Feral Paws Rescue: CH Kitties

By Paula Hunsaker

Feral Paws Rescue Group in Fresno shares with us some of their animal rescue adventures every month.  Keep up to date with them by liking their Facebook page.

Our rescue has been taking in kitties with Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH) for many years. A CH kitten has an underdeveloped cerebellum which causes jerky movements, tremors, and poor coordination, and is often called "wobbly kitten syndrome." Symptoms show up when the kittens start to stand and walk (around 4-6 weeks). They aren't in pain, aren’t contagious, and usually live normal, happy lives with minor adjustments. They often improve as they grow.

Flour

We have adopted out many CH kitties. We explain to the adopters in detail what life would be like with a CH kitty because we want to have a successful placement.

There will be wobbliness, an unsteady, jerky, or high-stepping walk. Head bobbing and tremors. Kittens may fall, slip, or have trouble walking. They have a normal lifespan and are not in pain. They learn to manage their coordination, but may need modified food bowls or safe spaces.

Kat

If an adoption doesn’t work out, we always take back any kitty from our rescue without questions.

We had one CH adoption to a family who had a handicapped son who was bullied by other kids at his school. So the family wanted to adopt a CH kitty for him so he could understand that even animals can be handicapped. After the adoption, we got many updates of how the love from this kitty, and her special needs, changed their son's life.

This weekend three CH kitties are coming to our rescue from Los Angeles. They were tossed on the streets of LA in a very dangerous area. With CH they won’t make it on the streets, so we were asked to take them into our Rescue for placement. We are so happy to be welcoming them to our rescue tomorrow.

These special needs kitties make amazing forever pets!

 Check out more animal rescue stories in our Pets section here on KRL News & Reviews. Check back every month for another animal rescue adventure from Feral Paws. We also have a special Facebook Group for our pet articles--join and never miss a pet article.