Little Feral Kitten With Weird Behavior

I just recently took in a feral kitten that wants to be a house cat. This kitten walked up to me and plopped his butt down on my shoe, thats the least weird thing about him. The mother and the rest of his litter want nothing to do with people, he is the oddball.

His wierdness:

-He cannot carry his tail erect. He only carries it in one position (neutral).

-He does not play like other kittens. When he was "wild" he would just sort of paw at his siblings and maybe lazily attempt to play with their tails. No chasing or wrestling.

-Never saw him attempt to stalk anything.

- No arching the back or hissing when strange people or dogs came near.

-He can barely meow. When he does its really faint.

-Probably has nothing to do with anything, but he is bigger then the others. Also, he has long hair while the rest are shorthairs.

-Allowed a buzzard to get within less then a foot of him, never seemed worried. This goes along with him having no common sense. He also will not move if a vehicle is coming at him.

Took him to the vet and these are the findings:

-Approx 5-6 weeks

-0.81lbs

- Temperature was low normal (98 something)

- Eyes are gunky, but no redness/inflamation or other signs of infection.

-Ears, nose and mouth are good. Gums are a good color.

- Other then irritation from fleas, his coat is good.

-Does have a good Menace reflex and appears to be able to hear you.

-Clavamox (2X per day) for a slight upper resp infection.

-Wormed with Strongid T, sent a fecal for testing. Stool was loose, normal color and no smell.

He is living in a large dog cage and is eating Meow Mix until I can go to PetSmart tommorow to get him something better. His appetite is good and he has never vomited.

His name is Binky and I swear he is mentally disabled in some way.

A few days ago.


Sleeping on his rat.

Did you ask the vet to test for any possible neurological disorders?

Furmonster Mom said:

Did you ask the vet to test for any possible neurological disorders?

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She watched how he walked (gait, balance, etc) and said she didn't see anything that concerned her. What other tests are there?

Well, when I googled "feline neurological disorders symptoms", this article from Cornell was first on the list.

Toward the bottom, there are a few paragraphs on various possibilities, including feline distemper virus and FIP.  Maybe take a peek to see if anything rings a bell.

ETA

A little snippet from Wikipedia on feline distemper (FPV),

If a cat is exposed during pregnancy, the virus can cause cerebellar hypoplasia in her offspring.

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I really think you should ask your vet to take a closer look, maybe do some testing, and ask a few more questions.

Furmonster Mom said:

Well, when I googled "feline neurological disorders symptoms", this article from Cornell was first on the list.

Toward the bottom, there are a few paragraphs on various possibilities, including feline distemper virus and FIP.  Maybe take a peek to see if anything rings a bell.

ETA

A little snippet from Wikipedia on feline distemper (FPV),

Click to expand...

That sounds close (no noticeable tremors yet). Something killed the cat we think is the father (disappeard for awhile, turned up dead,emaciated).

ApokalypsePony said:

I just recently took in a feral kitten that wants to be a house cat. This kitten walked up to me and plopped his butt down on my shoe, thats the least weird thing about him. The mother and the rest of his litter want nothing to do with people, he is the oddball.

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This, as such, does happens. A nice illustration of cats as individuals. Some easy to socialize, while the others not, even litter mates.

But the rest?  Him being longhaired, and siblings shorthaired, does explain some difference, him being a little calmer, a little slower.

Owners of a mixed litter of  Persian and Exotic, with nondesciptive fur lengh as newborn kittens, tells they can tell almost immediately who will become the longhaired Persian and who the shorthaired Exotic:  Easy. The first to climb out of the nest are almost always these who will become shorthaired, ie registered as Exotic.  The late climbers are almost invariably those who with time gets the long fur, and gets registered as Persians.

Im here talking about registered purebreds, so no coincidences here.

That said, yes, it seems he may be a little slower.  So good he want to be house cat. As house cat some easier cerebral hypoplaxia or even - a slight mental retardation, wont have hardly any big practical consequences. Not for him nor for the owner.

Ps, did you know, the domesticated breeds compared with their free living near cousins, the biggest difference between them is, the domesticated has usually a slightly smaller brain.

Good luck!

The hypoplasia sounds spot on. Symptoms can range from an inabilty to walk to a little shakiness. He may also be suffering from malnutrition. Please get him the best wet kitten food you can afford. He certainly needs it, either way. Thank you for helping him! He's a cutie.

Ondine said:

The hypoplasia sounds spot on. Symptoms can range from an inabilty to walk to a little shakiness. He may also be suffering from malnutrition. Please get him the best wet kitten food you can afford. He certainly needs it, either way. Thank you for helping him! He's a cutie.

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I'm going to Pets Smart to either get Grreat Choice, Wellness or Blue Buffalo.

StefanZ said:

This, as such, does happens. A nice illustration of cats as individuals. Some easy to socialize, while the others not, even litter mates.

But the rest?  Him being longhaired, and siblings shorthaired, does explain some difference, him being a little calmer, a little slower.

Owners of a mixed litter of  Persian and Exotic, with nondesciptive fur lengh as newborn kittens, tells they can tell almost immediately who will become the longhaired Persian and who the shorthaired Exotic:  Easy. The first to climb out of the nest are almost always these who will become shorthaired, ie registered as Exotic.  The late climbers are almost invariably those who with time gets the long fur, and gets registered as Persians.

Im here talking about registered purebreds, so no coincidences here.

That said, yes, it seems he may be a little slower.  So good he want to be house cat. As house cat some easier cerebral hypoplaxia or even - a slight mental retardation, wont have hardly any big practical consequences. Not for him nor for the owner.

Ps, did you know, the domesticated breeds compared with their free living near cousins, the biggest difference between them is, the domesticated has usually a slightly smaller brain.

Good luck!

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What makes the longhaired calmer? One of the little guys from another litter looked almost identical to Binky, "normal" but still mellow.

If you did not see the litter born it is possible this guy was lost/dumped and the mom took him in.  Or that he had a mellow dad different then the rest of the kittens(each kitten could have a different father).

kittens do not know cars or buzzards are to fear.  They were not worried about his temp being low?  I would be keeping eye on that as it can be just as bad to be to low as too high.
 

catsallaround said:

If you did not see the litter born it is possible this guy was lost/dumped and the mom took him in.  Or that he had a mellow dad different then the rest of the kittens(each kitten could have a different father).

kittens do not know cars or buzzards are to fear.  They were not worried about his temp being low?  I would be keeping eye on that as it can be just as bad to be to low as too high.
 

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That is possible. The other kittens at least arched their backs and hissed at the buzzard, he just sat there. He was active and really fought the worming and other things done to him, so thats probably why they wernt concerned. Also the room was cold.

ApokalypsePony said:

What makes the longhaired calmer?

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That is a good question.  With a bigger kitten with fully grown fur, the explanation is easy: they got warm after awhile running and playing with long fur, so they learn soon to take it a little more easy.

But as the difference is visible also before they got the fur fullgrown??   

Sounds like he may be a gamma personality (http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/know-the-types-the-gamma/36). My male ragdoll is a gamma and super weird. I also thought he had a neurological disorder as a kitten, but I have come to believe it is just his personality though I do wonder if he has slight mental retardation. Long haired breeds like Persians and Ragdolls are often gammas and a lot of them are not the brightest crayons in the box.

Franksmom said:

Sounds like he may be a gamma personality (http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/know-the-types-the-gamma/36). My male ragdoll is a gamma and super weird. I also thought he had a neurological disorder as a kitten, but I have come to believe it is just his personality though I do wonder if he has slight mental retardation. Long haired breeds like Persians and Ragdolls are often gammas and a lot of them are not the brightest crayons in the box.

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That definatly sounds like him. My other cat is probably an Alpha with some Beta traits.

Your kitten sounds a lot like our Sadie but she was a runt not the biggest in the litter. I was worried that there was something wrong with her as she wouldn't play like her sister, she'd just kind of paw at stuff but didn't seem interested. She was clumsy and had a hard time learning to jump over stuff or get on the counter, she loved to eat though . Now she is a bit more playful and not as clumsy but she is still nowhere near as nimble as the other cats in the house. We were worried that she might have some brain issues but she's turned out just fine. She just has the nicest personality of any cat I've had the pleasure of knowing.

Hopefully your little one will grow into itself as ours did, I think some kitties are just naturally mellow though they are few and far between lol.