We got a call a few days after Halloween from the Petco manager. Someone had found a mother cat and her two kittens in a creekbed, could we come and get them? Of course we said yes. Mom was a pretty, young brown tabby who we named Tabitha; her days-old kittens, a grey and a black, both boys, we named Umbriel and Arthur. Umbriel only lived for three weeks, and at that time Tabitha rejected Arthur. We had a heck of a time bottle feeding him, and somehow were able to convince her to take her baby back.
By the time he was weaned, it was becoming obvious that something was not right with Arthur. He was soon diagnosed with Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH), and the vet more or less told us the kind thing to do was to put him to sleep.
We took him home to cry and think. I got online and found a Yahoo! club for people with CH kitties, and the more I learned, the more convinced I was that Arthur could live an almost normal life, given the chance.
He is now 4 months old and took his very first walk this past week, he still mostly flops but is getting stronger and more agile all the time. He is a normal kitten in every sense of the word, except for mobility. He is a very silly and extremely affectionate little guy, and he has thoroughly captured our hearts.
Tabitha has since been adopted out, but Arthur is a keeper!
Here he is at 3 months:
By the time he was weaned, it was becoming obvious that something was not right with Arthur. He was soon diagnosed with Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH), and the vet more or less told us the kind thing to do was to put him to sleep.
We took him home to cry and think. I got online and found a Yahoo! club for people with CH kitties, and the more I learned, the more convinced I was that Arthur could live an almost normal life, given the chance.
He is now 4 months old and took his very first walk this past week, he still mostly flops but is getting stronger and more agile all the time. He is a normal kitten in every sense of the word, except for mobility. He is a very silly and extremely affectionate little guy, and he has thoroughly captured our hearts.
Tabitha has since been adopted out, but Arthur is a keeper!
Here he is at 3 months: