Kittens whole body is curved

Question
My cat recently had kittens. She only had 2 and they are very healthy beautiful kittens. The problem is that one of them their body seems to be curved almost. She is gaining weight and attempting to walk around but she cannot lift her head up and it almost looks like her spine may be curved. The mom was huge while pregnant and the kittens were not all that big. When she does try to walk she more rolls around or goes in circles with her head on the ground the entire time. Is this anything you have ever seen before?

Answer
Hi Sarah,

Deformities of the spine can occur, but I don't have a lot of experience with those. Depending on how old she is, there may be time to help correct this - the bones in newborns are soft, and sometimes, gentle correction can help them harden in a more normal position. I had a kitten born with very deformed legs, and he was unable to walk for many weeks. We worked on training his bones to grow straight. By the time he was an adult, the vets couldn't even tell on an x-ray that he had a deformity. Sometimes there's a true deformity, and sometimes the kitten was just in such an odd position in the uterus that its bones began to grow abnormally.

I am wondering if the baby's bones are the problem, or if she has a neurological problem. Many times, a kitten will seem normal until they begin trying to walk, and then we notice motor skill problems. This can be caused by a condition called Cerebellar Hypoplasia. This condition is almost always caused by an active distemper infection in the mother while she was pregnant. A part of the brain stem called the cerebellum, which controls muscle movement, is underdeveloped in affected kittens. Not all kittens in the litter must be affected. The cats stumble, may have a head bob, and just generally appear sort of drunk. The kittens usually will live a fine life as long as they're able to eat, but the condition does not improve much, so they need to stay indoors. It will take her longer to learn how to walk, and she will need some help litter training (because getting in and out will be difficult while she is little). If mama cat is completely up to date on her vaccinations, Cerebellar Hypoplasia is probably not the issue. But similar conditions can appear in kittens now and then.

Only a vet can determine for sure whether this is a neurological or skeletal issue or something else altogether. I would get her in ASAP, in case it's something that can be treated, but the window of opportunity is closing.

Best wishes!
Jessica