Mister's Story

This page has nothing to do with weight loss... but is a story worth telling.

My Hubby and I foster kittens during the "kitten season," from the beginning of May to the end of October.  I love cats, as does Hubby, and this is our way of helping in the community.  We foster for an organization called Wild About Cats Rescue and Sanctuary which is run by a friend of mine, Bobbie Pomroy. 

Once the kittens are weaned from their mothers (or done being bottle fed by Bobbie), we take them in, love them, feed them, get them use to household noises, and when they are big enough we take them to get spayed or neutered.  After they are fixed, we work with Bobbie to get them adopted.  The process is both heartwarming and heartbreaking.  A lot of this kittens come from feral cat colonies (the purpose of the organization is "trap, neuter, return" but sometimes the mama cats are trapped either pregnant or along with the kittens).  In certain conditions, this can be hazardous for the kittens because they pick up diseases and viruses for which there is no cure.  We have lost many kittens during our time as foster "parents" and it always brings me to tears.  I focus on the healthy adoptable cats and when I see them adopted to loving forever homes, it heals my heart. 

Hubby and I have two cats of our own.  My 3 year old, 14 pound furbaby, Mikey.  A black cat that picked us when we went to the local animal shelter to adopt a cat.  I was looking for a senior cat, knowing they are very difficult to place, but Mikey followed us all around the cat room, flopping at our feet, waiting to be petted.  After stepping over him numerous times while trying to meet the senior cats, we realized he wanted to be with us and had picked us as his forever family.  He's been with us for two years now.

Our other cat is my Hubby's cat, Bandit.  A 13 year old tabby with a bad attitude... toward everyone but him!  When I moved in with Hubby, it took her over a year to get used to me being in "her" house.  She now tolerates me (more when Hubby is gone) and will occasionally snuggle up to me to be petted and cuddled.  As she is getting up there in years, she has no interest in playing with Mikey so my Hubby decided he would go against his own rule of "only two cats" and would pick a kitten from this year's fosters.  He was fairly specific about what he wanted.  He wanted a female.  And he wanted a kitten with some color. 



Mister, trying to nap between his sister and brother

What did he end up with?  A male.  A tabby that is dull brown, gray and black.  And has Cerebellar Hypoplasia. 


We actually had this kitten early in the season, along with his siblings that we had named Captain Winky (poor kitten had a gunky eye that stuck shut so he looked like a pirate) and Dusti.  When Captain began to show signs of being sick, I called Bobbie to come pick him (so she could nurse him back to health at the sanctuary).  By the time she got there, Captain was doing better, but the third kitten (who we hadn't named yet) appeared to be ill so she took him.  He had an upper respiratory infection, so Bobbie kept him in the house where she could keep an eye on him.  When she let him out of the crate to get some exercise, he would try to climb her leg.  She nicknamed him Mister Naughty Pants. 

We got him back a week or so later and we continued to call him Mister.  Seemed appropriate, because we could call him Mister anything... Mister Naughty Pants, Mister Cuddly, Mister Snuggles. 



Mister in the "cone of shame"

We had him about a week when noticed he wasn't very steady on his feet.  He would chase after the other foster kittens, but seem to be running sideways and falling a lot.  He appeared wobbly, like he couldn't quite get his balance.  Since we had never had a kitten do this, we were concerned.  His appetite was good and played quite a bit, so we knew he wasn't sick, but there was definitely something going on.  Bobbie arranged for Mister to go into the vet for a checkup on a Friday.

Occasionally things happen in life that seem so coincidental, so bizarre, that you have to step back ask yourself if there isn't a higher power at play.  For me, this was one of those times. 

On the Thursday before Mister was due to go into the vet, I received a newsletter from our local humane society.  I usually just give it the briefest glance through and then toss it in the garbage, but an article caught by attention.  In the title it mentioned "wobbly cat" and I immediately thought of Mister and began reading the article.  It was about a cat that had come into the human society that had balance issues, wobbled and fell while walking but otherwise appeared healthy.  The cat was diagnosed with Cerebellar Hypoplasia. 

Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH) is a disorder where the cerebellum of the brain has not fully formed. There are various causes such as bacterial or viral infections, feline panleukopenia, caused by feline parvovirus, but can also be caused by poisoning, injury or malnutrition. 



Mister attempts to cuddle
with Mikey while wearing the cone

I called Bobbie and told her about the article, excited that we may have found the cause of Mister's wobbliness.  She said to bring in the article with Mister to show the vet the next day. 

Sure enough, Mister was diagnosed with CH. 

Mister is a healthy kitten, and CH cats can live a normal lifespan and the condition does not get worse over time, nor does it get better.  The fact he would live a long, healthy life was definitely good news!

However, because he would be considered a "special needs" kitten, the screening for adoption would have to be thorough, with an onsite visit prior to adoption.  CH cats, due to balance issues are best suited for houses that are all one level or if there are stairs, there should be no open railings on the stairs the cat could accidentally fall through.  CH cats can have litter box issues due the fact they may have difficulty getting in and out of the litter box.  And of course, there could be additional vet fees due to spills and falls the cat may take. 
 

We learned there are three degrees of CH, severe, moderate and mild.  We figured that Mister would be considered moderate.  He could walk unassisted (severe cases cannot walk and require a special wheelchair type thing to get around) but he was prone to falling over, especially when he was tired or excited.  We were sure we could get him adopted, but it would have to be just the right placement for him.

My husband, despite his wanting a colorful female feline, started to consider adopting Mister.  We had the perfect home for him, we've dealt with cats that had litter box issues, and most of all, it was hard not to love Mister.  He has a loving personality and is a cuddler.  After a week of discussing the pros and cons, we decided to adopt Mister ourselves. 

We have had our share of ups and downs with Mister already... along with CH, he contracted Feline Herpes (either from the colony he came from or from one of the foster kittens that may have been a carrier) so he was in a cone (the "cone of shame" for you UP! fans) for three weeks.  Talk about a pitiful creature... a wobbly kitty with a cone around his head!


Now that he is getting bigger, he has developed some litter box issues, but we found suggestions online and are currently working with him before the issues become habits.  He also has a terrible habit of launching himself at our legs (claws out) when he wants to be picked up.

But all those issues are so worth it.  He is a very loving, cuddly, kitty.  He loves to play with the foster kittens and gets along great with Mikey.  We found, that with the right incentive, he will even run.  This usually involves the opening of a can of cat food!


Mister (Video 1)

Mister (Video 2)

Mister (Video 3)

Mister (Video 4)  Mister can walk fairly well when he is awake, focused, and not excited.

Mister (Video 5)  And Mister can run... for food!