And Babies Make...You Don't Want to Know
About two months ago, my daughter looked out her apartment window to see a mama cat and three kittens on her patio. Then the mama cat and one of the kittens went away, leaving these two guys...
It didn't take my daughter long to realize there was something seriously wrong with these kittens. They shake. Constantly. And when they try to walk, they fall over. At first we thought they had some deadly disease, but it turns out they're not sick; what they have is cerebellar hypoplasia, basically the kitty form of cerebral palsy.
I did not want to adopt these guys. I already have a house full of cats (in addition to the usual crew, I'm also currently taking care of two of my older daughter's cats while she's in San Antonio). And CH cats have elimination issues. Except that unlike our other cats with minor elimination issues, theirs are pretty extreme. And they can't live on the porch because they don't have the coordination to walk on those widely spaced boards. But they were barely surviving by hiding amongst my daughter's flower pots and eating the food she put out for them, and with a hurricane barreling down on us....
I now have two new kittens. We took them to the vet today, and thank heavens they found nothing wrong with them except the cerebellar hypoplasia. I thought they were about four months old but they're actually six months, even though they barely weigh two pounds, the poor things.
In preparation for the new arrivals, everyone else in the house had to go to the vet and get their shots ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$), too. I was truly embarrassed to take Whiskies. He now weighs twenty pounds!
And in case you're wondering, the new kittens' names are Scout (a girl, on the right) and Banjo, her brother. Banjo has a moderately severe form of CH, while Scout is more mild to moderate. And yes, this is insane. But what else could I do?
It didn't take my daughter long to realize there was something seriously wrong with these kittens. They shake. Constantly. And when they try to walk, they fall over. At first we thought they had some deadly disease, but it turns out they're not sick; what they have is cerebellar hypoplasia, basically the kitty form of cerebral palsy.
I did not want to adopt these guys. I already have a house full of cats (in addition to the usual crew, I'm also currently taking care of two of my older daughter's cats while she's in San Antonio). And CH cats have elimination issues. Except that unlike our other cats with minor elimination issues, theirs are pretty extreme. And they can't live on the porch because they don't have the coordination to walk on those widely spaced boards. But they were barely surviving by hiding amongst my daughter's flower pots and eating the food she put out for them, and with a hurricane barreling down on us....
I now have two new kittens. We took them to the vet today, and thank heavens they found nothing wrong with them except the cerebellar hypoplasia. I thought they were about four months old but they're actually six months, even though they barely weigh two pounds, the poor things.
In preparation for the new arrivals, everyone else in the house had to go to the vet and get their shots ($$$$$$$$$$$$$$), too. I was truly embarrassed to take Whiskies. He now weighs twenty pounds!
And in case you're wondering, the new kittens' names are Scout (a girl, on the right) and Banjo, her brother. Banjo has a moderately severe form of CH, while Scout is more mild to moderate. And yes, this is insane. But what else could I do?
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Manybooks2read
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Oct 04, 2013 09:15PM
You are a kind soul. Thank goodness your daughter found them. I understand about vet expenses my 2 dogs each had 2 major surgeries this year--thank goodness the cats are healthy.
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Manybooks2read, yes, vet bills can be ferocious, even for simple things (one of our ex-feral cats had a lingering intestinal parasite that just cost us $600!). Hope your dogs are doing okay after their surgeries. And I honestly believe that mama cat knew what she was doing when she left her kittens on my daughter's doorstep. They'd reached the age she couldn't care for them any more, so she brought them to someone who could and would. Most mother cats would have let such damaged kittens die. It's amazing she managed to keep them alive so long.
I just took my 2 cats in for what turned out to be Gastroenteritis. Not from what they ate but from stress. We had workmen here putting in a sun porch and the cable guy rewiring and they are not done. Hopefully the pills and enzymes will keep them from a relapse. That bill was $250. But they are part of the family and you take care of family.
Joann, I give Thomasina kitty probiotics that I buy at Whole Foods, and they really help her. I just break open the capsule and sprinkle it on her food once a day. You could try them. I know mine really, really hate anything out of the ordinary. But I imagine they'll enjoy the sunporch!
They took over the sun porch the minute we put the furniture in. The vet gave me probiotics. One cat will eat it the other won't. They are doing much better after 2 days. Hope your weather doesn't do any damage. We have started getting the rain here in middle Georgia.
Thanks for taking these guys in! So many people wouldn't. If you don't feel comfortable taking these two on long term, have you tried contacting any of your local animal rescue groups for help with rehoming them? The group I work with in Missouri will sometimes help people rehome strays they've taken in. It's harder with cats and dogs with disabilities, but some potential adopters like taking on the hard cases. Sometimes all it takes is the right ad on the right website . . . .
Sherry, my life is so hectic already that I must admit I would love to hand them off to someone else, but it would have to be someone I really, really trusted. We almost lost Banjo over the weekend, and there's something about bottle feeding a kitten every four hours for a week that really, really creates a tight bond.
Oh, I know about kitten bonding. I've fostered several and then failed to adopt them out because I just can't give them up. That's part of the reason I'm up to seven cats at my house. :-)
