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Wobbly Head. Is it due to CH?

post #1 of 6
10/30/06 at 1:09pm
Thread Starter 
I just adopted a seal-point siamese on Saturday from a crowded cage as well. My b/f called me to tell me they had one but that it had a little problem, his head wobbles! I went to look at him anyway. No one knew what was wrong with it. The owners are breeders and decided to give him away because he is "different". His mother also rejected him because he is "different". I looked up wobbly head online (sorry if it sounds mean but I had no idea what I was looking for), and found Cerebellar Hypoplasia. He is 8 weeks old, beautiful blue eyes and is the sweetest thing ever. Problem is he seems to be toooo dependent on me now. He won't stop crying all night long. Sometimes even if I'm standing right next to him, he can't see me because his head is facing the other direction. He literally walks with his head to the side, he even eats that way. Does anyone have any other info about this condition? He's going to the vet tomorrow to get neutered and to get his first shots. I want to see what the vet has to say...THANKS!
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post #2 of 6
10/30/06 at 9:30pm
My cat Bobbles has CH which in her case was most likely be caused by her feral mom being exposed to the distemper virus while pregnant with Bobbles. The degree to which CH affects cats can range from mild to much more severe. As a young kitten Bobbles head wobbled constantly which made it very difficult for her to get around and caused her to stumble often, but thankfully this can improve as CH cats get older and can learn to compensate for their lack of balance. As an adult her head no longer wobbles constantly and she usually only has tremors if she is trying to focus on something.

In regards for crying and neediness if it goes beyond the normal anxiety an animal feels in a new home…if the vet determines your kitten does have CH ask him/her to check to see if the kitten is deaf or blind/has vision problems. These problems are not horribly uncommon and can make being in a new environment initially very frightening for them. Bobbles was born both deaf and with limited vision, and so while she functions in most ways like my other cats we try not to change things in the house around or startle her if she is asleep. I do not know if this is true of all CH cats, but she does tend to come to me more for protection and comfort almost like she thinks I really am her mom because she is more dependant on me for some things.

There can be several other viruses and causes that can produce similar results in a kitten (such as head trama), but your best bet is to do what you are planning to do already and have your vet look him over. Once you know for sure you can find several groups online that deal specifically with this issue and can provide more information. Thank you for taking him in!
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post #3 of 6
11/1/06 at 8:22am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Yorda, I will do just that. His crying has gotten better, I guess he's more used to his new environment. I have noticed that he does use his hearing a lot to locate me. I wonder if he does have vision problems. Guess I'll find out too with the vet. Thanks again!
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post #4 of 6
11/2/06 at 8:20am
Bless you for taking this precious baby into your life. It sounds like you will have a special bond with him for life. Let us know how the vet visit turns out.
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post #5 of 6
11/6/06 at 6:33am
Thread Starter 
So I took him to the vet on Sat. and what he has is Congenital Vestibular Disease (which apparently is better than having CH). His body doesn't wobble, it's only his head which he has tilted to one side the majority of the time but otherwise, everything else he does is like a perfectly normal kitten. He may be a little deaf in the ear that's facing down but he hears and responds to noises. There's no cure but that's ok, as long as he will be fine. My kids will take extra special care of him too because I told them he was "special". They love him!
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post #6 of 6
11/6/06 at 10:30am
Thanks for the update! I’m glad your kitten is doing well! I’m not familiar with the condition your kitty has (thanks for the link!)- what did the vet have to do to determine what it was or rule out other causes? I’m always curious about these things and love to learn more.
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