When a man was walking along some train tracks heading to the Life Learning Center, Covington, Kentucky, something strange caught his eye.
There was a taped-up cardboard box sitting on top of the tracks as if somebody had deliberately put it there.
Sensing that something felt off, the man rushed to the box and opened it.
What he saw when he opened it completely blew him away.
Cruelly Abandoned
Inside the box were five kittens who seemed to be not older than six weeks, curled up next to each other.
“A staffer at The Learning Center posted them on a local [Facebook] page looking for rescue help, and they made their way to Stray Haven,” volunteer cat coordinator at Stray Haven Pet Rescue, Shelly Conner, told The Dodo.
Luckily, the adorable Covington kittens were able to be put into foster homes in a very short time, all thanks to Stray Haven.
As they were settling into their new home, the foster mom noticed that they seemed a bit different.
“Initially, the foster who picked them up got them set up in her bathroom, but quickly realized something was ‘wrong’ with most of them. She sent me videos, concerned there was something neurologically going on. I recognized CH right away. They came to me that evening,” she said.
As it turned out, four out of five kittens were diagnosed with cerebellar hypoplasia.
Cerebellar hypoplasia, often referred to as wobbly cat syndrome, is a developmental condition that can occur in both cats and dogs where the cerebellum of the brain doesn’t develop properly.
Because the cerebellum is the portion of the brain that controls fine motor skills, balance, and coordination, animals that have this condition have jerky movements, tremors, and generally uncoordinated motion.
It can be caused if, during the pregnancy, the mama cat contracts panleukopenia (a.k.a. kitty parvo).
Luckily, Shelley had past experiences working with cats with CH, so she was more than happy to volunteer and take them in.
In A Foster Home
The kittens settled into their new home in no time and were given some pretty interesting names.
The kittens that were diagnosed with CH were named Rocky Road, Cherry Garcia, Pistachio, and Sherbet, while the one who didn’t have it was named Chunky Monkey.
The four kittens had what is called mild-moderate CH. Shelly explained that when the kittens had just arrived, they weren’t able to get on their feet at all and had loose stools.
Not only was this much more challenging, but it also made Shelly think that they had a severe case of CH.
“As they got stronger and older, they gained the ability to get up on all four legs. After about three weeks, they gained enough stability to be able to start drinking on their own and use the litter box. They truly have come so far in just five weeks,” she added.
However, these adorable kittens can’t even see the difference between each other. All they know is that they are five playful siblings who love having fun with each other.
Shelly hopes that the rescue will be able to find these babies’ parents who have experience dealing with CH, just in case.
Nevertheless, these adorable kitties will be able to live a normal life full of fun, happiness, and cuddles!
