Ariel is a wonderful kitten who cannot see or hear, and has problems coordinating her muscles. Here she is snuggling up to her best friend, Milagro, a dog with severe heart problems.
(Please follow this link to see Milagro's story & photos.)
Ariel came to join the family of special-needs dogs and cats who live in our home from a rescue organization in Rhode Island by way of a rescue organization in Massachusetts.
When we took her to the Tufts University Veterinary Neurology Department for a consult, their examination (sonogram, MRI, CBC, radiographs, etc.) found a "generalized loss of brain tissue" with "gray matter of the cortex most affected" and "ventriculomegalia of the brain's lateral ventricles." They concluded that the "possible causes for the loss of gray matter brain tissue are hypoxia/trauma during or just after birth, a malformation, or a degenerative disorder (abiotrophy, storage disease)."
Although we can't yet know which of those possible causes is affecting her brain -- and each suggests a very different prognosis -- she has made a home for herself here and will live out the rest of her life in our family.
She likes to spend time, as in the photo above, with Milagro. Please follow this link to see Ariel leaning over Milagro.
Ariel loves to move from room to room, exploring, finding her favorite places. Because of her difficulties with neuromuscular coordination, she moves slowly, a little like a beginning skater who has just moved onto the ice for the first time. When she finds a dog, cat,or human to snuggle up to, she begins purring loudly.
Please follow this link to see more of the family of special-needs dogs and cats.