This is a slightly creepy video. It’s not meant to be. It just looks odd and a bit shocking. Cutaneous asthenia is a genetically inherited condition caused by defective gene which affects collagen production in the skin which makes the skin very loose as you can see in the video. The skin is also fragile and it can be scratched easily and bruised. It can cause irritation to the cat which also means that they might scratched themselves which in turn leads to the possibility that the cat’s caregiver might have their cat declawed.
I find that distressing to be honest because when you declaw a cat you basically add to their medical problems. There can be severe, permanent complications with declawing so I think it would be very unfortunate if a cat owner declawed their cat if they suffered from cutaneous asthenia which is also known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS).
Fortunately, I am pleased to say that this cat, whose name is Toby, has not been declawed because we can see them clearly in the video. He does look like a monster coming out from the deep. He reminds me, sadly, of the zombies in the Amazon prime popular series, The Walking Dead, after they have been immersed in water for about 18 months. That is an unkind description but it does come to my mind. I’m sure that Toby is a perfectly normal cat except for his shocking appearance. I have written about him before which you can read by clicking on this link if you wish. The condition also affects other parts of the cat’s anatomy such as the joints making them lax and the eyes (myopia, retinal detachment and glaucoma).
Toby has an Instagram account as you can tell which is very popular. He is a celebrity cat. Personally, and this is an entirely personal viewpoint, I don’t like to see cats with medical conditions being turned into celebrities on social media. I know that might seem like a tiresome remark to make to a lot of people but it is my opinion. We don’t do this sort of thing with people so we should not do it with domestic cats.
One commenter on the catsite.com said this about their cat Fidel who has the condition:
Fidel is ten and a half now and is well and happy. He has to wear an Elizabethan collar all the time as the skin around his neck and ears is really thin and he rips it open without the collar. He can’t go outside and we make sure he has regular flea treatments but he’s okay, the condition is manageable.
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.
SOME MORE CELEBRITY CATS ARTICES:
