Cerebellar Hypoplasia: Not Only For Housecats

Well, this should be obvious after the post the other day about Maddie, but it reminded me of another CH feline I posted about a while back.

Now Caden’s story could really be any cerebellar hypoplasia cat’s story.

He was rescued when he was 12-weeks-old, and it was soon discovered that he had Panleukopenia (distemper), which can cause CH. Caden became very sick, but he eventually pulled through and grew into a lovely adult with his share of wobbles and head tremors. But like Maddie, there’s one thing about Caden that makes him different.

Unfortunately, this is not Caden -- all of Caden's photos are copyrighted. Please visit his story to see the gorgeous boy! Photo courtesy harlequeen.

He’s a cougar.

I was stunned when I read his story because I rarely hear about other animals having cerebellar hypoplasia. From Caden’s story, which you can read here, it sounds like many wild animals don’t survive Panleukopenia, which is why we don’t hear about them. Fortunately Caden was brought into a safe environment where he was treated and raised.

In 2010, the WildCat Haven celebrated Caden’s birthday, and it sounds like he’s doing well. He’s still wobbly and unsteady, but is living a happy, healthy life with his two cougar buddies! In November, WildCat Haven tweeted a gorgeous photo of Caden, which you can see here.