Help - Kitten With Back Leg Walking Issues

[cyndalyn]

My cat had six kittens three weeks ago tomorrow. Two of them have normal tails, two have absolutely no tails, and two have little stumpy tails. The kittens have just started really walking around and I am noticing that the orange one with no tail at all is having a hard time controlling his back legs. He uses them to push along but does not really stand on them like the others do - they are all really new walkers so it's definitely still a clumsy activity, but he is clearly behind his siblings in this developmental area. I am worried that he might have spina bifida due to his lack of tail and am wondering if there is anything I can do to help him in this area of development. I know that early intervention therapy in humans can help a lot and figure that may apply to kittens as well. Thanks in advance for any advice!!

 

[talkingpeanut]

I’ll let an expert reply about the kittens, but do want to ask if you are keeping Mom and kittens 100% inside and away from intact males.

 

[Sarthur2]

Kittens with no tail can definitely have spinal issues sometimes. At 3 weeks old you may want to wait a week or so to see if he gets stronger and develops better balance when walking. If not you'll want to see a vet.

Sometimes the lack of tail can also cause problems with defecation too. You'll know soon when the kittens begin to wean and use the litter box whether he is able to control his sphincter.

In the meantime, read up on Manx syndrome, as that is what the lack of tail is called.

It is a genetic issue, so you'll want to get mom spayed when the kittens are 8 weeks old so as not to pass this on further.

The kittens may be carriers too, so they would be better off fixed as well, because if they breed they may pass it on.

Keep us posted!

 

[cyndalyn]

Thanks for your replies - definitely am keeping them all inside and away from males that are not fixed. Mom is a tabby with a tail who "broke out" of the window in our house this summer while we were on vacation because she was in heat (she went into heat after we had left on a long trip - we had house sitters who left the window open thinking she would not be able to get through a screen). Will definitely be fixing her as soon as we are able to. I really hope the little guy will be okay!! I'll look up Manx syndrome on line to see what I can find.

I took him out of the box with a couple other very mobile siblings this evening and we practiced walking - he's definitely struggling with his back legs but seemed to do better with a little bit of help in putting them under him in the proper area - he can move them but just not as quickly as his front legs want them to go. Maybe if we have a few minutes of "physical therapy" several times a day it may help him...or not. It didn't seem to hurt him at all and the three of them seemed to enjoy a little supervised exploring.

Will keep you posted.

 

[Sarthur2]

I think working with him daily is an excellent idea. I'm hoping he gets better and has few, if any, issues.

Keep us posted.

 

[cyndalyn]

Thanks for your encouragement. Today I worked with him on walking just a bit, he's still struggling. I'm really hoping that the walking difficulties is the extent of his issues and that eliminating on his own won't be an issue for him - that could make finding a suitable adoptive home for him very difficult, never mind his personal comfort with existing in the world...he's so cute and uses his front paws as hands to hold on to my hands when I'm holding him. I have had a couple other cats in my life that have done this and they have all been really smart fun cats - I really want him to be okay but I think that only time will tell.