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#1
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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. |
#2
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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. |
#3
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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. |
#4
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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 |
#5
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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! |
#6
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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. |
#7
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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. |
#8
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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 |
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