How Many "Special Needs" Cats Do You Have?

[chrissyr]

Lots? I have all Special Needs kitties residing with us. Just as an example:

Sassy - 2 yr. old male tom cat who is now a life long kitten thanks to a blow to his face/head that gave him brain damage and a slightly deformed face and crossed eyes.

Jake - almost 4 yr old male. Was, basically, a popsickle when I found him. Bottle baby/attack cat, agressive to everyone but me. Very, very mean. Even the vet said getting him fixed would do Jake no good.

Worm - Jakes brother. Was 3 days premature. Bottle baby/love fiend. Has one lazy eye.

Big Girl - 6 months old and the size of a 4 month old kitten.

Dork - 6 month old kitten and his name says it all.

It and Doll - 6 month old kittens, stunted.

Munch - 6 month old kitten - inner ear infection that won't go away.

Frickle - 5 year old female. Dermatitus, rat tumor on her upper lip. Meds for life.

Tubby - 9 yr old Persian. Female. Allergic to her own fur/skin. Meds for life.

Eek - 12 yrs old. Stays outdoors as he tries to eat kittens and he fights everyone.

Chicken and Turkey - 2 mont old kittens. In bred. Chicken also has something wrong with her eye.

Fuzzy - 10 yrs old. Inbred so bad she's mental. Cannot pet her without her going way overboard and attacking you for attention.

And so on, and so on, and so on.

 

[tari]

Forest has cerebellar hyperplasia. It means the motor function area of his brain wasn't formed right. He stumbles when he walks and can't climb too well and his balance is off, but otherwise he's healthy. It doesn't stop him from bossing Tailer around.

My RB cat, Harvey, had asthma and required a twice-daily inhaler.

 

[nekochan]

Well, Sneakers the "senior" cat probably has arthritis but she gets around ok, we may be starting her on Adequan injections though... That's about it. Church was a feral kitten but after nursing him to health he's now perfect. I also have a litter of 7 feral kittens but they are all healthy except one who is half the size of the rest for unknown reasons. Roxy was from a good breeder so she's healthy.
I did once have a foster kitten who was "special needs" but that's about it... It was a long time ago. I found this litter of 3 kittens maybe 7-10 weeks old in an alley, in a milk carton with a lid tied on (next to garbage cans!) One of them was missing a front paw but it appeared to be an old injury because it was all healed. They all found good homes.

 

[pookie-poo]

Cleo has renal failure. Maggie has early stage renal failure, but requires no treatment other than eating the low protein/low phosphorus food. I also believe that Maggie is also slightly brain damaged, because of exposure to the flame retardant chemicals on the paper drapes that lined her living area when she was a baby. Lola is the only one who doesn't have medical issues right now, however, she has had several urinary tract infections, so I have to keep a close eye on her.

 

[fluffee]

Let's see

Lylie, lylie has no front teeth(never grew in for some reason), flea/skin allegies to the point she will pull her own fur out if fleas are not under control.

Dakota has a brain disfunction(someone on here told me what it was called) where his feet don't quite follow each other(but so loving)

Satin is 15 age with the normal aging problems(tho he never admit it)

Figgit has breathing problems, possibly from her fall from grace(known as a tree) with a broken skull and sinsus damage.

4 out of 8 not bad.

 

[kittkatt]

Originally Posted by white cat lover

I'm not interested in adopting the "normal" cats. Not many will give some "special needs" cats a chance - so I figure I'm one of their few chances.

That's why we decided to keep both Jinxy & Cassidy after the kittens were born - even though we already had 5 cats and really couldn't afford any more. But we both knew that it would be next to impossible to find a good home for a special needs kitty, and no one would probably be willing to care for them if they needed any special vet care. It's difficult as it is to find a good home for a "normal" cat...

I don't regret keeping them for one second. Both of them are as sweet as pie, and two of the most loving kitties I've ever had.

Bless your hearts, everyone, for taking care of all those babies!

 

[namo]

I only have 1 special needs kitty. He's got a heart murmur caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy which is basically a thick heart wall which makes it hard for his heart to pump correctly. He's got a weakened lung lobe from getting pneumonia when he was about 4 weeks old (abandoned at a gas station during a HUGE storm) and he gets pneumonia a LOT because of it, very slightly deformed back legs which make it hard for him to jump, and some mental/balance issues. He's on 2 medications for the rest of his life; 1 which will potentially thin his heart wall and help get rid of the murmur *crosses fingers* and the other to help keep fluid off his chest.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

All three of my cats have special needs. My two males have had urinary issues, infections, blockages, etc. They both eat W/D dry food from the vet's office. That is all they get. My female cat has herpes, which causes eye issues. It stays under control most of the time. The vet had me try several kinds of ointments which only made it worse. The treatment that seems to be working for her is a ground tablet of lysine in a little wet food every day.

 

[generic war]

I dont have any special needs cats,
when I was little we had a cat with a crushed voice box (he got it in a cat fight...after my mother got him desexed lol) and as he got alot older had a pretty sever diorea problem.

I don't understand why someone wouldnt take on a special needs cat that makes me sad

yous are all very special people though for taking care of all these cats

 

[punkygirl0101]

Out of 24, none are truly special needs. We did have a deaf boy but he died this summer.

Chad isn't special needs, but he was hit by a car a few years ago (X rays showed his stomach was pushed into his chest), and he had a broken hip. After surgery it took a few months for him to move around more (He spent a lot of time slowly walking around). But its been about 3-4 years and he doesn't walk any different then he did..but you can still feel a bump on his hip.

Paris doesn't have the best vision...and it takes her a while to focus, but she can still see and doesn't run into things (She used to when she was a kitten, she ran into walls and miscalculated her jumps).

and then there is Squirt. She is a Dwarf cat. She weighs 1 pound, 2 ounces. She is almost 5 months old. She has been examined by our vet. He has heard of dwarfism in cats, but never seen it. She is shaped like any other adult cat. Her front legs are shorter than her back, and it gives her a "large butt". She is similiar to munchkin cats, but she is MUCH smaller than ANY cat there is. We are waiting for her to reach a year to call Ripleys lol. She is such a funny little girl, and she is so annoyed with being held...everyone oohs and aahs over her cause shes so tiny, and she is so tired of being held. So she is sort of special needs. We don't know how spaying will work, she can squeaze into places the others cannot (She fell in the furnace..it wasn't on thankfully). Luckily food bribed her out! The older kittens pick on her, she is like a live toy to them!

The good thing...she can't get over a baby gate! lol