Description:I was born with Radial Hypoplasia or RH. It causes the radius – one of the two parallel long bones in the lower foreleg (between elbow and wrist) – to be unusually short. Some websites have also dubbed us
Kangaroo Cats.
Cats with RH tend to sit up like a rabbit or kangaroo because crouching on all 4 legs puts the chest closer to the ground than normal and puts a strain on the spine and on the deformed forelegs. Because of the inequality in the size of their legs, RH cats appear to hop like rabbits, often sitting up and resting their forelegs. They might compensate for their vestigial forelegs by learning to bound on their hind legs like a kangaroo and using the tail as a support when sitting upright.
The most severely affected RH cats push themselves along with their hind legs while their useless front "flippers" scrabble or move with a swimming motion. Jumping down off an object is a problem. A cat's forelegs act as shock absorbers when it lands, but an RH cat has no shock absorbers and its chest and head will hit the ground. Some learn to get down from chairs or descend stairs backwards to compensate.
There are numerous sites to support owners of cats with RH.
