#cerebellarhypoplasia #cerebellum #cat #kitten #vet
This stray kitten came into our hospital at approximately 4 weeks of age with severe intention tremors. This is the kitten 2 weeks later and as you can see, he is demonstrating severe intention tremor activity. These tremors do not occur at rest (at least not as bad) but they do seem to interfere greatly with movement of all kinds, including eating and drinking. The foster mom is hoping that with time and as he matures, he may be able to compensate a bit better than he does now.

We suspect this cat has cerebellar hypoplasia. This is caused by in utero infection with panleukopenia virus. The virus attacks rapidly dividing cells, in this case, the external germinal layer of the cerebellum. The cerebellum doesn't develop normally (i.e. is hypoplastic) by the time the animal is born. A lot of times cats and dogs can lead good lives even with cerebellar hypoplasia, because the rest of their nervous system and body in general, is unaffected by the virus and should be normal. They're just spastic. Let me know if you enjoy content like this.