Leo

For those new or who need a refresher you may have noticed Leo has a big ole bubble atop his head. This is because Leo was born with a significant open fontanelle and has cerebral spinal fluid and possible brain matter protruding through his skull . Since he was a tiny little kitten Leo has been on daily medication to reduce the amount of CSF his body produces to prevent his bubble from growing larger and fortunately it has been very effective and even led to his bubble decreasing in size! For most of his life Leo has been too small and his bubble too large for really an safe options to correct his condition. As he’s grown we’ve been reaching out to folks all over to see if there are surgical options they’d be comfortable and confident performing on Leo and while there have been several who would like to take on Leo’s case none have experience with his specific condition. Leo’s case is exceptionally challenging because very few have seen a kitty like him and none to the severity. A surgery for Leo would include two parts - some sort of cover to act as a pseudo skull to protect his brain and a shunt to drain the excess CSF. Right now the hole in his skull acts a sort of relief valve for the excess fluid. If it were to build up in a confined space it would put pressure on his brain which has honestly always been our worst fear along with injury.

Right now we do not feel confident moving forward with surgery for Leo which is also in agreement with his neurologist’s opinion. One of the main reasons is Leo’s CSF production is not stagnant and it is still unknown to what degree it could continue to decrease. We are very excited that his bubble has gone down enough that he is finally a candidate for a custom helmet. This is huge because his safety has been extremely anxiety inducing from the start and due to the size it’s never been an option before. Leo has been practicing with his prototype to get comfortable wearing such a thing and we’re happy to report he’s been doing amazing