Nodia, our CH foster cat, playing in the back yard

This is Nodia, one of our foster cats. She has cerebellar hypoplasia (CH), a neurological condition whereby the cerebellum of kittens does not fully develop in utero. The most common cause of this is the mother cat having distemper while pregnant. Cats with CH have poor muscle coordination, as seen in this video of Nodia. The degree to which affected cats manifest symptoms varies from mild to severe. Nodia is toward the upper range of this scale. Compare her coordination with that of Tumbles, one of our black-and-while CH kitties, seen toward the end of this video. The condition does not get worse and cats learn to compensate as they age. Cats with CH are not in pain, are not suffering and not in need of humane euthanasia. They simply have poor coordination which—in more severe cases like Nodia’s—can require some accommodations to improve quality of life. Otherwise they live happy, healthy, full lives just like normal cats.