Head Tremors
In addition to the wobbles, another common symptom of cerebellar hypoplasia is temporary head tremors, or the uncontrollable shaking of a cat’s head (like a bobble-head doll). Also called cerebellar or intention tremors, they are an additional result of damage to the cerebellum.
The tremors, which range in severity, usually occur when the cat is trying to focus on something. They may also be brought on by stress, fear or fatigue, but the tremor usually passes in a few moments. While experiencing a tremor, your kitty may miss her target or fall over, but it otherwise shouldn’t hurt her.
Another interesting fact: The tremors are usually perpendicular to the direction of movement — so if your kitty is focusing on something straight ahead, her head will most likely wobble from side to side.
Here’s an example of CG’s tremors when he was 2 months old:
Fortunately, as CG has grown up, his head tremors have improved. He’ll still get them on occassion, but I don’t feel like they’re as severe since he’s older and larger now.
Here’s another more recent video of Ellie’s head tremors:
One thing to watch for is what happens after the head tremor. Sometimes CG will lose his balance after a head tremor, fall over and knock his chin on the floor. I don’t think it’s ever hurt him too badly, but I do suspect a head tremor-induced chin bump to have caused a chipped tooth.
How are your cat’s head tremors? Have they improved as your cat has improved?
Now that you have pointed this out and educated me about it I will watch more intentionally. My CH kitty, Percy went to the vet for the first time a few days ago and I noticed his tremors while we were waiting to see the vet. He had never been away from home except once on a camping trip with me. Thanks for the info. I am concerned about my little guy. He has pooping problems and I cannot seem to stop it. I love my little guy, Percy. I’ll do whatever I can to make his life good. He has severe symptoms. He flops. Hwe cannot walk at all.
Hi Jacquie,
Thanks for commenting! Percy sounds like a special cat! What sort of pooping problems does he have? Can he not make it to the litter box in time, or is it something else? Have you tried using diapers on him? That may be an option, granted a big commitment too!
Good luck, please keep in touch and thanks for reading!
Amanda
Thankfully, Percy’s pooping problems have improved greatly. The vet explained to me that worms can be a constant problem if the pet has fleas, and in our area fleas are TERRIBLE in the summer. Percy had a bad bout of worms when he was a kitten; his mom is feral. Our vet took care of the worms, gave me a great deal on Advantage, and suggested a better food for Percy, even though it is $$expensive$$ (he is doing well on the Blue Buffalo kibble). Percy is worth the extra expense. Consequently his BMs are well formed and he is able to keep himself clean as he struggles clumsily to get his ‘business’ covered up and get himself back out of the box. Now that he is a young adult he ALWAYS gets IN the litter box for his BMs. I am very proud of him! He still likes to use newspaper/peepee pads for his other duty. Anyway, I am glad to report Percy is doing very well, and he is a little superstar to us.
Natalia, it sounds like you use the same type of set-up that we use: a litter box with pads around it. I also cover the pads with newspaper because it allows us to use less pads overall, and saves money. Also, Percy MUST scratch up the papers to try and cover his business. Lord only knows what my friends and other visitors must think when they see a 5′ X 5′ kitty potty area in the corner of the family room! But my critters are #1 priority at my house! Good luck with Lulu!
My Lulu has head tremors! She also cannot make it to the litter box in time though. Why is this? I always keep a pee pad (like the ones dogs use) on the outside of her litter box and sometimes she misses it too. She is the sweetest kitty in the world and I would never give up on her! ~Natalia
We have an orphaned kitten that we’re hand-raising, and I stumbled across your blog trying to figure out what she’s doing. She’s now 3 weeks old, and when she focuses on something (movement, noise, lighting), her entire head trembles and shivers really bad. It’s sporadic, and only when something’s caught her attention. It’s more severe than your video, but I’m hoping maybe it’ll slow/calm down as she gets older?
Anyway, thanks for the video, it really helps to compare and see what’s most likely! ^_^
They very well may. In my experience all of my CH cats’ symptoms have slowly lessened in severity. Sometimes they’re so bad that they lose balance and hit their chins on the floor, but thats only occasionally. Thanks for reading, good luck and please let me know if you have any more questions, etc