Raising awareness for cerebellar hypoplasia has been something I’ve been passionate about since we first adopted Sophie five years ago. Unfortunately, there are people out there who don’t think CH cats can have any quality of life and should therefore be euthanized. To make matters worse, some of these people are even veterinarians or other animal-care professionals. In most cases, this way of thinking stems from a lack of education regarding CH.
Living with a CH cat myself, I see first-hand every day what an amazing and happy life Sophie leads. Out of our seven cats, Sophie is hands down the happiest and most carefree. I’m not saying that our other cats aren’t happy too (because they are), but Sophie just has this air of pure joy and wonder and love all the time. Sure, she stumbles and falls and can’t jump the same way our other cats can, but she certainly doesn’t care.
And Sophie is just one example of how a cat with cerebellar hypoplasia can live a full and happy life. I know hundreds, even thousands more. (Seriously. The Cerebellar Hypoplasia Cats & Kittens group on Facebook has over 12,000 members.)
Sadly though, not everyone gets to witness or experience the happiness and joy of a CH cat. And as result, when they see a cat that can’t walk right (or maybe not even at all), they jump to conclusions and think the cat is in pain or that the cat can’t possibly be happy or healthy.
Just last week, we heard a heartbreaking story of a CH kitty named Amelia who was euthanized due to lack of education as well as a lack of desire to learn. Amelia lived with her foster mom and was finally adopted early last week. Her new family seemed perfect on paper – the woman was even a vet tech! However, two days after she was adopted, she was euthanized. There have since been conflicting stories flying around in the Facebook group regarding the details of the situation. We may never know exactly what happened, but regardless of the exact details, it still comes down to the fact that the woman who adopted Amelia and the vet she worked with decided that, for whatever reason, Amelia had no quality of life, so they euthanized her.
Never mind the adoption contract that stated that Amelia should be returned if her adopter couldn’t or wouldn’t care for her anymore. Never mind the fact that Amelia’s foster mom fought to get her back. Never mind the fact that tons and tons of people from the CH Facebook group called, emailed, and FB messaged the vet’s office to try to educate them and convince them that Amelia didn’t deserve to be killed. None of it was enough.
In the wake of such a heartbreaking tragedy, the only thing I know to do is continue to educate and raise awareness. I really believe that education is the key to saving lives, so I will be doubling our “Cerebellar Hypoplasia Awareness” efforts!
Some of the upcoming things you can expect to see from us:
- A new #WobblyWednesday series on our Facebook page. Each week, we will be sharing a photo of an animal with CH (yes, dogs can have it too!) along with a little blurb about how he or she lives a happy life and positively impacts the lives of his or her family.
- More videos of Sophie!
- A Facebook Live video about cerebellar hypoplasia.
- We will also be working with a couple of other bloggers on guest posts and other collaborative projects relating to CH.
What you can do to help, if you’re so inclined:
- SHARE our CH social media posts to help us spread the love and raise awareness
- SHARE any and all of our CH blog posts. You can find links to many of most popular CH posts here.
- Purchase your very own Wobble Nation t-shirt! Links to purchase can be found here.
- Follow the #WobblyWednesday hashtag on Instagram for your weekly dose of wobbly cuteness!
To our other blogger friends – if you are interested in collaborating in some way on a post or campaign relating to cerebellar hypoplasia awareness, please contact me at kittycatchronicles (at) gmail.com or on Facebook.
What you’re doing is really important – we’ll be sharing!
I can see that Sophie is one happy kitty! I hope your efforts will go a long way to educate people about CH. Those kitties deserve a chance too.
I haven’t had cats since I was a child and don’t really know anything at all about CH. Thank you for bringing awareness to this, and sharing your story!
Thank you for sharing. And I am so sad about Amelia. This is important work you are doing so please continue. Sophie … hon … them eyes!!
I’m definitely going to share your post to raise awareness! To be honest, until reading your posts I was not aware, and did not know about cerebellar hypoplasia, thank you for bringing it to my attention and teaching me about CH.
We’ll be helping you to spread the word, that’s for sure. It was so sad about Amelia, and that never should have happened. We’re so proud to have friends who are strong advo-cats like you.
I remember seeing that post about poor Amelia. It was heartbreaking to know someone would adopt her just to end her life. It was really upsetting. Thanks to people like you Emily that help educate people about CH cats, people are informed and have a different understanding as to how cats can maintain a happy life despite the “wobblies”. I will continue to share your posts and thanks for all you do!
Sophie is beautiful. And it’s clear from your posts that she’s healthy and well loved. I’ve never met a CH kitty in purrson, myself, but if I were to meet Sophie, I’d be honoured. PURRS.
How sad this happened!!! I have ONE question – and I am reading more here on your blog too but does this condition cause PAIN? Outside of IF a CH cat were to fall and injure itself is there any REGULAR ongoing day to day pain involved?
For me seeing anything in pain – animal or human is the worst.
If no pain- and they are born this way and it’s all they know – there is nothing WRONG with them!
Yes more work perhaps for the pet parent but so what!
Thanks for your question, Joely! No, CH cats are NOT in any pain. It is a neurological condition that affects their coordination and motor skills. They are born this way and don’t know any different. There are varying degrees of severity – for example, animal with mild cases may only have head tremors and otherwise get around normally. And then there are more severe cases when the animal can’t walk on their own much without falling over, so they may need assistance with things and may even require a walker. But they are not in any pain and can still live very happy lives!
Can I put down the fool who killed Amelia. PLEASE CAN I * seethes * I WOULD KILL THEM!!!!!!!!!!! How can people be so damned stupid. They are ignorant and don’t deserve to have a cat ever in their lives. Rest in Peace Amelia you didn’t deserve this. May misfortune follow that woman everywhere.
Education? Yes we sure as hell need it to save CH cats. It must feel like you are banging on a door and no-one answers. City the Kitty is in the same position with the brainless idiots who declaw cats. Is anyone listening? I hope to hell they are.
we STAND with you. Mom was heartbroken to hear about Amelia. Like so many other things, it amazes us the stigma that can go with this…even into a vet’s office. We can’t imagine someone telling us that Sophie…or even Chanel with her head tilt or the FIV cats at our rescue looking for homes….are not able to live wonderful lives.
That’s so important to educate people ! Ignorance often conducts to very sad ends… Purrs
Emily, this absolutely breaks my heart. Amelia did not deserve this heartless disregard for her life. I know first hand what a joy Sophie is, as do so many others. If you want to write something to post on our blog, we’d be happy to share. I would adopt a CH cat without a second thought. One of my favorite photos ever is Sophie in Tom’s lap at the BlogPaws banquet! Love to all. Astrid sends Sampy oodles of kisses and love. XOCK, angel Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy and Sawyer
Poor Amelia; too, too sad. I’ve noticed that vets seem to bring up euthanasia TOO MUCH; they say, ‘it’s for the better’ but seriously, is dead better than alive? WHA?!? I didn’t know that I didn’t have your FB feed; now I do! You’ve got my support!
I’m totally in! I’m a big fan of Sophie’s and will be helping to spread the word in the name of education……and Amelia.
Sophie is just adorable and I love that you are her champion as well as one for CH. I hate that vets and vet techs offer PTS as a “treatment” option. My heart hurts for Amelia who deserved a chance at life. Thank you for raising awareness about such an important issue.
That is so sad about Amelia. We’re glad you are going to up your game about CH awareness and education.
That is so sad about Amelia. I am glad you are doing something to spread the word about this. Every kitty deserves loving home.
Bless you for spreading awareness and helping affected kitties.
What a pity ! May your post help end this sort of ignorance !
We were so sad to hear about Amelia. The optimistic person in me wants to think something happened and it couldn’t be avoided, but the realist in me thinks the worst! I love Sophie and can see how much joy she has in living. Keep up the good work!
How really sad for Amelia and all of the people that loved her and wanted to see her live. I really don’t understand the side of people that are quick to take a life…hope they are never in the position themselves. I will be sharing this. I learned a lot from this post.
You and Sophie are doing a magnificent job of educating people. Unfortunately, it takes time for this information to reach everyone and become common knowledge. Sadly, some people will make poor judgment calls regardless of what they learn. Rest peacefully, Amelia.
A CH kitty will play an important part in my next (after next) Crazy Cat Lady cozy mystery. Though the series is fictional, the hero is a cat shelter volunteer which gives me a great platform to do a little educating while I entertain. I met Sophie at BlogPaws last year, but have not actually lived with a CH kitty. I’m hoping to collect more experience before the book comes out. I’ll do everything I can to dispel the myths and promote education.
Sophie is incredible! I admire her (and you)!
This is so sad. Thank you for bringing attention to CH and to what happened to Amelia.
I have to apologize. I just today saw a comment of yours to a blog post of ours from February and for whatever reason it went to spam. I never even knew there was a spam folder for comments until somebody just today pointed it out, and I saw a few comments there. I also don’t know what happened because your blog posts used to be in my dashboard but are no longer. Anyway, again, I think it’s wonderful what you do to bring awareness to CH. Sophie is a perfect role model.
As you know, we were also saddened by what happened to Amelia and like you, believe that education and awareness are key to changing people’s minds and saving kitty lives. We’re excited to be partnering with you to raise awareness about Cerebellar Hypoplasia – our first blog post will go up towards the end of next week.
Such sad news about Amelia. Thankfully, there are people like you who want to spend time educating people to prevent this from happening to another pet. I will definitely keep a look out for your Facebook live and be sure to share on our Facebook page.
GASP!! Nooo! I’m crying for Amelia as I write this comment. I cannot believe they put poor beautiful Amelia down – after two days!! when there were other options and people who would take her. I can’t tell if I’m more angry or more sad over this. Emily, you are such an inspiration to me and so many others. Despite the ignorance and cruelty of others you carry on raising awareness of CH cats and you show people that they can have great lives and give back in spades. Bless you for all you do to raise awareness.
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
Education is key, and you all do a wonderful job of advocating for CH kitties.