retarded / deaf cat??

Hi! I've never seen anything like this before.. I hope you all can give me a little advice or anything at all would be helpful! THANKS!!

Well, I have an one year old cat at home, he seemed lonely at times, so I've decided to adopt another kitty from the shelters!

So here we are... at the shelters... we adopted a 2 months old tebby.. he seemed FINE before we took him home. Today we picked him ( his name is Jixer ) up and finally took him home!! First, he would purrrr like crazy! he loves being held and petted.. I find that to be extremely sweet since my current home cat ( Jerry ) would never let me do that!! HOWEVER, Jixer would do this paw scretching thing with this front paws CONSTANTLY!! doing it to the carpet, my hand, IN THE AIR when he is upside down!! even when he walks!! And I DO mean CONSTANTLY!!! I don't think that's normal at all!! Second. We were trying to get his attention in my bedroom by clipping or making sounds, but he had no reaction towards any kind of sound we made!! Also, when he was chasing the ball around the room, he banged his head to the wall a couple of times! It seemed like he didn't really know where he was going!! The look on his face sometimes tells me that he doesn't know what is going on! like he is spacing out!! Sometimes he would try to MEOW but there isn't any meowing sound coming out of his mouth.. sometimes it does though. He loves to be around me / people especially when he sleeps, like he has to be RIGHT NEXT to me or something!! Is that weird?? And lastly.. he would sleep almost 90% of the time.. oh he sneezed a couple times as well.. I'm going to take him to the vet on Monday.. and till then, im not going to let Jixer out with Jerry in the rest of the apartment. So anyways.. I'm thinking if he's retarted or deaf??

Have any of these happen to any of you? Please give me some advices and what do you guys think the problem is? I'm a bit worried about him.. he doesn't seem normal to me =/ but he is definately a lovely cat!!

He's not retarded. He's possibly deaf though, which is far different than retarded. He could also have an ear infection which effects a cat's balance and sense of direction.

It's very good that you are taking him to a vet on Monday for a thorough exam. All pets adopted from shelters should be seen by your normal vet within a week of adoption regardless of health status.

BTW - the paw scratching thing you mentioned, we called it "the samba" at my house, some people call it kneading, making bread, etc...is often a way a cat comforts itself in stressful situations.

Let us know what you find out.

Good luck!
Rachel

Hi!!! wow thanks soo much for the super fast reply!!! so when he is doing the "the samba", does it mean that he is stressed out? so that's why he's trying to do it in order to reduce his stress? Oh! also! i forgot to mention.. he sometime breathe with his mouth open.. any idea why that would be? thanks!

He honestly sounds like a typical playful full of energy kitten.
First of all what he is doin with his paws in kneeding and that is something kittens do when young to stimulate milk from the mother. They do it on her belly. When they do it to you or things in your house, it is just a comforting thing. All cats do it. It is a normal thing. Every cat I ever had did it a little bit at least. So that doesnt make him retarded. It is typical.

About the other stuff you mentioned, still sounds like normal kitten behavior, sleeping a lot, (he is only 2 months old, that is awfully young even to be away from the mother in the first place) ignoring you sometimes when you talk to him, wanting to be by you all the time, running around like crazy banging into things and knocking things over sometimes I bet. Nothing at all of what you mentioned sounds slightly unusual to me... I wouldn't worry

Originally Posted by MisterJerry

Oh! also! i forgot to mention.. he sometime breathe with his mouth open.. any idea why that would be? thanks!

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He is a crazy kitten, he has a TON of energy and sometimes plays too hard. Get him to calm down when you notice he is panting. If it is an excessive thing, like panting all the time, that is not normal so talk to the vet.

thanks you all so much! you guys are super helpful! don't be surprised be i come back within.. half an hour! lol Jixer is sleeping in a baby rite now.. i hope his sneezing isn't going to lead to anything bad.. because my current cat Jerry was REAL sick when we took him home from the shelter... he had pneumonia and worms!! we spent over 1000 to get him cured... he started off sneezing like crazy too.. just like Jixer... sigh..

Oh wow $1,000? Are you serious or was that a typo? What did he have because worms is simple to treat usually and sneezing is probably a URI which is not usually that expensive either. I would look for a low cost clinic because $1,000 is almost unheard of!

yea.. you read it right .. it was 1000 something because he was hospitalized for 3 days... he had pnuemonia.. he couldn't eat.. i had to hand feed him when i took him home.. maybe the vets just wanted to make money? plus i didn't have insurance for him... i was broke for a while after that med bill.. that's why im so worried about Jixer right now.. =/

Oh wel hospitalization could be expensive like that, yea. If you could find a low cost clinic they could probably give you something to treat the sneezing. Most shelter cats have a little sneezing or a slight URI and just need so be out of the stressful environment and away from the other cats so it doesn't just keep getting passed back and forth.

Firstly, I suggest taking your kitty to the vet, but otherwise he sounds like a real lovebug. My cat Kahu is deaf and he is the sweetest little thing, and he does the paw stretching bit also, its like he is waving at me but that is probably because I do it to him all the time as well The interesting thing I have learned about having deaf cats is that they are very observant and will copy any behaviour - they are really amazing.
I hope you do go to the vet and get this lovely kitty checked out and do let us know how he turns out!

kiwideus - yupyup!! i will definately get him checked out on Monday!! ;D

jen - i found a clinic that is cheaper which is provided by the shelter.. i think they work with each other or something?

anyhow! i think i should get insurance for the both of them... what do you guys think!?

and also!! i've already made an appointment for grooming and flea baths for the both of them... but just WHAT IF Jixer happen to be sick? is it going to be a good idea to take him to a bath / grooming?

Many low cost clinics do work with shelters so that makes sense.

I would really look into them. If you can afford pet insurance that is great.. i have never had it but have considered it, but with 6 cats i think it would be pretty expensive though.

And there is a well known thing called 'the silent meow', some cats will occasionally meow silently, which I think is really cute, but they're not deaf otherwise, just ... cute!

NEVER flea dip an animal that you suspect is ill (i.e. the sneezing, etc...).

I'm not a fan of flea baths or dips and will never use them in lieu of other options available on the market. If you are concerned about fleas, talk this over with your vet when you take Jixer in, he/she will have some great suggestions.

Your new kitten sounds lovely although if anything maybe a vision problem related to the sneezing? Anyway, you'll have been to the vet probably by the time you read this so let us know!

Please reconsider a flea shampoo for your cats. Since you're going to the vet anyway it would be much better and safer and effective if you got flea treatment from the vet and not from a groomer. OTC flea products are dangerous and don't work that well, especially on a kitten they can be fatal. And if your groomer just happens to pick up the wrong bottle and use the flea shampoo for dogs then it gets exponentially worse. Anyway, do your cats have fleas or go outside, because if not you don't really need to pay them.

Jixer slept with me whole nite.. until now! it's 3pm and he's eating! he seems alot sicker than yesterday.. i wish i could take him to the vet today.. i called but they are closed.. i'll have to wait till tomorrow morning! he sneezed alot of times last nite.. and i dunno why but his eye pupil are always so small! unlike my other cat Jerry's pupil.. they sometimes get big and then small.. but Jixers pupil are always so small.. does that mean he's sick?

about the flea bath.. i'll take you guys advice and not take them, instead ask the vet tomorrow!

i will probably post more questions later.. hope you guys don't mind! you guys are really helpful! thanks!

It sounds like a repertory infection and it's quite common in kittens that age. In fact I don't that I've ever had a kitten that age that hasn't had one. If it is getting much worse you may want to take him to an Emergency Vet.
I know you said that you had a second cat. Because this kitten isnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t feeling well please separate them. You donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want to have two sick kitties in one house.

yupyup! don't worry... my sick kitty is in my room.. and Jerry is let to the rest of the apt.. they still haven't met yet! and i will make sure they wont meet until Jixer is well ;D