Kitten struggling to walk, head tilted to one side.

by Chrissy
(Kentucky)

Hi. I have a kitten, unsure of age due to finding him on a highway; my guess is about 5-6 months of age. A couple weeks ago, I got a new dog and of course when the dog and cat met, there was a fight. Ever since the "altercation", my cat has been limping and struggling to stand up. When he walks, he walks to the side and limps, hardly using his back legs at all. I've also noticed that his head is tilted slightly to the left and twitches... :( It seems like he doesn't even blink. He is very skinny but has been this way since I found him, no matter what I feed him... He uses his litter box fine, and sometimes goes to his food/water bowl, but we usually have to do it due to the cat still being scared of the dog. We really love this cat and can't really afford to take him to the vet. Hopefully I can get some kind of advice on what I could do to help save my baby. Thank you everyone!


Reply
Hi
You say you can’t really afford to take him to the vets but if you care for the cat then you have no choice I’m afraid. Part of deciding to take care of a cat is taking on the responsibility and costs of vet care. It’s just the way it is I’m afraid.

From the sound of it, either your kitten sustained some sort of injury during the fight with the dog which may have damaged his spine perhaps or even his head, a crush injury for instance. Or it may simply be a genetic problem that this little kitten was born with due to him being a feral cat who probably was the runt of the litter.

Either way, he needs to be seen by a vet to be assessed. Without it you don’t know if there is anything that can be done for him and perhaps even say his life. You need to know for sure so that you can make the right decisions for him.

I really hope you find a way to get him to see a vet soon. I know its difficult believe me I’ve been there too but sometimes there simply is no other option.

Best wishes Kate

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kitten head tilt
by: Susan

I found some kittens also. The runt has a head tilt. It gets around great tho. It's now 5mos old, and I had it checked by my vet. Xrays showed no abnormalities in the vertebrae,etc.. My vet suggested it may be a brain/neurological problem. I now have the choice to pursue it further, or just keep it comfy and care for it inside, instead of outside like the other ferals. Being it may have a neurological disease, I'm going to keep it in with all my others... ugh!

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