Shaky Kitten looking for some answers

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Dawn W - 03 Aug 2005 21:09 GMT

Hello Everyone,
I foster feral cats and we've found a gorgeous kitten that we call Princess.
Princess is about 6-8 weeks old and shakes. Let me go into a bit more detail
if I may...

When sleeping or lying down she does not shake. However, upon attempting to
get up and while standing or walking she shakes, not a little mind you...her
legs are stiff marching like a soldier and the back end and front end seem to
have a different agendas. At this time, she comes when everyone is called to
eat though it takes her a bit of time to get to the plate, since she goes one
step and back a few, side a few and then forward again. She eats okay by
herself, but eats better if I hold her legs under her, since they spread out
when she tries to eat alone. The other kittens just move with her and the
plate if the plate starts moving because she is shaking. They play and
interact with her as if there is no problems. She cuddles and purrs. She
also knows where the kitty litter is and tries very hard to get into the box..
.sometimes she does sometimes she just can't get her body to cooperate so
gets a close as possible.

Two different vets have looked at her. One saying he thought that the mother
received a vaccine while pregnant...fat chance since the mother is a "feral"
cat!!! What a goober he was and knew that she was feral! The second one
offered no assistance at all as to why she was this way and was quite
dismissive.

This is my dilemma. First, I have no problem putting Princess down if her
quality of life is poor. There is no reason for her to suffer if she indeed
is suffering. However, if there is medication that can help this little one
be more stable on her feet, then the organization is willing to purchase her
medications and I will make her a permenant home with us. So, does anyone
have any thoughts as to what this could possibly be? My husband and I both
said it was like Parkinson's Disease. She has a problem with sending the
messages to the nerves to get them to work properly. Like only when they are
needed to fire...any thoughts would be fantastic! We are also looking to get
another vet to look at her.

Signature

Dawn Wilkins

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~*Connie*~ - 04 Aug 2005 02:12 GMT

Ive heard of two different cats doing similar to what your explaining. the
first was missing part of its cerebrum (aka brain in case I didn't spell it
right and spell check can't make heads or tails of it) wasn't so much of a
shaking as a horrible coordination. The second was a cat whose mother was
infected with distemper while pregnant and fought it off.

If the kitty doesn't seem overly distressed about the shaking, then she's
not suffering, she just thinks it is a part of life. Get her a large
shallow litter box (i have one made out of a child's wading pool, but that
would have very high edges for her right now) Maybe try feeding her in a
narrow box to help keep her legs from sliding?

try to find a vet who does a lot of work with rescue cats. They would more
likely have more experience with this sort of thing.

> Hello Everyone,
> I foster feral cats and we've found a gorgeous kitten that we call
[quoted text clipped - 48 lines]
> get
> another vet to look at her.

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Rhonda - 04 Aug 2005 03:35 GMT

Hi there,

It sounds like what one of our kittens had. We had a litter born from a
stray, and one was very shaky, almost like being drunk, and the others
were slightly shaky when stressed (like after a vet visit.)

Our vet is fairly certain that the mother had distemper while pregnant.
There are other viruses the mother could have had to cause problems, but
distemper is known for causing these neurological things. There's a name
for the condition -- cerebellar hypoplasia, or CH. These kitties are
very uncoordinated, but can live happy, normal lives. Sharon on this
group has a CH cat she named "Tipsy," a very happy adult cat.

Here are some links about CH:

http://www.catconnection.org/faqs.htm (at very bottom of page)
http://www.tica.org/vet/cerebellar.htm

It's a good idea to have the kitten checked for other diseases, but if
the vets have ruled out the normal cat diseases as we did -- this was
the likely culprit.

Our kitten developed a kidney problem at weaning and we could not save
him, but it was a different issue. Had he made it through that -- we
were prepared to live with our beautiful, "drunk" kitten.

Hope yours turns out to be a happy story.

Rhonda

> When sleeping or lying down she does not shake. However, upon attempting to
> get up and while standing or walking she shakes, not a little mind you...her
> legs are stiff marching like a soldier and the back end and front end seem to
> have a different agendas.

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MarAzul - 04 Aug 2005 06:20 GMT

> This is my dilemma. First, I have no problem putting Princess down if her
> quality of life is poor. There is no reason for her to suffer if she
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> get
> another vet to look at her.

I have to second the other posters and say it's most likely caused by the
feline distemper virus. One of my professors, a Vet Tech, had a distemper
kitten who did the same thing, and that kitten lived a long, otherwise
healthy life. It may be uncomfortable to watch, but as long as the kitten's
not in any pain, there's no reason for euthanasia. Consider as well that
while you may think she's not 'normal' but for her, this is completely
normal - it's all she's known.

Signature

Mar
---------
VTIT

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Dawn W - 05 Aug 2005 02:08 GMT

Yes, my husband and I said that she doesn't know she's the one shaking, she's
wondering what's wrong with the rest of the bunch! No, Princess will
definiately be just fine here with us. She plays and interacts with the
other kittens, eats and purrs up a storm. Thanks to everyone that responded,
you have really made trying to sort this thing out so much easier.

>I have to second the other posters and say it's most likely caused by the
>feline distemper virus. One of my professors, a Vet Tech, had a distemper
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>while you may think she's not 'normal' but for her, this is completely
>normal - it's all she's known.

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tsr3 - 07 Aug 2005 03:18 GMT

Hi Dawn--like the other said--your cat's shakiness could be the
lingering effects of having survived Parvo. Lilo, our youngest cat,
had Parvo when we adopted her. She lived through it, but she is a very
clumsy cat. She is, however, very adventurous, loving, happy--her
uncoordination doesn't seem to bother her. She is now just about 2
years old.--becky

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