Limping Kitty??

We just adopted 2 orphaned kittens (Cordelia and Darcy) from an animal rescue organization. We brougt them home on Saturday and both kitties began to adjust beautifully. On Sunday night, Cordelia began to walk strangely, cry a lot, and rest much more than Darcy. On Monday morning, she was even worse. her appetite was not affected, and (bless her heart) she still made it to the litter box, but she was not walking correctly. I got an emergency vet appt and brought both kitties in for evaluation & Feline laukemia testing (negative!)

The vet examined both kitties and found that Cordelia had poor reflexes compared to Darcy. To make a long story short, the vet thought she had a neurological disorder, an infection, or an injury. I was unsettled, but reassured that it was either a disability that Cordelia could learn to cope with or something she would get over.

That evening, Cordelia seemed to recover, and by the following day she was more playful than ever. Darcy came down with the same symptoms later in the week, and recovered in the same manner.

Myt husband did some internet research, and found a virus called Limping Kitty that follows the symptoms presented int he girls exactly. Have any of you ever heard of this illness? Can you further enlighten me? Is there a good reason why the vet would not have heard of it?

Thanks!

Hi Megh.....

Actually it is called Limping Leg Syndrome, and I raised a litter of kittens that had this 2 years ago. It was strange because their back hips would get so weak that I would rush them to the vet, and they would do all kinds of tests and could never determine what was wrong really. I changed their diet, started feeding them cooked liver, mashed green beans, baby food and they got stronger and got better. But for awhile there, they didn't know what was going on, nor did I.

Just because these men and women go to school for such a long length of time and graduate, doesn't mean they know everything. I wish they did! There have been many times when my vet has looked upon me to find answers for him, and then through research when I do find the answers, he takes what I have found and goes to his colleages and his books and learns. I suggest, you write down everything kitties are going through in a type of journal as far as symptoms and stuff and then start printing out the information your husband found on the Internet. Make an appointment with your vet, take your cats in and sit down with him and give him all this info and put it in his lap to see what he can find out. Good luck...

Oh and I have one kitten left from the litter and that is my Kahuna and he is doing wonderfully. Good luck!

Thankls for the reply! Both kitties have recovered beautifully, so I do not think this will be an ongoing problem.... I hope. I will keep you posted....