Monday, April 30, 2007

Our lovely kitten is 6 months old and he keeps falling over! He is unsteady on his back...



It sounds like you have a great fun loving kitten - sorry to hear he's having some issues with his balance and movement. We don't usually think of our cats as having cerebral palsy but there are many conditions that could cause these signs. Certainly, if the mom was affected by a virus or any kind of disease while pregnant, there can be residual signs in a kitten (like you've seen, not all are affected). I'm glad he's been checked out by your vet and appears healthy. If full blood work has been done (including a feline leukemia/feline aids test), I would next check out an x-ray of his spine, if it hasn't been done. It may palpate fine on exam but with the swayish back and his symptoms, perhaps we may find something on a film. As far as therapy is concerned, encouraging exercise in a safe fashion and eliminating danger for him is really the best you can do. Because he has a little harder time with his coordination, I would try to discourage jumps for him and perhaps make jumping stations so his jumps are not too high going up or down. Hang in there with your little guy, it sounds like he could care less about his incoordination - so that's great!



Source: http://www.catchow.com

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