I don't know if this belongs here or in a different forum, but I have a 15 week old kitten that I rescued from the woods at around 8 weeks old. He was malnourished when I found him, but is now almost as big as my other 15 week old babies. I'm just wondering if there could have been some brain damage from the malnourishment. For example if I have his toy mouse and I hang it in the air and then drop it behind my leg, he has no idea where it is, he acts like it just disappeared, my other kitties all know I just dropped it behind me and they go get it. If I throw the mouse a short distance he can track it and find it, but if I throw it maybe 20 ft he acts like again it disappeared. And today he fell out of the house and didn't land on his feet. He's an indoor cat, but when I opened the door he was leaning on it and fell out and landed right on his back, as a matter of fact he never lands on his feet. I absolutely adore this kitten, he has completely stolen my heart and most of his little brain damage moments I think are very cute, but is he okay? Should I be worried about any of these things? When I took him to the vet after I found him, they said except for ear mites he was in perfect health. Has anyone else ever experienced it? This is Seamus, or Moose as I now call him.
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Brain damage
- Thread starter motherofeight
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he's a kitten...give him time. when i brought Lilly home, she was only about 8 weeks old. i had to teach her how to eat and drink.
he's probably fine. he's just a clumsy little guy. like i said on another thread, my Rikki would trip over shadows when he was a kitten. he's almost two and he's still a bit of a klunk-head. Sunny would roll over in her sleep and fall off the bed when she was a kitten. Elly (my youngest at 5 months) has it in her head that the food comes from UNDER the rug because she found a stray piece there last week. now she burrows under the rug everyday looking for the food that's already in the dishes. they're not the sharpest tools in the shed when their kittens.
my two biggest knuckeheads, Elly and Rikki:
ignore the nasty stains on the tub...i've been scrubbing them for 5 yrs and they don't come off. came with the house...
he's probably fine. he's just a clumsy little guy. like i said on another thread, my Rikki would trip over shadows when he was a kitten. he's almost two and he's still a bit of a klunk-head. Sunny would roll over in her sleep and fall off the bed when she was a kitten. Elly (my youngest at 5 months) has it in her head that the food comes from UNDER the rug because she found a stray piece there last week. now she burrows under the rug everyday looking for the food that's already in the dishes. they're not the sharpest tools in the shed when their kittens.
my two biggest knuckeheads, Elly and Rikki:
ignore the nasty stains on the tub...i've been scrubbing them for 5 yrs and they don't come off. came with the house...
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If you play peek-a-boo with Zissou, every time you open your hands she meows her "hello!" meow at you, like you really did disappear.
He may just not be coordinated. Although, you never know what happened to him out there. If he does have brain damage from an accident or someone abusing him, there isn't a thing you can do about it now.
My sister's cat is brain damaged and he's perfectly happy and healthy (aside from being chubbly) just a little special. He is easily scared, does not understand that there even is an outside (he sat in front of a wide open door once for two hours), doesn't really play much with toys. He also never lands on his feet unless you actually put him all the way down (if you drop him, like a normal cat, two or three inches up he will fall on his side). He really does not like change, I guess would be the only thing you have to accomodate a lot.
He may just not be coordinated. Although, you never know what happened to him out there. If he does have brain damage from an accident or someone abusing him, there isn't a thing you can do about it now.
My sister's cat is brain damaged and he's perfectly happy and healthy (aside from being chubbly) just a little special. He is easily scared, does not understand that there even is an outside (he sat in front of a wide open door once for two hours), doesn't really play much with toys. He also never lands on his feet unless you actually put him all the way down (if you drop him, like a normal cat, two or three inches up he will fall on his side). He really does not like change, I guess would be the only thing you have to accomodate a lot.
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I would never, ever in a million years give seamus to anyone. I brought him home with the intention of fostering and then finding him a good home, but it's never going to happen. I just fell in love with him. He has some of the same issues that you said your sister's cat has. He scares easy, doesn't like change all those things. Some of it though I think is from living outside. Sometimes I can tell he trusts me and other times it seems like he doesn't remmeber me and my sister. It's very strange. I guess he's just my quirky little guy.
Well my guess would be for you to go to your vet again and get him a check up. If the vet says hes still in perfect health and that theirs nothing wrong with him then I'm sure theres nothing to worry about. Keep Posted.
I have a similar problem.
My 3 kittens were 7 weeks old yesterday. Rowdy is a crazy little guy. Brave, playful, and extreamly vocal. Chloe is our only girl, she's extreamly fond of baths, likes to be held, and spends most of her time beating the crap out of the other 2 kittens.
Twitch (his name is twitch, because he twitched constantly the first few weeks of his life) on the other hand, is a little bit different. When he was born, he had fluid in his lungs, and wasnt breathing for a good minute or two. We had to rub him with a cloth to get him going. Now though, he's so much slower than the other two. While they're bouncing and running around their little box, he's still extreamly shakey when he stands up. He's afraid of food and any liquid that doesnt come from his mother, while the other 2 eat kitten food like horses that have never been fed. He's shy, and scares easily. It could just be his personality, and the fact that some kittens are slower than others..but I'm worried he'll never come around to eating by himself. I've put a few soft pinches in his moth, but it hasnt helped him at all. Any ideas?
My 3 kittens were 7 weeks old yesterday. Rowdy is a crazy little guy. Brave, playful, and extreamly vocal. Chloe is our only girl, she's extreamly fond of baths, likes to be held, and spends most of her time beating the crap out of the other 2 kittens.
Twitch (his name is twitch, because he twitched constantly the first few weeks of his life) on the other hand, is a little bit different. When he was born, he had fluid in his lungs, and wasnt breathing for a good minute or two. We had to rub him with a cloth to get him going. Now though, he's so much slower than the other two. While they're bouncing and running around their little box, he's still extreamly shakey when he stands up. He's afraid of food and any liquid that doesnt come from his mother, while the other 2 eat kitten food like horses that have never been fed. He's shy, and scares easily. It could just be his personality, and the fact that some kittens are slower than others..but I'm worried he'll never come around to eating by himself. I've put a few soft pinches in his moth, but it hasnt helped him at all. Any ideas?
I would suggest you get him vet checked to make sure that he is healthy. It is always wise to rule out a health issue first before attempting to determine if it is behavioral...especially since you describe him as "twitchy". These kittens are also due for their first distemper shot...so you can raise it with the vet at that time.
BTW...the kittens sound like they are on their way to be weaned soon...so it's probably time for mom to have a spay appt. Just a gentle reminder so she doesn't end up having another litter.
Katie
that's kind of funny, britt. one of my cats is named Chloe and she loves bathing herself and beating up on all the other feline kids. i call her my little diva. maybe the name brings out the...nasty in them.
as far as twitch goes...don't worry too much. my Lilly had to be resusitated (that's probably spelled so wrong...sorry!) she took longer than the other kittens to learn stuff but she figured it out. she's now a healthy beautiful loving cat that i wouldn't give up for the world!
if twitch still isn't eating, keep putting soft food by his mouth on your finger until he takes a bite. if he can't figure out where to go after that, lead him. put a bit of food on your finger and lead his mouth to where more food is. it may take a while for him to figure it out, but he will. i had to do that with Lilly, with eating and drinking. like i said, it took her a bit longer, but she figured it out. same with drinking. i dipped my finger in the milk and touched her nose. she started licking my finger and i moved my finger down to the bowl. she figured it out...eventually. but she figured it out!
as far as twitch goes...don't worry too much. my Lilly had to be resusitated (that's probably spelled so wrong...sorry!) she took longer than the other kittens to learn stuff but she figured it out. she's now a healthy beautiful loving cat that i wouldn't give up for the world!
if twitch still isn't eating, keep putting soft food by his mouth on your finger until he takes a bite. if he can't figure out where to go after that, lead him. put a bit of food on your finger and lead his mouth to where more food is. it may take a while for him to figure it out, but he will. i had to do that with Lilly, with eating and drinking. like i said, it took her a bit longer, but she figured it out. same with drinking. i dipped my finger in the milk and touched her nose. she started licking my finger and i moved my finger down to the bowl. she figured it out...eventually. but she figured it out!
Sounds like he might have vision problems (if nothing else) and I'd have the vet do some specific tests (mostly attention-getting types) plus neurological ones just to be sure about everything. He may also have Ragdoll blood in him, which would explain his falling over, though not landing on his feet is not normal even for an RD, but if he can't see that he's far from the ground, he may not go into a 'safety fall' mode of turning to land on all 4's. So do get him looked at, and try to keep him out of any dangerous situations that you can.
