Fiber Babble: An Exceptional Cat

An Exceptional Cat

February 27, 2011

Abandoned book "Labyrinth" by Kate Mosse ♦◊◊◊◊

Remember this scaredy cat? This is the very first picture on the very first day MoonPie came to live with us. At about three months old and a whopping one and a half pounds, this little thing just flat out tilted the life we thought we were going to have right up on its elbow.

It took almost no time for her to wrap Mr. W. around her furry little paw.

Oh, and she went through periods where we could almost literally watch her grow - she's now all the way up to 6.2 pounds!

But then she started growing up. Did you know that Siamese cats go into heat earlier than may other breeds? We do.

Now.

Yep. It was time to take our itty bitty kitty in for a little bit of a surgery.

When we took MoonPie in to the vet, I asked that they observe her a bit if they could because I'd noticed that her front legs were occasionally shaky and even though it is hilarious to watch, she seems to run kinda funny.

We (ahem - Mr. W.) managed to survive the 24 hours with only a little bit of separation anxiety, and when we went to pick her up the vet wanted to talk to us. It seems that MoonPie has a condition (?) called Cerebellar Hypoplasia. Apparently her momma cat either got a virus or was vaccinated with a live virus while pregnant (not as sinister as it sounds) and it caused MoonPie's cerebellum to not fully form. Or something like that. Click the link and read the Wikipedia entry for a more official description if you wish.

(Comfortable post op kitty)

The short version? Her brain sends signals to body parts and the message sometimes goes astray.

She's not in pain. She's not going to get any worse. In fact, she'll probably get 'better', not because the condition changes but because she'll adapt to it. As Mr. W. put it: it's probable that we'll always have a cute but clumsy cat.

I didn't want to (because I was afraid of getting my heart broken, if you must know) but Mr. W. went to YouTube and started looking at cats with CH. He convinced me that I should look and what I found were a a lot of very loving and cute videos of kittens and cats with CH. Also, by watching the videos I could really see similarities in some of MoonPie's movements.

You know what else I learned? MoonPie seems to have a very, very, very mild presentation.

Take two minutes and meet Charley:

At first I really looked at MoonPie differently, trying to find other ways that the CH has affected her. She doesn't jump except when she's playing (cat owners are probably famliar with the term "Pogo Kitty"). She plops - or plays dead. I don't know if the plopping is a CH thing or if she does it just because it's ridiculously cute. Other than those things and the funny run, I can't see anything unusual. And now that I've had a while to process, I don't think 'our cat has CH'. I think 'our cat is pretty goofy sometimes.'

But aren't they all?

And by the way, the vet told us something else: MoonPie has a truly impressive tail. Can you imagine what will happen the first time she gets spooked?

Labels: babble

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6 Comments:

At 2/27/2011 9:30 PM,

deborah Babbled Back:

All cats have their little quirks, yours just happens to have a name for the reason she has them:) She is simply beautiful!

At 2/28/2011 12:03 AM,

gimpy cat Babbled Back:

A little thing like CH isnt about to stop Moonpie, she is already a fuzzy diva and that tail - now when did that develop? Why or why havent we seen it before, its as 'plumescent' as Laura's kitty Pepper. We call her 'pluffelda' and 'squirrel puffkin' due to the tail. Moonpies is beautiful, she is beautiful and she owns your hearts and thats what matters. She doesnt need to run fast anyway, its not like she has to chase mice to get a meal, not with you guys to pamper her! Thanks for sharing her story though, she is a special gal

At 2/28/2011 2:23 AM,

Barb Babbled Back:

What an interesting post, glad it is nothing serious.

At 2/28/2011 7:20 AM,

Crispy Babbled Back:

I'm so very happy that her condition is not life threatening!! She truly does have a magnificent tail LOL.

Crispy

At 3/01/2011 6:21 PM,

Brenda Babbled Back:

Ok so that playing dead thing is hilarious!It just is. LOL! I am happy to read that your new baby is just a goofball with CH. As long as isn't hurting, hey, what's a wobble? Happy to read she is fine.

At 3/03/2011 2:41 AM,

Julie Babbled Back:

Moonpie is just the cutest thing! I am glad it is nothing to worry too much about.