south carolina rescue - november - 2023

SOUTH CAROLINA RESCUE
 
ADONIS, THE HANDSOME BOY
 
Very young Joan, a gorgeous and friendly Turkish Van mix cat, found herself homeless with two, one week old male kittens.  A Good Samaritan found them, and got them safely inside and reached out for help.  We were able to find a place with one of our foster moms, and had them brought in.
All went well for 3 weeks, and then, disaster struck.  One of the kittens, Apollo, developed Fading Kitten Syndrome, and despite veterinary critical care, slipped away.  Little Adonis was now an only kitten.  As his mom’s sole focus was on him, he thrived.  We began to notice, at about 6 weeks of age, that he was having more than normal difficulty navigating and walking, and would tremble when concentrating and often just fall over, or flip over backwards.  We started to suspect a neurological condition called Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH), which happens when a pregnant cat is exposed to, and contracts, the Feline Panleukopenia virus and passes the infection to her unborn kittens.  The virus attacks rapidly dividing and forming brain cells, causing the cerebellum of the kitten’s brain to fail to develop properly.  The neurological symptoms can be mild, moderate or severe.  Mild, and moderate levels mean that the kitten will be uncoordinated, possibly fall frequently and need to be protected to some degree, living exclusively indoors.  Severe conditions may mean that the kitten will not be able to function normally at all, and may need assistance with even the simplest things like eating and using the litter pan.
Our veterinarian confirmed our suspicions, and Adonis is a mild to moderate CH baby.  He does quite well.  He is protected by his foster mom, and will always need a certain level of protection.  He is encouraged to explore, and interact with his mom and other foster kittens in run and play activities, but monitored so he doesn’t take falls from high places.
Adonis has begun his vaccination protocol, and will be neutered when appropriate.  We will ensure that he gets the safe landing he needs.
Save Our Strays, after conferring with the foster mom and the veterinarian, has decided that the safest thing for Adonis, is to place him in the Little Feet Sanctuary, to live out his life in peace and safety.  All his needs will be met, both medical, physical and emotional.
Little Feet has taken several of our “special strays” in, and we are thankful to them.

---