rumpydog

Oh Dog! Today you are in for a super-special scrumpdillyicious treat! Martha is the sweetest kitty in the whole world, but as you will learn, she has some special needs. She’ll tell you more about it. Give her a warm welcome everybody!

Martha: Hi, Rumpy, it is me, Martha! *wobbles in, shakes paws and falls flat*

Rumpy: Oh Dog! Are you OK?

Martha: Hehe, I walk like a drunken sailor, but that is just my CH. Thank you for inviting me! I brought you a nice juicy T-bone steak!

Rumpy: Thank you so much! While I eat this, how about you tell us a little about your and your family?

Martha: Ah, about me … I am one lucky kitten, I live with two sisters, Becca and Makitza, furmummy Masha, thunderpawing black Mighty Sarah, and recently adopted LittleCat, so 3 tabby tigers and 3 house panthers. We all used to be street cats. I am the only one with special needs … Oh, I almost forgot to mention Mum and Dad, who love us very much. Our Facebook friends sometimes say we are spoiled, but we never complain about that!

Rumpy: I think every animal should be spoiled! What’s a day life in Martha land?

Martha: We spend our days birdwatching *licks lips* and enjoying sunshine. Our complete small city garden was turned into one huge enclosure last Spring, when the weather is nice we enjoy great outdoors.

Rumpy: How cool is that! So what is this CH you have Martha?

Martha: Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH) is the incomplete development of the cerebellum. This can be caused by an inherited disease or an infectious, toxic or nutritional problem. The most common cause in cats is an infection with the Panleukopenia virus. CH is not contagious neurological condition, it is not painful, it is not curable, but it also doesn’t get worse, on the contrary, most CH kitties adopt to their ‘differentlyabilities’, they learn to compensate and do things in their own way so it may look like CH ‘has improved’. CH kitties can also benefit from physical rehabilitation. It seems that we, CH kitties, are not aware about being different, and there is no need to feel pity for us. Many humans find us inspiring.

Rumpy: I find you inspiring too!

Martha:I am 28 months old kitten, who survived an infection (most probably with Panleukopenia virus) and some dog bites, when I was 2 months old. As a consequence of one or both of the above, I have Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH). Even though we were not able to get my final diagnose (MRI for cats is not available within hundreds of miles from our city), our vet and my neurologist concluded, based on symptoms and basic neurological tests, that my condition is most likely CH. I must say this: most CH cats are wobbly, but not every wobbly cat is a CH cat, it is very important to make correct diagnose, because sometimes a cat with dangerous but curable illness, that has symptoms similar to CH, if not properly diagnosed , can even die.

Rumpy: Yeah, like Tiny Timmy, whose wobbling was caused by exposure to over-the-counter flea and tick products. So are there special accommodations humans must make for a CH kitty?

Martha: Yes. Majority of CH cats can’t jump, some flip-flop a lot, some can’t walk at all, many have ‘litter box issues’. Some CH kitties never use litter box, they use puppy pee pads. CH kitties have different needs, based on the severity; main goals of accommodations are to protect the kitties from hurting themselves (i.e. falling from heights), and to help them with litter box usage if needed. CH kitties must be strictly indoors, there is a good explanation why on Ms Sarah Hartwell’s site .

Martha: My CH case is mild, I can’t jump, but I can walk on hard floors. At the beginning I could hardly walk, but thanks to continuous practice – my mum makes me walk 20 stairs up and down at least dozen times every day – I am one strong kitteh. (all staircases in our house have Martha-proofed sides ).

As for litter box, I stand when I go #1, but for #2 I usually flip over and do it laying on the side. My litter box is typical for CH cats – very deep, with one low cut entrance on the side, most of the times I do my business inside, sometimes I catapult myself out.

Rumpy: It’s good to know that Martha, because I think many humans would be afraid if they saw that and didn’t know what was happening. So where can people get more info about CH?

Martha: You can find out more about severity levels of CH in CH handout that was made by my CH friend Nanako’s human mum Elise Murphy, it is an excellent educational material *nods*. And please, Rumpy, if you have a chance to ask your friends to print it or send via e-meow to their friends and vets, please do, CH kitties will appreciate very much your help to spread the word about CH, the condition that is unfortunately not widely known about, so the lack of information about it leads – too often – to unnecessary euthanasia of kittens that can live happy healthy life, provided few adoptions in the house, and good loving human, of course, you know how that is important, MOL!

Rumpy: Awesome! My readers are great and will sure spread the word!

Martha: Excellent information about CH can be found on Ms Amanda’s Life With CH Cats blog, human mum to two CH kitties – CG (Carry Grant) and Allie cat. We have a CH KITTY CLUB, and affiliated yahoo group and our monthly Newsletter. Our CH adoption specialist, Ms Deb Martin, better known on FB as SpecialNeeds InNeed will find a CH cat or kitten for you, or a home for CH cat in need, and will most probably help coordinate / organize transport.

We have an open FB group Cerebellar Hypoplasia Cats and Kittens that you can join and get all the answers you need.

Rumpy: Thank you so much Martha!

Martha: And finally, my mum believes that it is very important for every cat’s and dog’s human parent to properly educate himself/herself. This is even more important for animals with special needs parents, and all animals with neurological conditions have special needs *nods*. Mum has her small column in CH Kitty Club Newsletter, it was called ‘Notes From Tanja’, recently she renamed it to ‘About Health’. There you can read articles from reputable authors and reliable sources / Newsletter Archive/

- many excellent articles were written by Moki Fogg’s and Tiny Timmy’s mums. Moki and Timmy are both wobbly, but they are not CH kitties, yet their mums are both very knowledgeable about CH. You can also find some useful info on my FB page Martha’s CH page

Rumpy: Ya hear that everybody? There’s lots of info out there, so help Martha spread the word! OK Martha, one more question for fun. If you was a dinosaur, what kind would you be?

Martha: I love dinosaurs! .. ummm, what was the name of one that could reach every bird feeder? Birdosaur? Yep, I wish I was Birdosaur!

Rumpy: Sounds good to me! I’ll bet June Buggie would wanna be one too. Martha, thank you SO much for being my guest today. You ROCK!

Martha: It was a pleasure to be your guest *takes a bow and falls flat* Oh, well, adds to my charm ♥

Rumpy: You are charming indeed!