When Macy Lyle agreed to foster a stray cat and her five kittens through A Cat’s Life Rescue in Maryland, she was ready for some classic kitten mayhem: needle-sharp claws, tiny meows and maybe a few late-night zoomies.
What she got instead was … a total mystery.
Macy Lyle
“At first, they were just your average wobbly kittens,” Lyle told The Dodo. But within days, three of the kittens “went from walking to essentially flopping and not being able to walk at all.”
Cue the emergency vet visits. Lots of them.
Lyle and the rescue team tried everything. Antibiotics for toxoplasmosis? Nope. A round of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) meds? Nothing. A parvovirus test? Negative.
They went to vet after vet, but the kittens — Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto — got worse and worse. “Nothing helped or made their symptoms better,” Lyle said. Soon, they could barely eat, drink or use the litter box.
Then, while she was out of town for a family emergency, Lyle got a phone call no foster mom wants to hear.
Macy Lyle
“The vet called to talk about euthanasia,” she said. “They asked if I wanted to be there when they were put to sleep. I said, ‘Yes, of course. I’m with them until the end — but I want answers.’”
Finally, after ruling out every infection and illness they could think of, the vets landed on a likely cause: cerebellar hypoplasia — a brain condition caused by exposure to feline panleukopenia virus in the womb that affects balance and coordination. It’s not curable, but it’s also not painful, and it’s not contagious.
So, Lyle made a decision: “I said, ‘I take this burden on. If euthanasia is the only option, let’s revisit it in a couple of months. Let’s see if this is going to get better.’”
She and the rescue started researching physical therapy for cats. First, they tried water therapy in Lyle’s bathtub.
“I hated it. I felt like I was traumatizing them,” she laughed. So, she tried play therapy instead. “We just played and played and played, all the time.”
Macy Lyle
Slowly but surely, the kittens started getting stronger. They started to reveal their true personalities — Sasuke and Naruto are relaxed lap cats, while Sakura loves trying to climb her cat tree and exploring her surroundings.
“They can sit up now. They can stand to drink water. They use the litter box on their own,” Lyle said, adding that she wished she could keep them. “They don’t know any different. This is their world, and they’re OK with that. They’re so much more than the mobility issue; they’re so much more than cerebellar hypoplasia.”
Instagram/riverdale_community_cats
In late June, Lyle shared an update on the kittens: “I’ve been ignoring the reality that my Wobbles have been adopted,” she said on Instagram. “The best part is they were adopted by a group of friends so they will have lots of play dates! I couldn’t imagine a better outcome. Clearly they are already in love (they could seriously act like they will miss me though) … Happy ever afters all around!”
If you’d like to help cats like Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto find homes, you can learn about making a donation or volunteering with A Cat’s Life Rescue on their website.
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