Hardness of hearing research: i. What is hardness of hearing? Hardness of hearing is what it sounds like- a condition where where the person who has it cannot hear as well as someone without normal hearing. It can have many different levels of severity, from a minor effect, a more moderate one, and a more extreme one. It can even go to total deafness, however, Eventidekit's hearing loss will only be moderate, and minor at birth and throughout kithood, so she will still learn how to speak. ii. What causes it? Hardness of hearing can be caused by many different factors, from genetic factors, birth asphyxia, chronic ear infections, and many things in between. Eventidekit will have hardness of hearing from birth, and so many of the causes for hearing loss are not valid, although they could worsen her hearing in the future. Her present hardness of hearing is caused by genetic factors, but not due to her blue eye, as deafness being affected by blue eyes only occurs in cats with the dominant white gene- however, cats with blue eyes and no dominant white gene can still be deaf. iii. How will this affect Eventidekit? Unfortunately, there's no treatment for cats with hearing loss in the wild. She will have moderate hearing loss, and struggle to make out quieter noises. She'll often miss what other cats say if it's not spoken loudly and enunciated. She will be exceedingly jumpy if she's approached from behind, when she can't make out quieter noises. She might learn to lip-read, but lip-reading is messy work, and hard to keep track of. As she gets older, her hearing will slowly worsen, due to ear strain throughout the day as she struggles to hear what other cats are saying and what is going on around her. She may get into the habit of asking cats to enunciate and speak loudly before they speak to her, just so she doesn't have to constantly ask cats to repeat themselves. She will rely more on her other senses to be able to navigate, particularly seeing, and through practice, have her other senses become very sensitive. She will be able to speak, as her deafness will be minor at birth and slowly progress to moderate, and possibly complete deafness if the person who claims her chooses to. iiii. Sources: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/deafness https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/health/disabled-cats/deaf-cats#:~:text=Interestingly%2C%20deaf%20cats%20who%20are,adapt%20well%20to%20their%20condition.
Gigantism research: i. What is gigantism? Gigantism, also known as feline acromegaly, is a conditions where an individual grows excessively beyond normal, due to overproduction of a growth hormone because of a benign tumor of the pituitary gland. This causes extreme growth in a cat, and gigantism can cause symptoms other than excessive growth, such as noisy breathing, gaps between teeth, enlarged extremities (larger paws, tongue, muzzle, jaw, forehead, and skull). It can also cause sleep apnoea and muscle weakness. Joints will be clubbed, or enlargened, which will cause pain and less mobility. ii. What causes gigantism? As I stated, it's caused by a benign tumor of the pituitary gland that causes way to much of the growth hormone to be made, leading to excessive and fast growth of bones, tissues, and organs in a cat. iii. How will gigantism affect Halcyonkit? Gigantism will add to Halcyon's height greatly, but it also will lead for them to have larger extremities. They may feel self-conscious due to being taller than their friends, and it could possibly lead to mental health issues in the future. They may experience muscle weakness, and may learn to try to use their height to their advantage- however, sometimes, it may not be an advantage. They will have limited mobility due to their clubbed joints, and will experience significant pain and d1sc0mfort, which will lead them to walk with a st1lted gait to avoid causing any more str3ss on the joints. iiii. Sources https://vetster.com/en/conditions/cat/acromegaly#:~:text=Key%20takeaways,failure%20(often%20congestive%20heart%20failure) https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/gigantism#:~:text=cure%20the%20condition.-,Living%20with%20gigantism,lead%20to%20mental%20health%20problems. msdvetmanual.com/cat-owners/bone-joint-and-muscle-disorders-of-cats/bone-disorders-in-cats#:~:text=Over%20time%2C%20this%20diet%20causes,and%20the%20outlook%20is%20guarded. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11148911/#:~:text=Episodes%20of%20painful%20ollapse%20from%203%20months.&text=In%20most%20of%20the%20reported,tremors%2C%20seizures%20or%20gastrointestinal%20disturbances.&text=Physical%20examination%20findings%20include%20stiff,type%20of%20rickets%20is%20present.&text=In%20classical%20rickets%20the%20radiographic,not%20rule%20out%20the%20condition.
