Cats with neurological damage (kittens, carpet, laser, drinks)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We adopted two 5 year old cats in January. They are bonded littermates (sisters). One is deaf and can't walk a straight line if her life depended on it. The other has nerve damage that partially closes one eye. Collectively they aren't much for playing. They have a hard time tracking the feather on a string toy but one of them does enjoy a slow laser pointer. They both seem to enjoy catnip.
The deaf one, we'll call her Charlotte, is very social and likes to be petted. She wanders around the house when we are home and when she meows, she sounds like she drinks scotch and smokes three packs a day. She will often clean Willow's head but she appears to neglect herself.
The other one, Willow, is very skittish. She is content to hang out in the kitty carrier or on the cat tree by the window. Until someone walks into the room. Then she runs under something. She is starting to come out and visit with us. We even caught her sleeping on our bed one night when the dogs were sleeping over at a friends house. She has the most petite meow.
When we picked them out at the shelter, they didn't tell us they had neurological damage. They just said, "we don't know why the one walks in circles". Not that we would have turned them down, but it would have been nice to know beforehand. We do enjoy having them around, even if they are less than thrilled to join a house with two large, rambunctious dogs.
Edit: I realized after I made my post that you said the cats were 5 years old, not 5 months old. The shelter should have mentioned the neurological issues at the time, but hopefully the skittishness goes away once your cats adjust more to your household! A lot of cats can live long, happy lives even with some neurological problems.
Yes, we were surprised that the shelter didn't know they had those issues. Apparently that was left off the owner surrender form from the previous owner but we expected the animal control officers would have been familiar with it. We had previously lived with a friends' cat who also had neurological damage so we recognized it when we heard them comment about walking in circles. It was hard to tell when they were in the cage.
We called the previous owner to find out a little bit about them. They've been that way since she had them and they were young kittens when she adopted them. She said that Willow will come around to being ok with us but she will continue to run and hide when strangers come over.
Neither of them like being held but Charlotte is a giant lap cat. I wish she would clean herself better. I'm allergic to cats (they make my eyeballs swell up and turn yellow/orange) and it is especially bad if the cat is sick or dirty.
We wanted two youngish cats so that they would be around for a while. We had just lost our 17 year old kitty and missed having one around. They can't possibly replace her but they do make us happy.
One of my cats has a neurological condition (Cerebellar Hypoplasia) and he too does not clean himself as well as the others. He tries very hard but with his condition it makes it more difficult. You will see him trying to lick himself but half the time he is licking air because he shakes so much and sometimes falls over when trying to do it :-( We tell him he is doing a GREAT job though when he's doing it :-) I think our other cats know he is "special" and I find them cleaning/grooming him a lot. We also comb him more and make sure he is cleaned up.
Our special little guy also does not interact much with our two large Golden Retrievers. He will walk up to them and sniff them and then just walk/bumble off. I think he gets overly stimulated too and his other senses are heightened and is easily startled. He also needs more rest than the others because just trying to jump up on something or focus takes a lot!
They say that most cats with neurological conditions can live as long as other cats so hopefully you will have your two for a very long time. I sure hope that is true because our Bumbies makes us smile so much every day!
You're a wonderful person for taking in these two and keeping them even after being deceived by the shelter. I don't think a lot of places (and even vets) are fully educated about these types of conditions however they had to know just by observation that these girls had issues and all of that should have been disclosed to any potential adopters.
Charlotte's head does "bounce" when she cleans herself (also when she eats and drinks). So half the time she's missing her mark. My partner does brush her more often to help with my allergies, otherwise I'd have to wear my swim goggles around her! We don't know the name of her condition but the vet did agree that it was most likely some neurological issue.
The vet said that Willow most likely has Horner's Syndrome and that makes her one eye kind of droopy. Otherwise she seems pretty normal, though I did catch her licking the carpet on the cat tree the other day.
I posted about my childhood cat in the names thread. There was definitely something wrong with him. He preferred to live in solitude. He stayed in the basement hiding up in the CEILING. He only came out at night when everyone was asleep. We only saw him once ever couple of months. He ate well and used the litter box. When he would come out, he'd get quickly scared and run back to the basement. For example, one time he came out of the basement during the day, walked across the family room floor, encountered the telephone cord on the floor, jumped 5 feet into the air, and ran back into the basement. That was his life for many, many years. There was nothing we could do about it except respect his wishes.
Willow isn't that skittish, Hopes. But sometimes one of our dogs can be a little jumpy like that.
Willow really wants to come out and socialize. She just runs at your slightest movement. If we do see her out from her hiding places we can usually talk to her while remaining where we are and she will give us a petite little meow but we can't approach her yet. Since we are in this for the long haul I think she will come around. She does like having her sister around and we often find them squeezed into one of the kitty beds together. Charlotte weighs in at 10 pounds and Willow is only 5 pounds.
The vet said that Willow most likely has Horner's Syndrome and that makes her one eye kind of droopy. Otherwise she seems pretty normal, though I did catch her licking the carpet on the cat tree the other day.
Our dog did that. I asked our vet about it, and she said quite simply, "He's just weird!"
Hey, I don't know if you've seen these or tried them, but they do sell pet-safe wipes at most petstores now, OK for cats even. The brand I found is "Pethead." I tried to use them on Nimbus once, and he was pretty offended by the idea, but for a cat that isn't cleaning themselves too well it might be a good idea (my boy had his kitty-cold back then, and wasn't grooming adequately because he didn't feel well. Once he got better, he became the nonstop super-groomer...he must have perfect fur AT ALL TIMES! lol) I'm thinking it might help remove some of the dander, in addition to brushing, to make your allergies less of an issue perhaps?
Indeed, you're an angel for taking them in and committing to them despite their issues. I hope they both get acclimated to their everyone, even the dogs, and live happily ever afters!!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We don't know the name of her condition but the vet did agree that it was most likely some neurological issue. 
