Melia:
Take a deep breath.......... All of us the first time we have been blessed to have been chosen to be the parent of a special needs cat or dog are overwhelmed at first. Things are so much different than caring for a regular cat or dog. Some can't use regular litter boxes or go outdoors, some need help climbing or jumping on things, some need help drinking water or eating. But none of these challenges are insurmountable.
The first thing you need to do is find another vet. The sad thing is most vets have little or no experience with disabled cats and dogs - most people don't want to have anything in their life that they can't easily do or take care of. So the first thing out of vets mouths is pts - it will be the easy way out for both the parent AND the vet since he won't have to think outside the box in order to help the cat or dog. As you are seeing from these forum responses, there are many things you can do.
One thing I want to say before I elaborate further on this vet and his responses to you is - the first thing that those of us with disabled cats/dogs have to get past is the idea that confining a cat or dog to a single room or large roomy cage is that it is cruel. We all have to be able to keep our homes clean and habitable for the humans that live there. We all have way too much on our plates to have to work, go to school, care for family and then come home and try to find and clean all the places in our home where our baby has had an accident. Another good thing about confining them to a room/cage is that it allows us to closely monitor their 'outputs' - how much pee, is it the right color, how much poop, is it solid, too soft, not enough. These are very important things to know with a s/needs cat/dog.
It isn't cruel to confine them - cruelty is to euthanize them because they have messed our home so badly that another family member has given us an ultimatum of ‘get rid of the cat’ or the cat has gotten a serious bladder infection that has gone systemic or they have gotten so constipated or suffered diarrhea so badly that they have not eaten and are dying of starvation. Confinement for part of the day is NOT cruel – it is SAVING his life.
Cats typically sleep 16 hours a day. They will get up to eat, play with some toys, look out the window, but soon will be back to napping. Trogdor will be fine and happy as a clam in his own room or a nice spacious cage with his ‘litter box’, food, water, bed and a mini-scratching post and toys. You will be happy too to not have to come home and spend an hour or more, cleaning up the accidents he has had. He will be happy to see you, you will be happy to see him.
Now as to what the vet is saying – as I told you earlier, CH kitties don’t always develop as quickly as other kittens and regular kittens don’t even have full control of bladder and bowel functions until they are 10 or 12 weeks old. CH kittens could very well need several more weeks. By confining him to a smaller area, this will help him too by instilling this is where I need to go when I have to go potty.
You can also express him – it is easy to learn and even if you can’t do it as many times as you think you should, I’m sure you can manage to get him done three time a day – upon rising, when you get home and before bedtime. What is the vet basing his ‘in a great deal of pain’ on? By expressing him until his brain catches up and learns to tell him to pee, you will be emptying his bladder regularly. It irritates me when vets tell you something like ‘he will be in kidney failure down the road and there is no way to overcome it’. This is BS – there is no way of knowing whether he will or won’t go into kidney failure – ANY cat can go into kidney failure somewhere down the road. He can get bladder infections, but not if you express him regularly and keep him clean. And at this young age, we certainly do not know that he won’t get control of his brain / bladder signals. And so what if he doesn’t? There are dozens on this list who work full time jobs and go to school and care for kids and several handicapped pets and have for many many years. You have already shown us that you are willing to do things to help Trogdor CONTINUE to live the life of a happy, active, loveable kitten.
The single most important thing you can do for Trogdor is to find another vet who is willing to work with you and Trogdor. And then to seriously consider several of the suggestions that are being made here on this forum. Expressing him will empty his bladder. Adding pumpkin to his food or possibly lactulose will balance the stool. Stool can be removed just like expressing by ‘poop on demand’. Trogdor can wear human baby diapers when he is out with is family to make sure he has no accidents. (He can’t wear them all the time because cat urine is very caustic and he will get urine scald which is like human diaper rash on steroids and very difficult to clear up).
Has Trogdor been wormed? All kittens have round worms at the very least and if exposed to fleas, he could also have tape worms.. He could also have coccidia and/or giardia especially if he was rescued from outside or a shelter. They are parasites that are often found in puddle water or shelter conditions. Trogdor needs to have a thorough fecal done to check for worms and parasites. I’d have two done – ten days apart as the life cycle of parasites is such that sometimes nothing shows up the first time.
I don’t know what you are feeding him, but some cats are allergic to the food dyes and preservatives in commercial cat foods. Try him on a high quality kitten food with no dyes or preservatives.
As you can see, there are so many things that you can try that can help Trogdor. I’d start by confining him so that you can monitor him, limit the clean up you have to do and help him work on his brain to I have to go potty skills. I’d find another vet who is willing to look past Trogdor’s challenges and see the adorable kitten that you see and want to help you help him. I’d have a thorough exam done with two fecals. If he has worms and/or coccidia/giardia, I’d treat for that. I’d have the vet teach you to express him to help empty his bladder until he does it on his own. I’d try different litters, different litter pans, doggy pee pads or whatever you think might be a better litter pan for him based on your observations of his potty habits. Put a dozen pans around his room at first – praise him big time if he hits one of them. Leave the ‘deposits’ in the pans at first – I know it bothers humans, but cats go by smell and if he smells himself in a spot, he will return to it. I’d buy a high quality kitten food with no dyes and preservatives and see if that helps the diarrhea also.
Melia, I cannot see any reason to euthanize Trogdor. The issues he has can be worked out. By coming here, you’ve shown us you want to help him. Find a vet who wants to help you both, stay here with us and ask anything you need to. We’ve all been where you are at one time. It was often rocky, but with the support and information, tips and ideas from friends here, we made it. You and Trogdor will too! /mari
Melia wrote:So my boyfriend took our kitten, Trogdor, to the vet on Tuesday (Trogdor has Cerebellar Hypoplasia, only a mild case). He was having some diarrhea problems and wasn't making it to the potty okay. The vet told him that Trogdor can't tell when he has to go to the bathroom. He has muscle control down there, just not the little indicator that says "hey! you need to go to the bathroom pronto!". The only problem I have with this whole situation is that: 1) he goes to the bathroom when he's in the same room as his litterbox (I, however, DO NOT want to just seclude him to our room. That is no life for a cat) 2) he is in a great deal of pain, a lot of the time now, because he can't tell when he has to go to the bathroom 3) he is going to have kidney failure later on down the road, and there is no way he can overcome this disability. He's a loveable kitten, plays with his toys, sleeps with us all night, and is a real sweetheart. The vet wants to put him down this Tuesday. I don't really know what to do. I don't want him to be in pain anymore... And I'm gone 8 hours a day for school, so I can't be there for him 24/7. Advice?