Hi there! Long-time lurker but never posted before. You guys are awesome and so knowledgable, maybe you can help me out.
I’ve had cats all my life, but this summer I got my introduction to hand-raising abandoned kittens with a single orphan. He was just over a week old when he was found chilled, dehydrated, amd covered in wounds with his less fortunate littermates. Immediately he got subcutaneous fluids from the vet, then KMR and cuddles round the clock from me. Two (probably bite) wounds abscessed and had to be drained, and he was put on antibiotics that wreaked havoc with his tiny stomach. My veterinarian diagnosed him with hydrocephalus, and it seemed obvious–at two weeks he couldn’t hold his head up, he could barely crawl without falling over and struggling like a capsized turtle, and his eyes had the telltale ‘setting sun’ look (pupils down and out). I was advised to expect rapid deterioration: seizures, coma, and eventually death. So I resolved to make the end of his tragic little life as happy and safe as possible.
Except he made it.
Burrito is almost four months old now. His abscess scars are invisible, his head tilt is barely there any longer. He was weaned at four weeks and litter trained at five, both completely without issue. He runs and jumps and attacks everything in sight just like any kitten his age, and shows no signs of mental problems (if anything, he’s a sharp little cookie!). The open fontenelles in his skull are almost completely closed, and his pupils focus straight ahead. The only indication that anything was ever wrong is a slightly dome-shaped head, and perhaps a little extra derpiness.
Everything I have read says hydrocephalus is progressive, and my vet predicted mental and physical disabilities on the off chance Burrito lived to be even a month old. But Burrito has improved so drastically that I don’t know what to think. The vet hasn’t seen him in a couple of months, but we’re having him neutered soon, so he’ll be going in for an exam first.
Has anyone here known of cats who lived fairly normal lives with hydrocephalus, or of cases where a cat has shown improvement? I’m looking for anything I can find before the official veterinary opinion, which I don’t expect to be optimistic.