CH Kitty Club

This site is for bringing together people who have pet/pets with cerebellar hypoplasia or other special needs.

We're here to share advice, stories and information about living with these special kitties, and to raise everyone's awareness that there is no reason for them to be euthanized. They can live long and happy lives.

Most of us here have gotten our CH kitties as they were about to be euthanized. We believe that some veterinarians are too quick to euthanize. They may just need some education about Cerebellar Hypoplasia. These cats need to be given a chance for a full and happy life. With a little extra love and care these animals can have just that.

That is what this site is all about: trying to raise public awareness about cerebellar hypoplasia. If you have an opportunity to adopt a kitty with a problem like cerebellar hypoplasia or some other handicap, please consider it. These are very special kitties, and they deserve a nice home with a loving family to live with, just like you.

Symptoms

Usually symptoms of cerebellar hypoplasia can be seen immediately at birth in cats, but sometimes can take two months or so to become apparent in dogs. Cerebellar hypoplasia causes jerky movements, tremors and generally uncoordinated motion. The animal often falls down and has trouble walking. Tremors increase when the animal is excited and subside when at ease.

Causes

There are several bacterial infections and viral infections such as feline panleukopenia, caused by feline parvovirus,[1] that can result in the disorder in both cats and dogs. However, the disease can also be caused by malnutrition, poisoning, injury or general accidents during development in the fetus.

Prognosis

The disease does not get better or worse with age, but the cat or dog can usually learn to somewhat compensate for it and should have a normal lifespan. Most afflicted animals can lead a fairly normal life if special considerations for the animal's disability are taken by the pet's owner.

Elise Murphy put together a printable brochure for distribution to vets, shelters, rescues, pet stores, etc, etc about CH...causes, symptoms, prognosis, severity levels...anything that anyone might need to know to get "started" with or recognize a CH kitty. It would be great if you all could pass it along to anyone in your area of the world so that we can get the word about our precious kitties out there faster and save more lives!

Both documents are meant to be 1 pagers (front & back) - full-page handout, tri-fold brochure

Official CH Kitty Club Facebook Page

Please visit our brand new CH Kitty Club Facebook page, started in June 2013.  Help us make it as lively an area for CH chatting as our Yahoo group has been since 1999.

The CH Kitty Club also has its own YouTube channel. Now, all you CH kitty mommies and daddies can "video brag" on your furbabies. Let's show the world how accomplished our amazing CH kitties are!

Upload videos from your phone by sending them to: m37mz1mh2iot@m.youtube.com

Or you can upload videos from your computer. Send it as an attachment to the email address m37mz1mh2iot@m.youtube.com
- Subject line = video title
- Email body = video description
After sending your video, you will get an email that it is uploading and a few minutes later another email confirming it is processed and available for viewing.

Hi, I'm Amanda, the mom of two cerebellar hypoplasia cats. My husband and I adopted them because of their condition, and as they grow up, we are learning the joys and challenges of living with their special needs. Here we share our stories, our readers stories and need-to-know info for living with a CH cat. Click here to read more.

If you have a CH kitty for adoption, we encourage you to post the details on the Adoption page, as well as to post in the Yahoo group.  Additionally, you may post the details of the adoption on the Cerebellar Hypoplasia Cats & Kittens Facebook page.  This should greatly increase the likelihood that the kitty will find a suitable furever home.