WILFIE

Wilfie was born sometime during October 2001. He was brought to us at the beginning of January 2002 by two children claiming to have found him on their doorstep. He was a timid but affectionate kitten, but would not play with other kittens, preferring to play by himself.

At the beginning of February the same year, we found a home for him. However, in July of the same year, we received a phone call from his owners to say that he was scratching them and they were concerned for the safety of their children. I found this difficult to understand since he did nothing like that after we took him back.

When he arrived back with us, we noticed that he appeared to shiver. Since he was a timid little cat, we were not unduly concerned but over the next few days we realised that it was not a shiver but a slight " Intention Tremor" of his head. We also noticed that if he turned too quickly, he would fall onto his left hip.

Wilfie was taken to the vet. who confirmed a tremor and exhaustive blood tests were carried out; no cause was found. There was no sign of trauma and so we were mystified. A common cause of this sort of thing is brain damage caused by Panleukopaenia, but this usually occurs between six and twelve weeks.

Over the next three weeks, the tremor became more pronounce and he became very unstable on his back legs. Eating became very difficult for him. It was necessary to push his food to one side of the saucer and build it into a little mountain, the tilt the saucer towards him. Then he could eat O.K. His appetite also seems to be increasing at a rapid rate so, at the time of writing, it is necessary to feed him four or five times a day.

We have an appointment with a neurologist in order to find out what is causing the problem; I suspect a tumour of the brain. We are hoping that it will prove operable.

August, 2002.

Consultation with the neurologist was not good. Wilfie has a condition that is well known in dogs but unusual in cats. His problem lies in the Cerebellum.

The condition is that the cells in the Cerebellum are unable to utilise the nutrition from his food. He is unable to store the glucose from his food. As a result, once he is hungry, he needs to replenish his supply by eating at frequent intervals; at the moment, this is every few hours. When hungry, he is very unstable on his legs. Once he has eaten, he becomes much more steady. The prognosis is not good as the condition is progressive. We will continue to care for Wilfie until he is unable to cope.

(To be updated).