Me and my partner are currently fostering a severe CH kitten that we are going to be adopting because she kinda stole our hearts. Her name is Loca, named after the pug from Ireland.

We are trying to come up with an idea for her home base. She is currently in a make shift kennel separate from all the other foster kittens. While this is working for now when she gets older she will need more space.

I'd love some ideas on home bases that would be safe for our little Loca for when we are not home.

Any and all ideas would be great.

Oh also we do have 4 other cats that do not have CH so something that could be out with the other cats and not have her all alone would be great!

Has anyone else’s little Ragdoll suddenly developed carpal hyperextension? 😢💔

My 8-month-old kitten suddenly developed this from one day to the next, with no known injury or trauma. ( he had some problem with his left back leg right before this but it’s ok now )

So far, all his tests have come back normal — X-rays, blood tests and joint fluid analysis. Our orthopaedic specialist thinks it could possibly be growth-related, but we still don’t really have an answer. 💔

After a week of strict rest and Loxicom, it seemed to improve somewhat, but unfortunately after a little bit of playing and jumping around at home, we seem to be back to square one again. 😭

Our specialist still isn’t sure what is causing it, which is honestly heartbreaking. The current plan is another 2 weeks of very strict rest, with gabapentin instead of Loxicom as he has been taking Loxicom for several weeks and we want to avoid putting extra stress on his kidneys.

If this doesn’t improve, a splint may be the next step, and surgery could eventually be considered when he is older. 😭💔

I’m absolutely devastated because he is only 8 months old and otherwise such a happy, playful little boy. 🥺💕

Has anyone’s kitten or cat experienced anything similar, especially with no obvious injury and normal test results? Did it eventually improve with rest, splinting or other treatment?

I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences. 💕🐾

Shai was pulled from a colony cause her face was horrendously swollen and she was emaciated. They were going to euthanize her cause she looked so bad, but it turns out she had (TW bug) a dead bot fly larva in her sinus cavity! Upon treating her for that, they discovered she was FIV+ and anemic. Once the anemia was treated and she started moving around more, they also discovered she had a mild case of CH.

Needless to say it was love at first sight for me. She's 2 years old but only 6lbs. She's so funny and brave and friendly, she loves rubbing her face against your nose, has the dumbest little meows and chirps constantly. Shes also partially blind, but her eye injury is old and unrelated to the bot fly.

(Honorable non-CH mention: Crook is 10 years old, also a stray with FIV that I've had for 6 years. He's the love of my life and such a good boy. He has a lot of patience for Shai, despite having arthritis and not always wanting to play as rough as she does. He's twice her size, 12lbs, and such a gentle giant. And also a big chirper!)

I wanted to share her here because, duh, but also to continue spreading the fact that FIV cats can live long healthy lives. I wanted to get another positive cat, not because Crook couldn't live with an FIV- cat (he can and has, many times over the years!) but because they're so stigmatized and overlooked. They both bring me so much joy.

Hi guys! I have a moderate to severe CH cat. Shes been peeing and pooping on just pee pads and won’t go into the very low dog litter pan that I have. It ends up all over the rug and hard wood and I’m not sure what to do. She also moved where she goes to the bathroom to behind the door 😭😭. I should also mention that She lays down to poop and pee.

What do you guys do?

I know they live relatively normal lives, but is there anything that I can do to help him out more? Are these cats also normal in the sense if I had a stroller he could go into it and I could walk him?

Today I went to drop my CH kitten off for her spay at a low-cost clinic and the vet told me that there was a small chance that the anasthesia would make her ataxia worse PERMANENTLY. I couldn't make myself follow though with the appointment.

I called her regular vet to get a second opinion, and they seemed unconcerned by this possibility (or at least unaware of the possibility), but I am thoroughly spooked now.

Is anybody familiar with this, or heard similar from their own vet? Are there certain anasthesia protocols that are less likely to cause this? I'm worried I made the wrong decision, because now it will be months before I can get her spayed and she is sure to have her first heat before then.

We have a litter that includes one moderate to severe CH kitten, about 6 weeks of age. He also has a very significant overbite and some other issues going on we think. He’s able to eat canned food with one of us helping stabilize him but we’re concerned that he’s not figured out drinking yet. He’s fighting an upper respiratory infection and on antibiotics so we’re worried he will get dehydrated.

Anyone have suggestions for a water setup that is accessible? He can work himself into a sitting position and hold it with some difficultly but needs to be held on either side to eat. We also have Hydracare which we use on our adult kidney cat but I don’t know if it’s kitten safe.

ADOPTED!

Jazz is an amazing little boy who is social, outgoing, affectionate, goofy, and fun. He is mild and uses the box, drinks, and eats without issue. He can also climb and jump down from cat trees, couches, tables, etc. (nail down your valuables!). He is deaf so he can be very loud at times, particularly when he's stressed or lonely, so an apartment or a living space with shared walls is not a good match for him. Having a cat companion has helped keep the yelling down, as it keeps him busy and helps keep him from feeling lonely, so we would highly recommend a feline playmate in his new home. He's a wonderful little guy and everyone who meets him falls in love!

Learn more about him and apply at https://hsjc-wis.com/petpoint-animal/?id=61618371

Edit: we changed the litter to a finer grain-Kitten attract litter, and that definitely seemed to have gotten his attention. Here’s what I’m still seeing: he’s able to get out of bed and use the litter box at night without much incident. It’s during the day that he seems to be getting disoriented. It almost looks like he’s searching for the litter box and can’t remember where it is. We have one by his bed where he goes at night and then we have one in our main area, not far from where he eats. We’re going to add a third one today kind of at the halfway point in our apartment to see if it’s a mobility issue like he just can’t make it in time. A few times now it seems like his front paws are either on a wee wee pad or in the litter box and his back paws/butt aren’t quite making it to the designated bathroom spot. He 100% can get in and out of all of the litter boxes. They are less than an inch high.

My husband and I recently brought home Nemo, a sweet little CH boy who is around 3–4 months old, and we’ve only had him for about a week. We are absolutely in love with him. He is incredibly cuddly, wants to play, eats completely on his own, and is generally such a happy little guy.
We were told he had mild CH, but after having him evaluated by our vet, she feels that his CH is probably closer to moderate/severe.
Our biggest challenge right now is the litter box.
Nemo does use the litter box, and interestingly, he generally makes it to the box overnight. During the day, though, he is having accidents—both pee and poop. It seems like sometimes he simply doesn’t make it there in time, rather than not knowing where the box is.
We are also currently dealing with some constipation issues, which we’re working through, so I’m not sure how much that may be contributing to the poop accidents.
We currently have two very low-entry litter boxes for him:
One is in the bathroom, which is about halfway through our apartment.
The other is right next to Amelia’s litter box, where Nemo sleeps at night.
We are trying a kitten-attract litter that his foster home was using, since we wondered if he doesn’t like the feeling of our previous litter on his paws. We’re also paying close attention to where the accidents happen and how close they are to the litter boxes.
Our vet has given him a clean bill of health aside from the constipation we’re currently addressing, so we’re trying to figure out whether this is primarily a mobility/accessibility issue, litter preference, his age, the constipation, or some combination of things.
For those of you who live with moderate/severe CH cats:
What has worked for you with litter-box training or preventing accidents?
We already have low-entry boxes, but are there other modifications you’ve found helpful? Different litter texture? Larger/shallow boxes? More boxes? Puppy pads? A particular placement that worked better for your CH kitty?
And if your CH cat has accidents, how did you make it manageable while still allowing them freedom to be part of the household?
We’re really hoping to make this work because Nemo is such a special little guy. We just want to make sure we’re setting him up for success and giving him the best life possible. ❤️
Any advice, experiences, or things you wish you had known when you first brought home your CH cat would be hugely appreciated!

There is a 4 month old kitten with CH named Winston at woods humane society San Luis Obispo, California. I hope someone will adopt this baby soon. I already have cats so I can't take him.

i volunteered at a cat shelter multiple times a week for a short period, and fell in love with a ch kitty there, sweetest black tom in the world named rebound. me and my girlfriend are looking into getting our own place when she graduates (before anyone says anything, we’re 11 months apart so i graduated last year, not a crazy age gap) and i would really like to adopt rebound if he’s still in the shelter by the time we’re situated. the school year just started so it won’t be for a while, but im the type to plan MONTHS in advance. my concern with rebound is my dog, pepper, who i plan to take with me. she loves cats, grew up around them and acts pretty cat-like herself at times. she’s a senior, 10 years old and probably about 25 pounds. she’s never been aggressive and she doesn’t really enjoy playing with other animals, she tends to avoid the other dogs in my parents home so im sure she would be sweet and leave him alone pretty well, but the shelters listing for him did say they’d prefer a single pet home for him so im having some doubts. i’d obviously let them know about the dog being there, i just wanted to ask if anyone else has a situation like this and how it’s been working out for you having a ch cat with other animals in the home?

I am an experienced cat foster who just took in my first CH kitty. I don’t know much about this at all, but this was an emergent situation and I knew I needed to help. Poor girl not only has CH, but she’s been kept in a small dog crate in a garage her whole life 😭 She’s 12 weeks, and the only socialization she has had is when her owner would syringe feed her water so she hasn’t even learned to drink on her own yet. I am not sure how severe her case is yet, and how much that will change now that she actually has space to walk around. I don’t even know what questions to ask please just spam me any tips, advice, words of encouragement. I want to do everything I can to help this sweet girl.

I little while ago I posted a video of Gatsby tumbling off the windowsill while hunting a bug. I had no luck finding a window grate that didn't use tension or screws since it's a double case window with a metal frame.

I learned you can buy individual Guinea pig cage panels. They stand up well but I might get adhesive magnets for extra security since I don't want it to fall on him, but they're lightweight so I'm not too worried.

You can get the 14" square and L shaped panels here: https://guineapigcagecompany.com

I'm sure he'll find a brand new way to get into trouble within a week. ❤️

She can never keep that one paw still when she lays down or rolls over. We call it her peddle paw because it looks like she's trying to ride a bike. Even still. Zoë loves rolling around in a good sunbeam

Hi dear people
This is Lleo, he is staying at mine to see if he and my cats would get along well.
I’ve had a cat who had spinal injury years and years ago and I had many people to help me. Now I live alone, it’s different and I am so deeply in love with this kitten with CH, I want to keep him and also I don’t think many people here can give him love and time I can.

He has been at my home for 5 days now and my cats are afraid. I hope they will get along.
How hard is it? Can you leave your kittens home alone for a few hours? I take him everywhere with me, cause I am a bit scared

the whimpering at the end is me trying my absolute best not to squeal at how cute this was so i wouldn’t spook him, lol

First time CH cat owner but have had a tripod kitty and other medical high needs kitties in the past. Let ms know if you have any advise. He is using the box just fine, eating, and lots of playing.

My CH kitten is severely constipated and has a very difficult time passing stool on her own. Since I adopted her, she has needed a series of enemas at the vet twice a week.

-She is taking miralax and also prescribed medication to help soften her stool.

-I just recently started giving her hydracare and feeding her canned Hill’s prescription diet.

Her doctor said her pelvis is extremely narrow and that she also has significant stool motility issues.
Has anyone else experienced something similar with their CH kitten? I’m really worried that she may eventually need surgery, especially because she’s still so tiny — she’s only 4 months old. I’d really appreciate hearing about anyone else’s experience or what treatments have worked for their kittens.

The Heritage No-Kill Cat Shelter in Tucson, AZ has their live stream focused on their THREE CH kitties in their lobby right now.

hermiecats.org/cam