Kitten possibly with cerebellar hypoplasia

One of the two kittens I'm looking to adopt has had some tremors, and after being taken to the vet, they think it might be cerebellar hypoplasia. Now, I'm not that familair with the disease, but I have seen youtube videos of it and this kitten doesn't seem the same. Granted I've only seen the kitten a few times, but I have seen it move around and other than the tremors, it seems to have motor functions. I have not seen him jump and play like his litter mates, however.

If this is CH, does anyoen have advice? I am concerned how well the kitten can get around the townhouse, as well as how well he will adapt with the other kitty I'm looking to adopt. Will he be a good playmate or will his condition hurt both cats? If you have nay expereience or advice regarding this disease, I'd appreciate it.

The one on YouTube was posted here. The cat had adjusted very well, and he was healthy.

How old is the kitten, it could well become more obvious when he is older.

I don't have any advice on how to look after a cat like that, but I think he will be fine. Not sure about stairs, but I 'm sure it would hurt to have one floor to roam.

Originally Posted by sadieandziggy

The one on YouTube was posted here. The cat had adjusted very well, and he was healthy.

How old is the kitten, it could well become more obvious when he is older.

I don't have any advice on how to look after a cat like that, but I think he will be fine. Not sure about stairs, but I 'm sure it would hurt to have one floor to roam.

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He's about 9-10 weeks now. He's very small, so I'm sure his small size is no help. Whatever he had, had been pretty minor until a recent episode. So maybe it will get worse? Not sure.

He would have a room upstairs with all his essentials (assuming he can get in the litter box), but I'd think it would be more exciting having more room to roam.

I found a few posts after doing a search of TCS. Maybe one of these can help?

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...kitten+tremors

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...kitten+tremors

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...kitten+tremors

http://www.meowornever.com/CHkits.html

CH is not a "disease", and it's certainly not a condition that progresses over time. If anything, most CH cats get "better" as they get older because their muscles get stronger and they learn to compensate. Many figure out how to do everything "normal" cats can do, just in their own time in their own ways.

I adopted my little girl when she was a wee little one at 4 months, weighing 2 lbs, tiny compared to her siblings. CH cats sometimes have some developmental challenges, many are smaller than normal cats, but most simply develop at a slower pace and doesn't have real healthy issues related to it. Roxy could barely get herself up when I adopted her, she was the most severely affected one out of the whole litter. It took many months, but now at a little over 1 year old she can take a few steps before falling. It may not seem a lot but for us it's simply amazing

Because Roxy can't really walk, litterbox has been the biggest challenge and needed some creative thinking. We started out with wee wee pad, then tried out a couple of different litterboxes as well as litters. What we ended up with is her own litterbox that is really a small carrier with the door taken out, which provides low entrance (not easy to find in conventional litterboxes!), walls for her to lean onto, and also keep my other cats out. She still mostly pee/poops laying on her side so it's important for me to use the right litter (pelleted so it doesn't stick to her when wet) as well as to keep the box clean all the time. I also have a wee wee pad under/around her box because sometimes she can get into the box with her butt out of it and ends up peeing outside

Other than the challenges with the litter training, I really can't say I had any real trouble with her. Yet she brought me and my family so much joy because everything she did, every wobbly step she took, was such a huge celebration She is the most amazing, happy, CRAZY, little kitty I've ever met and I love her in ways I can't even explain in words. I knew nothing about CH when I met her and fell in love and thank god I followed my heart despite my anxiety over this "disease" I didn't understand because I can't imagine my life without her

Here's a video of her as a baby with her siblings, taken by her foster mom. She's the little one all the way in the back, later tumbling into the front.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8HZW...eature=related

Here she is recently. This actually looks worse than it actually is, she was a little excited here and when she gets that way she has less control of her movements.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK6ID....blogspot.com/

And for some other cute pictures, Roxy's own blog
www.crittersnest.blogspot.com

WOW! Roxy is a babydoll!!!

There were two kittens, Jack & Jill, at the HS here. Jill had a more severe case of CH. She would often fall into her own poop....and generally bobbled all over the place. Happy as ever though....and beat the tar outta her brother. Jack had a less severe form....he simply had tremors. Both are now full grown & gorgeous. Jill has improved & is better in the litterbox now. Jack's tremors are almost completely unnoticable, but his were so mild in the first place. Both are leading normal naughty kitty lives!

Thanks for the replies. As to those that have had first hand experience with CH, is there any reason why it's sometimes worse than other times? It's been stated here and in the literature that cats get better in dealing with it as they age. But are some days better than others, as in do they shake more on some days? And is there a reason for it?

My guess is that if this is CH, it will be of the type that Jack had. It doesn't seem to be more than tremors, as I've never seen the kitten fall over. The coordination may not be great, but the balance seems to be there.

From my own experience with Roxy, I wouldn't say she necessarily has it worse some days than others. But, she shakes more when she's excited, scared, focused, etc. When she's relaxed she can make more deliberate movements so she can walk/move better, while excitement will often cause her to literally "flip out" and do crazy sommersaults

The founder of the rescue I foster for has a feral cat that has CH. Her back legs wobble all over and she looks like a drunk cat running around. But shes very happy and well adjusted.

hiya, one of our kittens out of a litter we had has CH, he dosnt have it as bad as some. right from birth we noticed something wasnt right with him, his head would wobble and he couldnt control it it all, at first we thought he might be deaf or blind or something , but at 13 weeks old the vet said he had CH after hearing how he was and doing a few tests to rule out anything else.
we had some litter box trouble but nothing major as his leg limbs are fine at the moment, it was more of a case he would step in it quit a bit , the vet did say that as he gets bigger and puts on weight his legs may go on him slighty, so we have to watch his weight, his now 6 months and his head is still a bit wobbley but its not as bad. he eats , drinks, and plays fine, he gets startled very easiley and he takes a lot longer to learn things like not jumping up on you with claws fully out ( were still working on this one) and he will try and steal your food from your plate even though theres food down for him, again his getting better with that but still an ongoing process.

his not small infact he turned out to be the biggest in his litter, he loves to bite anything metal and will try and bite you not to hurt you but he dosnt seem to understand that it hurts he dose i think out of love.
but one thing i can tell you is he is the most loverbal cat i have yet come across, and a few people on here have said the same thing about their CH kittys, it can get annoying sometimes he just dosnt know when to quit and no matter how many times you put him down etc he will contuine to carry on , you should see the scratchs on my back lol. you do need pactientce SP? for them as there will be times that will get to you, but he should adjust fine in your home, out little one plays fine with his sister , he gets a bit rough sometimes and dosnt seem to know it.

if you have anything you want to ask feel free to Pm me i don t get on here as much as i used to, but a few people helped me on here when i had questions , so if i can do the same just let us know.
another thing i forgot to add was , if he gets scared ,nervouse or anything his head will go in to over drive and start swaying from side to side as though he cant control it and wlll start running around in circles , to calm him down we have to pick him up and reasure him untill it stops.

Babyblue, I am in tears watching those videos!! What a gorgeous little fighter Roxy is, you have done an amazing thing by making her part of your family