I adopted a special needs cat

[mburbank]

No one was going to adopt this cat. It has the feline equivalent of ataxia, which means its nervous system doesn't work very well. It does not so much walk as lurch, tumble, careen, somersault and generally spaz out. It is particularly painful to watch him tumble into the litterbox, fall over and then try desperately to bury whatever it's made, generally burrying himself as much as anything else. Or when he falls into his water bowl, and wants to run away because like most cats he hates being wet, and the more worked up he gets the less he can control his body.

He has a sweet personality, and wisely spends much of his time just lying there not trying to move.

I want to make him training wheels, or pontoons or something, to stabalize him.

We haven't named him yet. We are listing famous drunks, as this is what he looks like.

[Protoclown]

Jaeger and I have a couple of friends who have a cat like that, who spazzes out and can't walk right because part of his brain was underdeveloped or something. They call him Monkey, and he's cool. Though he can freak you out sometimes when he comes flying through the air like a whirling dervish of death to jump up in your lap.

[mburbank]

Yeah, this as yet unamed cat can barely walk at all, but when the wife turned on the vacuum when he was in the litter box it almost impossible to describe the full bore spastic modern dance freakout he went through.

It's kind of perfect for my life.

The best part is when he's just laying there, he's this beutiful dignified all black cat, the very picture of grace. And then there's two modes. He's either a very slow moving ancient drunk guy who falls down every other step, or just this writhing convulsing spitting ball of freakout.

[Cosmo Electrolux]

name him Otis...or since he's a little on the spastic side, maybe Ernest T.

[Mockery]

That's really cool Max. I demand to see pictures, nay, VIDEOS of this cat in action.

[mburbank]

Yeah, it would need to be videos, but I lack the technology. We need a fundraiser to bring me (and my cat) fully into the digital age.

[FartinMowler]

I once knew this guy who sent this special needs cat to a message therapist because it couldn't lick it's balls.

[mburbank]

I think of myself as a message therapist

[Guitar Woman]

Name it Charlie. Trust me.

[MisSFiT]

How old is this cat?
I have a very beautiful all black long hair cat with bright green eyes, and he is normal. So, if you want another one let me know.

[kahljorn]

my kind of special cat died yesterday :O :(

[Protoclown]

Sorry to hear that dude :(

[MetalMilitia]

LOLCAT fodder imo.

[Sicktodeathmx]

That is so sweet of you to adopt a special needs kitty.
Dude, you can totally get any woman now. I'm serious too. Girls love sensitive guys!

[kahljorn]

it's cool I didn't take it as badly as my girlfriend did.

His name was aliester because he had a green eye and a blue eye ;o

[mburbank]

My special needs cat gave me some awesome scars this morning. He'd been horribly circling the litter box, or so it seemed anyway. It was hard to gage his intent as he was not succeeding in getting any closer to it for like a half hour. It certainly looked like it was his intended destination. I finally couldn't take it anymore and I went over and tried to help him out. I lifted him up and when hios feet touched the cat litter, he totally freaked out and bit into my hand and tore two long scratches from the inside of my elbow all the way to the palm of my hand. Ow. I hollered real loud, but managed to put him down gently without instinctively throwing him. Then I had to pretend for my kids that he hadn't hurt me all that much and I went in the bathroom to clean myself up and also so they wouldn't see their dad SOBBING LIE A BABY! I'm kidding, I didn't cry very much at all.

Their is suprisingly little visible damage, concidering how much it still hurts.

I don't now about this, though. I mean, not for me, I thrive on getting carved up, but Cordelia manhandles that cat no matter what I tell her. Plus, since it has so little motor control, it doesn't give you any of the typical cat signals about when to stay away. It's been ultra affectionate, there was no indication it could be as violent as it got, and I have now way of knowing if it meant to be so... effective, or if it only intended to nip me a little and then it's jaws went spastic (literally).

[Protoclown]

Yeesh...that's tricky, Max. I guess if you're afraid for your children's safety though, it's probably best to try to find him another home.

[kellychaos]

My posts are often spastic and unwieldly. As a message therapist, what would be your best advice, Max?

[Perndog]

I can appreciate that it must hurt, but how do you get "awesome scars" from "surprisingly little visible damage"? Does it just start to look worse and worse every day because your cat has venomous teeth or something?

[FartinMowler]

My posts are often spastic and unwieldly

:\ If you were a cat I know what I would do with you Kelly

[mburbank]

Pern, yeah, awesome scars is a huge exageration. That being said, the ones on my arm look worse than they did this morning, which is pretty much the way with cat scratches.

I mean I required no stitches or even butterfly bandages. I have been hurt way worse by animals. I think I must be some kind of masochist, because I've always loved animals, but have been hurt numerous times over the course of my life, twice bad enough to need stitching.

Like I said, I'm more concerned about Cordie who has as little sense as I did when I was her age, and mostly because this poor cat can't give you a warning before he starts whipping all over the place.

[ItalianStereotype]

it's a cat, max, it's not going to carve your daughter up real tasty like.

[DeadKennedys]

I can appreciate that it must hurt, but how do you get "awesome scars" from "surprisingly little visible damage"? Does it just start to look worse and worse every day because your cat has venomous teeth or something?

Actually, yeah. I was told there's something weird about cat saliva. Their bites are nasty, cause when mine was a kitten, he'd playfully bite and the next day my hand would look fucked up and red.

it's a cat, max, it's not going to carve your daughter up real tasty like.

Well, I once saw a cat's claw get stuck on a dog's eyeball when they were just messing around. Not a pretty sight

[mburbank]

Last night it bit my older daughter when she was trying to help it spaz down off the couch withouth bashing it's head in. This morning it peed and crapped in several places that were not the litter box. I think it is trying to tell us things aren't working out.

I feel terrible, but he's got to go back. The girls cried like crazy last night. My friend at the shelter says they'll foster him there until they can find someone for him and won't ice the poor bastard.

I think he needs a small confined space and maybe one person, which are things we can't give him.

And while I don't think a cat could kill you, I am here to tell you from personal experience (not this cat) that if a cat really wants to hurt you, it is nothing at all like the accidental and/or playful stuff they put you through, even when they are feeling grumpy.

[Perndog]

Sorry, Max. One of my friends had to give a cat back to a shelter after it didn't work out, and that was really sad. But we went back yesterday and she brought home a different one (hopefully without the same problems), and while we were there I met one that I want to adopt too, so I think I'm going to become a first-time pet owner soon. :)

[MisSFiT]

That's too bad, but really the cat may just have substancial health problems that no matter where it is it just can't be fixed. My cat was 21 years old and started pissing everywhere and hissing at us, I think it's a common thing for cats to become senile.

Maybe it's time for it to go to Kitty Heaven. :(

[executioneer]

Sorry, Max. One of my friends had to give a cat back to a shelter after it didn't work out, and that was really sad. But we went back yesterday and she brought home a different one (hopefully without the same problems), and while we were there I met one that I want to adopt too, so I think I'm going to become a first-time pet owner soon. :)

just remember no sacrificies >:

[kellychaos]

A friend of mine had a cat with a urinary infection which, at first, he didn't know about. He took the cat to the vet because it wouldn't use the litter box. After arriving at the diagnosis of the infection, the vet explained that the problem was that the cat was associating the pain of urination with the litter box and; therefore, discontinue the use of it. Perhaps the cat is misassociating his seizures with different tasks and situations that he's in. If this is the case, I don't see his relationship with you and your family get anything but worse.

[Darryl]

My sister told me about a story she read where a guy was sitting reading a newspaper, and his cat zoomed into the room, jumped onto his lap, and got its claw stuck in his eyeball. The cat was just doing a normal kitty freakout.

Doctors had to remove the eye. :hypno

[MockMeAmadeus]

teh bad.