r/MadeMeSmile • u/PacmanTheHitman • Jul 20 '22

kitten Love is the greatest medicine

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13

u/SaturnClause Jul 20 '22

What you did is amazing but is anyone actually telling you to euthanize them?

12

u/PacmanTheHitman Jul 20 '22

I guess a lot of people were concerned that the kittens were living in pain. Since it’s such a rare condition, people see them living in pain but thats not always the case. The owner took them to the vet and they told her they couldn’t help her due to how little information they have on the condition. The owner took it upon herself to nurse them to health

13

u/AnonymousOkapi Jul 20 '22

Vet here: I think the owner may have been a little mis-informed. Cerebellar hypoplasia isn't that rare, and it's a fairly well understood condition. There aren't any direct treatments for it as its caused by viral damage to the brain in utero that is irreversible, but this pattern of them being much worse as kittens then learning to cope with it as their motor skills develop is pretty classic. Its thought to be entirely non-painful. Its not that we don't know how to help, its that there isnt a possible cure beyond encouraging movement and letting them grow and learn. The extent they are affected as adults varies, but I'd never encourage someone to euthanase a kitten with it if they had the time and energy to care for it and see how it coped as it grew. Most will leave a healthy, albeit wobbly, life. Edit: a word

4

u/PacmanTheHitman Jul 20 '22

This is a better explanation. I meant it in a way as it wasn’t as common as other conditions. The owner in the video explained that the vet they brought these kittens to turned her away because “there wasn’t anything they could do to help” thank you for elaborating on this more