wobbly cat syndrome

[jinksandchew]

A friend of mine who lives in france has two cats, brothers with wobbly cat syndrome (Cerebellum Hypoplasia to give it its full name) and generally, they get on very well. However a couple of times one of them has really gone for the other and when she intervene she gets literally flown at. He drew blood last time but think that was sheer luck more than judgement as their condition means their balance and co-ordination is totally shot to bits. There is no warning this is going to happen but the cats eyes pupils are fully dilated and his eyes just look like black holes. Normally he is such a loving little thing and this behaviour just comes out of the blue. Has anyone any ideas as to why or how she can prevent it. He really does hurt his brother which is why she steps in, normally she would leave them to it as they have a rough and tumble now and then but no-one gets hurt. She has asked her vet in france but no one has come across this condition before. any thoughts?

 

[ArtNJ]

Well, I have no idea about the condition, but just to cross off the basics, I'll note that healthy normal cats that like each other can start fighting for several reasons: (1) a smell from outside, often an outside cat; (2) a loud noise such as a dropped dish or a human screaming startle them when they are near each other; (3) a trip to vet or groomer leaves one cat smelling differently; (4) during play, a nail catches and one accidentally hurts the other. I'm probably forgetting a few, but those are some of the common ones.

These episodes last how long? How long does it take for the cats to get back to getting along? Not sure exactly what that will tell us, but just generally thinking that if they come out of the blue, don't last long, and resolve quickly, and don't fit any of the above, then it is likely to be *something* medical.

I assume your friend has googled the condition and throw the word "fighting" into the search bar as well. Nowadays there is so much information available on everything.

 

[susanm9006]

Have these two cats been neutered? How old are they and is she really sure they are fighting and not rough playing? If you could get a video that would be helpful.

 

[rubysmama]

He drew blood last time

Was the drawn blood from your friend, or the other cat?

She has asked her vet in france but no one has come across this condition before. any thoughts?

Who diagnosed them? Could it be something else?

 

[Hellenww]

I looked up Cerebellum Hypoplasia. Interesting but couldn't find anything that suggests aggression or even redirected agression do to the syndrome. Your friend is an angel for taking on 2 special needs kitties. I'm with A ArtNJ , if it's not redirected aggresion from something in the enviroment look into a medical issue. It could be something seperate from wobbly cat syndrome. Even a mild infection can cause redirected aggression in the sick cat or the cat that senses an illness in another.

Normally I'd suggest nail trimming to prevent accidental scratches. If her kittys have mild cases it's probably ok to trim. Otherwise they need the claws to get around and climb .

Suggest your friend not use her hands to break them. Another member suggest having a large piece of cardboard on hand to place between them. Once they can't see each other it might be possible to distract the attacker.