Meet Jasper

While some of us have had our CH kitties for years — if not more than a decade, it’s just as wonderful to hear about and celebrate new CH cat parents, like Jessica!

She adopted her wobbler in late June and emailed me about him less than two weeks after bringing him home.

Here’s their story:

I really wanted another kitten and saw an ad on Craigslist from a vet tech that had nine kittens from two litters to find homes for. I called and asked if they had any males and was told yes, there was one left.

I really wanted a male as we have one male and two female cats already. So I got to the vet and the lady that found/brought them in brings in three tuxedo kitties and one grey one. She points out the male and then proceeds to tell me that he’s a special needs kitty. (I was like, um, OK? Why wasn’t I told this over the phone?) She tells me he has CH and informs me about this condition.

Now, I’ve never heard of CH nor was I so sure that her promises of “everything else is fine with him, he’s just wobbly on his feet” were accurate. All I could envision was multiple trips to the vet, and all sorts of internal organ issues. I mean it’s a brain malfunction after all. But something about him tugged at my heart, and it also broke my heart that he’d been most likely passed up because of his CH. But even running around with his litter mates I could tell he was going to be a LOVE BUG!!!! The grey one, a female, also had CH, but she was MUCH worse, probably moderate to severe.

Long story short, I decided that since this little guy had already been passed up five times, and since everyone has something wrong with them, why not? I did make sure to ask the vet during the exam what other issues did this kitten possibly have and he reiterated that it just meant he’d be wobbly on his feet and have a head jerk at times. No internal issues, everything looked good. So, the kitty came home with me and we’ve had him now for 13 days.

I researched like crazy CH in cats and did get a bit worried that his condition might worsen; incontinence, food/water issues, needing special places to eat and drink due to not being able to stand, etc. But I’d already witnessed him pecking at his food and water and stepping in his poop while trying to cover it up (thankfully we had him in a bathroom so the tile was easy to wipe clean). He also climbed up his carrier pretty well as he could not jump up onto the toilet to say hello.

Now he runs full force and darts down the stairs (often tumbling and would do much better if he just slowed down a bit). He jumps up to the couch cushion, gets his paws snagged on the top, then pulls his little body up onto the cushion…he’ll soon have some really strong biceps for sure! He makes us laugh and is a riot to watch, Can’t wait to see where Jasper goes!!!

What is your cat’s name? Jasper (was Charlie for a day, then hubby liked my suggestion better! HAHAHA!)

Male or female? Male

Age? 10 weeks old (as of July 8)

How severe is his CH? Looks to be mild, we’ve had him almost 2 weeks.

Does he have certain limitations? Wobbly when walking, bobble head when focusing; jumps pretty well and uses his biceps to pull himself up the rest of the way onto whatever he’s reaching for (couch, toilet); manages our stairs pretty good (would do better if he’d SLOW DOWN!!!)

How does he manage the litter box? Does fine so far, just occasionally steps in his poop when trying to cover it with litter, so I have to wipe his paw off

Eating and drinking? Pecks at both food and water like a chicken (but bowls are on the floor and he doesn’t appear to have issues with that)

Do you do anything special to help? Not yet.

What’s one funny story about him (related to CH)? He LOVES, and I mean LOVES plastic trash bags/sacks. He pounces and attacks them all over the house. He’s so funny to watch as he focuses on the bag (with his head bobbing) and then stagger pounces on the bag. I feel bad for laughing, but it’s so funny!

Share a story about how he figured out how to do something CH cats “can’t” do: While he can’t jump high enough to and on the couch cushion, he does lunge toward the couch, high enough to get his paws on top of the cushion and then pulls himself up, because he wants to be close to me (blushes).

Has he ever hurt herself because of his CH? He has conked his head real good a couple of times, but it doesn’t seem to faze him as much as it scares and startles me!

Each animal is special in his own way. How is he special? So far (in the 2 weeks we’ve had him) I’m amazed at how persistent he is to get around the house and to be where the other cats are (even if that’s high up on a cat tree 4 feet in the air).

Have you found ways to help him with CH? How? Not so far (we have a carpeted house, so he does pretty well moving around).

Do you have any words of wisdom for other CH parents? Not yet, I’m so new to it I’m the one learning.

What do you think people need to know about CH? CH cats are VERY loving.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about his having CH? I love just how loving he is and hope it doesn’t change.

Anything else you’d like to add? I’m VERY new to this CH thing so I’m learning was we go and hoping this site will be informative. Since he’s a kitten that’s only 10 weeks old, he’s learning too, so I hope we can learn together!

Click here to read about other readers’ CH cats or tell us about your CH cat!