypoplasia
 

"Poe" wrote in message
...
Phil P. wrote:
"Poe" wrote in message
...

I have a 6-week old foster kitten. He is from a litter of four, with
two
dying at birth, and one dying about one day old. He is the sole
survivor.

I've been increasingly worried about his motor skills. At 4-5 weeks I
expected to see him grow stronger, and by week 6, stable on his feet.
Instead, he seems to have plateaued at around week 4 - falls over all
the time, can't coordinate. Can't really use the litter box, because he
cannot hold himself up. He's started trembling, especially after
eating.
At first I thought he was straining to make a bowel movement, but after
researching I think it is another symptom of Cerebellar Hyperplasia. I
viewed a few videos on youTube of cats with this disorder, and I am
pretty sure now it is what he has.

So - what do others here know about the disorder? I've googled around,
and see that cats can live a long, pain-free life with the disorder. I
am fostering him from our shelter, so IDK if they'll want to put him
down. I'm trying to get as much info I can right now to determine if I
should fight to keep him alive, get him adopted, or if I should let him
be put down (he belongs to the shelter, not to me).

Thanks in advance.

If your shelter even thinks about killing kittens with cerebellar
hyperplasia, you're with the wrong shelter. Almost all the kittens I've
seen
with CH learn to compensate and live long and happy lives. They grow
stronger and learn to adapt more and more with each passing day. If your
shelter wants to kill him, I'd keep him and continue fostering him on my
own
until he's 10-12 weeks. Then I'd bring him in on adoption days. You just
have to wait for the right person to see him- they're out there- you
just
have to be patient.

Best of luck,

Phil



Thanks Phil. This is the sort of information or opinion I was looking
for - potential quality of life for the little guy, and people's
experiences (I am also doing a lot of googling).

I am not sure the shelter will suggest putting him down. It's generally
a "no kill" shelter, but I've never fostered a disabled kitten before. I
actually have no idea how they'll respond, but the foster coordinator
sounded alarmed when I described the situation yesterday, so I got to
thinking they may react negatively. I was worried in particular about
his inability to use the litter box - that would really hurt his chances
going forward. I am glad to hear he'll likely learn to compensate over
time.

The people who adopt cats with special needs are very special themselves.
They're usually more than willing to work with what ever problems the cat
has. In fact, there are people who will only adopt cats with special needs.
They're out there-- You just have to get the cat as much exposure as you
possibly can. The more serious the situation the more these special people
want to help them. Remember Scarlet - the cat that was severely burned
rescuing her kittens from a burning building in Brooklyn a few years ago?
*8,000* people called about adopting her! So, keep the faith!



I do wonder now what happened to the mother during gestation. The
shelter said when she came in she was sickly and her fur was all patchy.
They thought she had ringworm, but she tested negative. I wonder if she
was poisoned or something. It was odd that 3 out of 4 kittens died, 2 of
them being stillborn.

Sounds like she was infected with parvovirus (the virus that causes feline
panleukopenia) while she was pregnant and the kittens were infected in
utero. The virus needs rapidly dividing cells- such as the cells in the
cerebellum - to replicate. That's why kittens infected in utero are born
with cerebellar hypoplasia Adult cats rarely become infected with FP- when
they do, its almost always subclinical unless their immune system is
weakened. How is the mother now?


Thanks again for your feedback!


Remember, try to get as much exposure for the kitten as possible.

Best of luck,

Phil