My first thought on seeing this last night on Yahoo was: This cat looks like he has what I have (ataxia). Is this common in animals--or only cats? Can it help in human research? http://www.kittyarmy.com/cattle-dog-befriends-kitten-with-special-needs/
Yes dogs can develop ataxia especially when they become elderly.
I can relate to the cat in the video, thanks for sharing it :)
HiGranny h
If you do an internet search on “Ataxia in animals”, you will see a lot of answers.
Cicina, will do!
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23859342
http://www.landesbioscience.com/pdf/11AhamdAtaxiaReliene.pdf
Granny h, these two links show that research is done on animal models for two different kinds of ataxia. Don’t know about cerebellar ataxia…
I spoke too soon . Here is one about animal models for Cerebellar Ataxia.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19669387
In my career as a veterinarian I have know a handful of cats with cerebellar ataxia. Little did I know my husband would end up having the same condition. It is a genetic problem in cats as well, and symptoms begin at an early age as you can see in the video. The kitties mainly have trouble with eating (the head "bobs" while they are trying to eat) and falling off of things when they try to jump up on them. They ones I have known have been very sweet and well loved, which they also happen to have in common with my wonderful husband :-)