How To Tell If Your Kitten Is Brain Damaged

[LittlePenBigHeart]

We have two kittens. They're brother and sister and they were the only two in the litter. They're six months old. The boy seems absolutely fine, but the girl is a little troubled.

She's had bowel problems since before we brought them home. Before we adopted her (aged 3.5 months) she fell in her poo and got absolutely covered in it. She was very nervous when we adopted her and not affectionate at all. Now she's SUPER clingy...but not in a 'normal' way. She'll jump on your lap and as soon as you start stroking her, she suckles her front right paw (never the left). She'll suckle away, purring loudly for as long as it takes for her to fall asleep, clawing your stomach the whole time. She then gets a claw stuck and can't seem to work out how to take it out. If you try to stop her licking, or ignore her and stop stroking, she eventually jumps down, but she'll jump back within half an hour.

By itself, these things don't necessarily mean anything, but there's more. She can't seem to jump very well. Her brother can leap about like a mad thing but she seems more frail. She can't jump higher than the sofa or bed, for example, and when you stroke her, her back end goes right down every time. The vet examined her carefully but could find nothing wrong. She doesn't tend to clean her back end properly, so she's frequently got poo stuck down there. Yet for some reason, her breath smells REALLY badly of poo!!! Again, the vet has checked her mouth and teeth and confirmed everything is fine.

I feel stupid, really. I've had DOZENS of cats through my life so far, but I've never come across a cat like this! While her brother seems like a normal, boisterous young boy, she seems like she's not all there a lot of the time.

My mother (used to run an animal charity so knows her stuff) cat-sat while we were away and she suggested the brain damage idea. Any idea how you can tell if there is a brain damage issue??

[Lilith]

Hi there, I'm not an expert but I've had three cats who have been just the same as your girl. That air of not being quite 'with it', odd habits and fancies and often compulsive behaviour - 'Ah!' (light dawns) 'I'm here on her lap!' Compulsive headbutting/purring/paw-pounding that goes on for EVER. When you see them again, they might not realise it's you, and hide under the bed. Their minds only seem to hold one idea at a time, bless them.

Two of these cats had difficult births. One was breech born and the amniotic sac had already broken so the kit was deprived of oxygen for a few moments before being delivered by hand. The other was born by caesarian due to a deformed kitten blocking the birth canal and only really related to me towards the end of her life. It's safe to assume these cats could have sustained some brain damage at birth, though the others in the caesarian litter were normal. Mouse, the third, who is still with me, I know nothing about, until her feral mother brought her over at around 6 months and at first I put her timidity down to lack of socialisation but later remembered those other two and thought, ah.

They are amiable, quirky, loopy cats, need a bit of understanding it's true, but so gentle. I know exactly what you mean when you say that it's like she's 'not all there'. The light is on but there's nobody in? Being considered pretty much 'out to lunch' myself by most people (I'm forced to agree with them lol) I do have a fellow feeling with cats like these, but when you meet one for the first time it is a little confusing. But don't feel stupid. She's obviously come to the right person who wants to love and understand her.

About the stinky breath I'm afraid I've no theories...ewww, poor lass, and poor you too if she breathes that in your face. But it would be very interesting to know the circumstances of her birth - is there any way of finding out?

Give her a love from me, and her brother too, all the best with her

[LittlePenBigHeart]

Hi Lillith

Thank you SO much for your reply!

I've tried to speak to a few people about this now and although they all see that something with her doesn't seem quite right, nobody has really come across it before so it's good to know I'm not alone.

We seem to specialise in cats with special needs in my family! Our previous cat (passed away in February) had behavioural problems - he had a HELL of a temper. Then he developed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and was on 3 types of meds a day for the last 9 months of his life. He was only 11.5 years when he died.

Now we've got poor Pepsi and her apparent problems! We were planning to let both the kittens out this weekend (they're having their feline leukemia vaccine tomorrow afternoon) but I'm reluctant to let her out, since I'm not sure how well she'll do out there on her own. Will have to keep a very close eye on her.

Sadly, I don't know much about her birth. I volunteer at a local animal centre and they were born there. Their mother seemed to be fine and the staff didn't tell me anything about their birth at all, so I assumed there was nothing terribly noteworthy about it. But the truth is, some of the things they told me don't seem...quite right. I'm not saying they lied necessarily, but certainly there were things that just don't add up. I don't know.

[Lilith]

Ah. I know what you mean about the animal centre workers. What the writer Hannah Green described as the 'false fine fine'. Which is SO Damn infuriating when what you want is FACTS.

I've been thinking about Pepsi since I made that post and I'm wondering if she has some motor damage too - especially as she obviously finds it difficult to clean under her tail and droops her backside when you stroke her - most girl cats stick their bottoms UP - spring has sprung as we say in this house lol.

This sort of thing couldn't have happened to Pepsi but I once knew this great woman who took in everything; she was involved with vets, animal charities etc, and one day a kitten arrived who (and I'm very sorry to say this, I'll try to be as non-graphic as possible but if anyone's going to be upset please stop reading now) had been used as a football by some...louts (mods wouldn't let me use the word I'd like to! )

He was a white lad with ginger ears and tail, Van Cat markings so I named him Vincent Van Cat. He stayed at the home of his rescuer which was pretty much paradise for a cat, lots of land, and roamed at will, but he never recovered completely - he'd come running up the path to greet you but then go flop sideways on his bottom, pick himself up and get going again. Despite this he was an intrepid hunter.

It's hard to know what to do about letting Pepsi out - so much depends on where you live and how quiet it is. She might recognise her limitations or she might bite off more than she can chew and land herself in a fix...or she might surprise you and become more intrepid, gaining muscle tone and skills...But you will know. As you say, you'll just have to keep an eye and see how she gets on.

Perhaps you could try hammering away at the animal centre workers again, bringing the subject round to Pepsi's background re birth/motor skills/capabilities re going out...silly isn't it, that they don't give you the full picture?

All the best and lots of love to Pepsi and her brother

[booktigger]

Hi Lillith

Thank you SO much for your reply!

I've tried to speak to a few people about this now and although they all see that something with her doesn't seem quite right, nobody has really come across it before so it's good to know I'm not alone.

We seem to specialise in cats with special needs in my family! Our previous cat (passed away in February) had behavioural problems - he had a HELL of a temper. Then he developed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and was on 3 types of meds a day for the last 9 months of his life. He was only 11.5 years when he died.

Now we've got poor Pepsi and her apparent problems! We were planning to let both the kittens out this weekend (they're having their feline leukemia vaccine tomorrow afternoon) but I'm reluctant to let her out, since I'm not sure how well she'll do out there on her own. Will have to keep a very close eye on her.

Sadly, I don't know much about her birth. I volunteer at a local animal centre and they were born there. Their mother seemed to be fine and the staff didn't tell me anything about their birth at all, so I assumed there was nothing terribly noteworthy about it. But the truth is, some of the things they told me don't seem...quite right. I'm not saying they lied necessarily, but certainly there were things that just don't add up. I don't know.

I wouldn't let them out this weekend, they need at least a week after the second vacc to be fully covered.

[LittlePenBigHeart]

Didn't realise that until we took them to the vet! But yes, 3-4 weeks before the second jab and then they can go out. I'm not complaining. I'm dreading letting them out and personally I feel they're both a little smaller than I would like. She's 2.5kg and he's 2.71kg, so they probably aren't too small...but I worry, lol.

I mentioned my concerns about Pepsi to the vet. She said it is possible there's something going on there but it's impossible to tell without a referral to a specialist for a CAT scan (made me chuckle...CAT scan for a cat...anyway). She's also concerned our insurance won't cover it because we'd only had the insurance in place for a few days when we took Pepsi in for a problem with her back legs, which she thinks is related to whatever is wrong with her mentally/neurologically. So she's said that we have to make a choice whether we want to put her through the stress of the tests and potentially have to bear the expense, but potentially get an idea of what to expect in the future if something really is wrong, or to leave her as she is as a happy, comfortable cat who appears to have problems, but we'll have to face any future problems as they come, if they come, with no real warning.

We're going to have to make a decision about this pretty soon, I think. We're not exactly wealthy so I don't know how easily we can afford to have the specialist tests done. We're still suffering from the outpouring of money from Bubbles's heart meds (even with insurance, £60 a month for the meds alone, not including the 3 emergency trips to the cardiologist).

Oh, what to do...

[Crewella]

I've never had a cat with this set of problems either, which is the main reason I've not posted, but I think in your place I'd leave things be unless your vet really thinks it's worth looking into. If she's happy and seemingly healthy I see no point in putting her through a barrage of expensive tests that probably won't actually help her much anyway. What she needs is love and care, and you seem more than capable of giving her that. I think I would be tempted to keep plugging away at the rescue staff though - surely somebody there knows something and might be willing to talk to you about her beginnings?

I think she's very lucky to have found you.