Fainting Kittens

Have you heard of this? I never had although it seems I might have heard about the goats. I had no idea it happens to cats too. I would have freaked if a cat of mine had fallen over like this. I’m sure I would have thought the cat was having something as serious as, or perhaps more serious than a stroke. From Suite 101:

Recently a YouTube video of two kittens fainting has attracted over half a million hits. The kittens suffer from the disorder known myotonia congenita.

A video showing two kittens fainting due to the genetic condition known as myotonia congenita has ‘gone viral’, much the same as the video of fainting goats did a few years ago.

What is Myotonia Congenita?

Myotonia congenita is a disorder that prevents the normal relaxation of the muscles. In humans, myotonia congenita affects approximately 1 in 100,000 people worldwide, but is more common in northern Scandinavian people. In humans, the disorder can affect any of the skeletal muscles, even face muscles, but most commonly affects the leg muscles.

Read more at Suite101: Fainting Kittens – Myotonia Congenita in Catshttp://www.suite101.com/content/fainting-kittens–myotonia-congenita-in-cats-a302856#ixzz143Prp8bk

Because I caught a mention of this condition on morning tv but not enough to ‘get it’, I went on a search in google. I searched “cats fall over” and found stories of people asking why their cat is falling over. Also found stories of how to make a cat fall over (supposedly you tie something around it’s middle). Look that up for yourself as I do not want to encourage people doing that, even though I’m sure it doesn’t hurt the cat. Here’s the YouTube video she references above.

Although this looks kinda cute (I guess the people hold the cat all the time?) it can also happen to people which isn’t so cute, or one thing, people can’t carry you around all day to save you from injuring yourself. The University of Maryland Medical Center:

http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/001424all.htm

"Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber.” - Plato