Bug Hunting?
posted by Lizzy at 3:16 PM
This blog is the ongoing story of nine-hundred and twenty-two cats, including kittens. We consider on a near daily basis the poetics of cat sensibility - the wit, brilliance, elegance and magic of catdom. We try to ignore hairballs and their sound effects.
6 Comments:
Oooh, I hope not. Last night, Gustav (whose back legs are STILL wonky) was playing so enthusiastically with something, I had to investigate. It was The Invisible Toy. I couldn't see a thing on the floor that he might be playing with, unless it was a tiny piece of fluff.
Wonky back legs? More details, please! But on the subject of invisible toys, I'd much rather the tiny fluff or the hallucination than the actual bio-toy which the guys love so much...
Well, he's a very badly abused rescue kitty, and I thought that might be why, but the vet says it's a neurological disorder common to cats with short tails, like Manx and Japanese Bobtails (which Gustav is). He started having this problem a while ago where his front legs would head in one direction and his back legs in another. We tried all kinds of different medications and, finally, cortisone shots, but that just made his herpes worse and his eyes got infected, so we decided we would get him some little stairs to get up and down off the bed. I tried massaging his legs, but he's not in pain and he doesn't like being touched (understandably), and he seems to be doing fine chasing the other cats around and even beating them up occasionally. Poor little guy. He's a horrid fellow but it's hard not to feel sorry for him.
Wonky back legs - I asked because some of the Mg 6 have a condition - cerebellar hypoplasia - which affects their motor control - Jen's Duncan seems the most severely affected, but Christy's Wicket and Kathy's Trouble also are a bit disabled = and Angel has just a TINY bit - Mr. Wobble Butt is now one of his nick names... There's a sweet YouTube video about this condition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJQG6V1MOVY
Maybe Gustav has this?
Dear Lizzy, thanks so much for your kind thoughts to Gustav. He doesn't have too many friends (other than my sister and myself, my partner, and most days, dear sweet Bandicoot the Buddha cat). I've seen Charley's movie before, and it always makes me snivel a little. How anyone could take the life of a little beast just because they're not perfect! Ugh.
But that's not what Gustav has. He walks just fine most of the time, he's learned to compensate for the fact that his back legs go left and his front legs go right. He doesn't have any of the other symptoms associated with cerebellar hypoplasia. In fact he eats like a horse, has put on quite a bit of weight since he came to live with us, and has no problems chasing the other cats around. Doctor said he was in no pain and not to worry but just keep him happy, so we keep a special spot on the blankie on the bed for him, and make sure he has lots of freshly poured kibble, clean water, his favorite toys, treats when indicated, and gets lots of kind words and pets. He still goes outside to sit in the sun and play and scratch up the deck posts, and dig in the garden. Doctor didn't want to do an MRI on him or further tests because there really wasn't anything that could be done for him.
I'm so sorry to hear that some of the Marygrove Six have ch. Poor little things - so lucky that they found some kind, kind people to take them home and love them. You are a saint, for rescuing them and homing them all.
Poor little Gustav, and sweet Bandicoot! Extra kisses from moi! (And how wonderful for Gustav - and your others - that they have such sweet loving humans...)
Post a Comment
<< Home