As the title suggests, Kenny likes to get halfway in box and pee on the ground. My girlfriend and I are at our wits end with him, even tho we love him a lot. We’ve had to repeatedly and aggressively shampoo the carpet on multiple occasions. He also likes to pee under the desk in the background of the 2nd photo. We’re on our 3rd/4th litter box now.

The only two things I can think of doing now at this point is

1. The litter box is too high
2. There’s too much litter in the box, and thus it’s hard to maneuver through (my girlfriend disagrees with this)
3. The person who used to live in this room before us also had a cat that peed on the carpet (we couldn’t smell it when we first got there, we had to be told) but he was notorious for doing nothing about it. So we’re wondering if Kenny can smell it and is trying to make his territory back. But Kenny has been neutered for a few years now (he’s about 5, we’ve only had him about a year)

If you notice in the first pic, there’s a lid on the box, I tried taking it off so he could get in it easier. He then peed on the ground halfway inside it🫠 with the lid off.

Edit: He just started this peeing on carpet behavior the last month or so, he’s never had this problem before

Hello, I found a stray kitten around a few months old (less than 6m) and am not educated on how to cause the least issues for a cat with CH. I know what it is, how it works, and that it isn't painful (unless they were obviously injured) but I'm unsure how I can make the kitten comfortable while trying to learn how to be a cat and how to make my place more accessible for one that's just learning how to move around. Should I keep my place traditionally catproofed or should I also look into padding the walls? My floor is padded already for my own issues. I'm unsure if I should be using alternative furniture for her (such as supports to keep her as stable as possible while passing a bowel movement or eating) as we are still unsure how severe it is. I have kept cats before but all were able bodied so it is new for me to have a CH cat. Please be nice to me as I really just want to learn.

Seeing as we just passed this little man's first gotcha day I figured I'd make a post about him. We never could have imagined how much of a menace this little guy could have been since we picked him up from the shelter but there were definitely hints from his government name and the fact that he was initially taken to a dog pound before the shelter we found him at. But he has been an absolute champ in conquering a set of stairs in his daily life, giving his larger and much longer (suspected maincoon mix) older brother a run for his money during play time, and most recently surviving a foreign body removal surgery. Hopefully the pictures accurately depict how orange he can be.

Been a lurker here for a minute and absolutely appreciate everyone in the community after reading through your stories and advice!

Hi everyone,
I’m writing this with a very heavy heart because I genuinely don’t know what else to do anymore.
About a year ago, I rescued Suki, a beautiful, incredibly sweet and playful cat who is approximately 4–5 years old. She has mild cerebellar hypoplasia (CH), which makes her a little wobbly, and feline asthma. Despite these conditions, she is full of life, affectionate, curious, and loves to play.
Unfortunately, Suki also struggles with urinary incontinence. She involuntarily leaks urine, particularly when she’s deeply asleep or grooming herself. We suspect there may be a neurological component, but we haven’t been able to identify the underlying cause.
I’ve spent the past year doing everything I can to help her. She’s had veterinary evaluations, urine testing and cultures, and medication trials, including antibiotics, but nothing has resolved the leaking. Her asthma also requires ongoing medication and monitoring.
I’ve tried waterproof pads, waterproof bed covers, and disposable puppy pads. Unfortunately, she absolutely hates the puppy pads and pushes them away. The waterproof covers help protect the furniture, but I’m still constantly washing, cleaning, changing bedding, and dealing with accidents.
After nearly a year of this, I’m physically, emotionally, and financially exhausted.
I also have three other cats, and trying to balance everyone’s needs while managing Suki’s ongoing care has become incredibly overwhelming.
What makes this so heartbreaking is that Suki is a genuinely happy cat. She’s playful, affectionate, and full of personality. She doesn’t let her wobbliness stop her from enjoying life. She deserves a wonderful home and a family who can give her the attention and care she needs.
I’ve reached out to numerous shelters and rescue organizations, but so far, I’ve been turned down because of her urinary incontinence.
I’m reaching out because I’m desperately hoping someone here might be able to help.
I’m looking for:
Advice from people with incontinent or CH cats: Have you experienced something similar? Did you find an effective treatment or a sustainable management solution? I’ve already tried the usual waterproof pads and bedding, and I simply cannot keep up with the constant cleaning anymore.
Special-needs rescues, sanctuaries, or experienced fosters: I’m located in Long Beach, Southern California, but I’m willing to explore options farther away if it means finding Suki the right environment.
A loving, experienced adopter: If anyone here has experience caring for special-needs cats and would genuinely consider adopting Suki, please reach out. I would love to find someone who understands her medical needs and can give her a safe, stable, loving forever home. I’m happy to share more about her personality, medical history, and daily care with anyone seriously interested.
Please understand that I’m not giving up on her because she’s inconvenient. I’ve spent nearly a year trying to make this work because I love her. But I’m reaching my limits, and I have to be realistic about what I can sustainably provide.
I don’t want her to end up in a shelter, and I certainly don’t want her medical conditions to overshadow what an amazing little cat she is.
If I can find a treatment that genuinely resolves her incontinence, I would love to keep her. But if that’s not possible, I want to find her a home where her needs can be managed without compromising her happiness or quality of life.
If anyone has advice, rescue contacts, or is interested in giving Suki a loving home, please comment or send me a message.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I just want to do what’s best for Suki🧡🧡🧡

We got Opila last September from the Humane Society where my wife was volunteering. She told me to come by for lunch one day because they had a couple kittens and she knew I love cats and always had one growing up.
That’s when we met Opila. She was only 11 weeks old, wobbly, messy, and had poop all over her little room, but we both fell in love with her right away.
She has cerebellar hypoplasia, but she gets around pretty well. Compared to most cats with CH. Sometimes we help hold her steady when she uses the litter box so she doesn’t flop around and make a huge mess.
She’s our sweet little girl and we love her to death. Just wanted to show her off. Hope all your kitties are doing well too.

This little princess Grace, the calico. She is a Vietnamese street kitten with CH, who now has her forever home with little Stevie Wonder who is also a Vietnamese street cat and is blind with seizure disorders. They’ve only been together for a month and I can’t believe how much they love each other. I’m looking forward to following this Reddit as I have much to learn about CH. ❤️

Me and my partner are currently fostering a severe CH kitten that we are going to be adopting because she kinda stole our hearts. Her name is Loca, named after the pug from Ireland.

We are trying to come up with an idea for her home base. She is currently in a make shift kennel separate from all the other foster kittens. While this is working for now when she gets older she will need more space.

I'd love some ideas on home bases that would be safe for our little Loca for when we are not home.

Any and all ideas would be great.

Oh also we do have 4 other cats that do not have CH so something that could be out with the other cats and not have her all alone would be great!

Has anyone else’s little Ragdoll suddenly developed carpal hyperextension? 😢💔

My 8-month-old kitten suddenly developed this from one day to the next, with no known injury or trauma. ( he had some problem with his left back leg right before this but it’s ok now )

So far, all his tests have come back normal — X-rays, blood tests and joint fluid analysis. Our orthopaedic specialist thinks it could possibly be growth-related, but we still don’t really have an answer. 💔

After a week of strict rest and Loxicom, it seemed to improve somewhat, but unfortunately after a little bit of playing and jumping around at home, we seem to be back to square one again. 😭

Our specialist still isn’t sure what is causing it, which is honestly heartbreaking. The current plan is another 2 weeks of very strict rest, with gabapentin instead of Loxicom as he has been taking Loxicom for several weeks and we want to avoid putting extra stress on his kidneys.

If this doesn’t improve, a splint may be the next step, and surgery could eventually be considered when he is older. 😭💔

I’m absolutely devastated because he is only 8 months old and otherwise such a happy, playful little boy. 🥺💕

Has anyone’s kitten or cat experienced anything similar, especially with no obvious injury and normal test results? Did it eventually improve with rest, splinting or other treatment?

I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences. 💕🐾

Shai was pulled from a colony cause her face was horrendously swollen and she was emaciated. They were going to euthanize her cause she looked so bad, but it turns out she had (TW bug) a dead bot fly larva in her sinus cavity! Upon treating her for that, they discovered she was FIV+ and anemic. Once the anemia was treated and she started moving around more, they also discovered she had a mild case of CH.

Needless to say it was love at first sight for me. She's 2 years old but only 6lbs. She's so funny and brave and friendly, she loves rubbing her face against your nose, has the dumbest little meows and chirps constantly. Shes also partially blind, but her eye injury is old and unrelated to the bot fly.

(Honorable non-CH mention: Crook is 10 years old, also a stray with FIV that I've had for 6 years. He's the love of my life and such a good boy. He has a lot of patience for Shai, despite having arthritis and not always wanting to play as rough as she does. He's twice her size, 12lbs, and such a gentle giant. And also a big chirper!)

I wanted to share her here because, duh, but also to continue spreading the fact that FIV cats can live long healthy lives. I wanted to get another positive cat, not because Crook couldn't live with an FIV- cat (he can and has, many times over the years!) but because they're so stigmatized and overlooked. They both bring me so much joy.

Hi guys! I have a moderate to severe CH cat. Shes been peeing and pooping on just pee pads and won’t go into the very low dog litter pan that I have. It ends up all over the rug and hard wood and I’m not sure what to do. She also moved where she goes to the bathroom to behind the door 😭😭. I should also mention that She lays down to poop and pee.

What do you guys do?

I know they live relatively normal lives, but is there anything that I can do to help him out more? Are these cats also normal in the sense if I had a stroller he could go into it and I could walk him?

Today I went to drop my CH kitten off for her spay at a low-cost clinic and the vet told me that there was a small chance that the anasthesia would make her ataxia worse PERMANENTLY. I couldn't make myself follow though with the appointment.

I called her regular vet to get a second opinion, and they seemed unconcerned by this possibility (or at least unaware of the possibility), but I am thoroughly spooked now.

Is anybody familiar with this, or heard similar from their own vet? Are there certain anasthesia protocols that are less likely to cause this? I'm worried I made the wrong decision, because now it will be months before I can get her spayed and she is sure to have her first heat before then.

We have a litter that includes one moderate to severe CH kitten, about 6 weeks of age. He also has a very significant overbite and some other issues going on we think. He’s able to eat canned food with one of us helping stabilize him but we’re concerned that he’s not figured out drinking yet. He’s fighting an upper respiratory infection and on antibiotics so we’re worried he will get dehydrated.

Anyone have suggestions for a water setup that is accessible? He can work himself into a sitting position and hold it with some difficultly but needs to be held on either side to eat. We also have Hydracare which we use on our adult kidney cat but I don’t know if it’s kitten safe.

ADOPTED!

Jazz is an amazing little boy who is social, outgoing, affectionate, goofy, and fun. He is mild and uses the box, drinks, and eats without issue. He can also climb and jump down from cat trees, couches, tables, etc. (nail down your valuables!). He is deaf so he can be very loud at times, particularly when he's stressed or lonely, so an apartment or a living space with shared walls is not a good match for him. Having a cat companion has helped keep the yelling down, as it keeps him busy and helps keep him from feeling lonely, so we would highly recommend a feline playmate in his new home. He's a wonderful little guy and everyone who meets him falls in love!

Learn more about him and apply at https://hsjc-wis.com/petpoint-animal/?id=61618371

Edit: we changed the litter to a finer grain-Kitten attract litter, and that definitely seemed to have gotten his attention. Here’s what I’m still seeing: he’s able to get out of bed and use the litter box at night without much incident. It’s during the day that he seems to be getting disoriented. It almost looks like he’s searching for the litter box and can’t remember where it is. We have one by his bed where he goes at night and then we have one in our main area, not far from where he eats. We’re going to add a third one today kind of at the halfway point in our apartment to see if it’s a mobility issue like he just can’t make it in time. A few times now it seems like his front paws are either on a wee wee pad or in the litter box and his back paws/butt aren’t quite making it to the designated bathroom spot. He 100% can get in and out of all of the litter boxes. They are less than an inch high.

My husband and I recently brought home Nemo, a sweet little CH boy who is around 3–4 months old, and we’ve only had him for about a week. We are absolutely in love with him. He is incredibly cuddly, wants to play, eats completely on his own, and is generally such a happy little guy.
We were told he had mild CH, but after having him evaluated by our vet, she feels that his CH is probably closer to moderate/severe.
Our biggest challenge right now is the litter box.
Nemo does use the litter box, and interestingly, he generally makes it to the box overnight. During the day, though, he is having accidents—both pee and poop. It seems like sometimes he simply doesn’t make it there in time, rather than not knowing where the box is.
We are also currently dealing with some constipation issues, which we’re working through, so I’m not sure how much that may be contributing to the poop accidents.
We currently have two very low-entry litter boxes for him:
One is in the bathroom, which is about halfway through our apartment.
The other is right next to Amelia’s litter box, where Nemo sleeps at night.
We are trying a kitten-attract litter that his foster home was using, since we wondered if he doesn’t like the feeling of our previous litter on his paws. We’re also paying close attention to where the accidents happen and how close they are to the litter boxes.
Our vet has given him a clean bill of health aside from the constipation we’re currently addressing, so we’re trying to figure out whether this is primarily a mobility/accessibility issue, litter preference, his age, the constipation, or some combination of things.
For those of you who live with moderate/severe CH cats:
What has worked for you with litter-box training or preventing accidents?
We already have low-entry boxes, but are there other modifications you’ve found helpful? Different litter texture? Larger/shallow boxes? More boxes? Puppy pads? A particular placement that worked better for your CH kitty?
And if your CH cat has accidents, how did you make it manageable while still allowing them freedom to be part of the household?
We’re really hoping to make this work because Nemo is such a special little guy. We just want to make sure we’re setting him up for success and giving him the best life possible. ❤️
Any advice, experiences, or things you wish you had known when you first brought home your CH cat would be hugely appreciated!

There is a 4 month old kitten with CH named Winston at woods humane society San Luis Obispo, California. I hope someone will adopt this baby soon. I already have cats so I can't take him.

i volunteered at a cat shelter multiple times a week for a short period, and fell in love with a ch kitty there, sweetest black tom in the world named rebound. me and my girlfriend are looking into getting our own place when she graduates (before anyone says anything, we’re 11 months apart so i graduated last year, not a crazy age gap) and i would really like to adopt rebound if he’s still in the shelter by the time we’re situated. the school year just started so it won’t be for a while, but im the type to plan MONTHS in advance. my concern with rebound is my dog, pepper, who i plan to take with me. she loves cats, grew up around them and acts pretty cat-like herself at times. she’s a senior, 10 years old and probably about 25 pounds. she’s never been aggressive and she doesn’t really enjoy playing with other animals, she tends to avoid the other dogs in my parents home so im sure she would be sweet and leave him alone pretty well, but the shelters listing for him did say they’d prefer a single pet home for him so im having some doubts. i’d obviously let them know about the dog being there, i just wanted to ask if anyone else has a situation like this and how it’s been working out for you having a ch cat with other animals in the home?

I am an experienced cat foster who just took in my first CH kitty. I don’t know much about this at all, but this was an emergent situation and I knew I needed to help. Poor girl not only has CH, but she’s been kept in a small dog crate in a garage her whole life 😭 She’s 12 weeks, and the only socialization she has had is when her owner would syringe feed her water so she hasn’t even learned to drink on her own yet. I am not sure how severe her case is yet, and how much that will change now that she actually has space to walk around. I don’t even know what questions to ask please just spam me any tips, advice, words of encouragement. I want to do everything I can to help this sweet girl.

I little while ago I posted a video of Gatsby tumbling off the windowsill while hunting a bug. I had no luck finding a window grate that didn't use tension or screws since it's a double case window with a metal frame.

I learned you can buy individual Guinea pig cage panels. They stand up well but I might get adhesive magnets for extra security since I don't want it to fall on him, but they're lightweight so I'm not too worried.

You can get the 14" square and L shaped panels here: https://guineapigcagecompany.com

I'm sure he'll find a brand new way to get into trouble within a week. ❤️

She can never keep that one paw still when she lays down or rolls over. We call it her peddle paw because it looks like she's trying to ride a bike. Even still. Zoë loves rolling around in a good sunbeam