I have presumed that this grey cat is female but her name is androgynous. It is Gomela. She suffers from severe congenital hydrocephalus according to her human companion who has made a video of her receiving her medicine which is administered as a liquid directly into the mouth. In the video you see her preparing to drink it by employing mouth and tongue movements as if she is drinking it. It looks strange but we have to do conclude that she is very happy to take her medicine. It begs the question, for me, as to what the medicine is. Does it taste really nice or does it make her feel better or both?
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My research indicates that the medicine for this condition might include drugs such as prednisone, omeprazole, mannitol, furosemide, to name four. There is no indication that they taste great so I think Gomela likes them because they make her feel better. This would imply that she doesn’t feel that great sometimes or perhaps all the time. Furosemide is a “loop diuretic that decreases cerebrospinal fluid by inhibiting the sodium-potassium co-transport system”. Mannitol is a type of sugar alcohol used as a sweetener and medication. It is used as a low-calorie sweetener. Does it taste good to a cat? Cats can’t taste sweetness normally. Prednisolone is a steroid medication used to treat certain types of allergies and inflammatory conditions.
Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.
My reference book tells me that hydrocephalus in cats is “an enlargement of the dome of the skull due to a blockage in the circulation of cerebral spinal fluid.”
There appears to be two types and surgery is also a possibility but I’m not going to go into all that veterinary staff. This is a rare disease in cats it seems to me because there is very little on it in my reference book. I said it’s rare but one study starts off by saying “hydrocephalus is a common congenital or acquired neurologic disorder in dogs and cats.”
The cause is often unknown. The name implies that there is an excess accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the cranial cavity with subsequent dilation of the ventricular system. Congenital hydrocephalus is more common than acquired hydrocephalus. Animals with congenital hydrocephalus are often smaller than average. And an enlargement of the cranium is often evident. There are various neurological signs including restlessness, head pressing and seizures. The cat may have difficulty walking (“gait deficits”). In dogs with the disease owners said that they were difficult or impossible to house train.
I agree that this is very technical so I’ll stop there. But the interesting aspect of the story is that this sweet cat likes her medicine and I like the person who is looking after her (@gome_la). Well done to her. Anybody who looks after a disabled cat deserves all the praise that they can get. They are genuinely good people in my book. They do something good for the world. They give. They are givers.
Backup version of the video in case the one above stops working or vice versa!
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