Cerebral Palsy Research

Instructions

Hi there, and welcome to Birdie's research! There's going to be... quite a bit in here because cerebral palsy happens to be quite the complex disability with MANY different types and a variety of levels of severity, which is why even though I myself have it, I also have several sources to add to it! ~Cerebral Palsy development~ Cerebral palsy isn't just one singular condition (which is probably why it's so complex) but rather a group of conditions that all affect movement, balance and posture. It generally develops due to damage to the brain before birth but can also develop in the months following birth. Monarch would have it since before birth and symptoms would develop during their kithood. Cerebral palsy doesn't get worse as one ages, but can appear to get worse to normal degrading due to age Cerebral palsy also can't get better, meaning that Monarch would have it for their entire life, regardless of any attempts at a "cure". ~Symptoms~ Now this is where it all gets a bit muddy. There's a variety of different symptoms that could be shown, and someone affected by cerebral palsy could be affected by all of them or (like me) very few of them. Monarch will be closer to my experience than anything else. The type would be considered Mixed cerebral palsy, aka the symptoms match multiple types Monarch's symptoms would include: - Muscle tightness: Monarch’s muscles will be significantly tighter than the average cat’s. Both sides will be affected, but their “bad” side will be their left. This would prevent them from performing maneuvers that typically require more flexibility. - Muscle weakness: Monarch’s muscles will also be weaker than the usual cat’s (yes, this and the priorly mentioned weakness can coexist), with their weak side once again being their left. This may result in a lack of coordination and inability to balance well, therefore making it difficult to hunt in trees, and even giving a struggle on the ground due to a like of coordination. Their paws on their left side drag on the ground occasionally, unless they make a conscious effort to pick up their paws. - Speech: While Monarch’s cerebral palsy won’t be bad enough to completely stop them from speaking, they may find it difficult to speak clearly. In louder situations, this would result in them having to repeat themselves to be understood. They would also start speaking later than other kits would. I have no clue what this last thing correlates with (I would assume muscle weakness or tightness, but I really have no idea) but being physically slower than other cats would also be an issue for them! ~How would they deal with it?~ There is no “cure” for cerebral palsy, only solutions to make it easier to live with. Most of it isn’t able to be adjusted in a way for cats (though I suppose braces may be able to made out of branches and stuff?), but the one thing that would most realistically be able to be transferred into cat cerebral palsy from the human version would be stretching.