Yookjjok was born with a big lump on her head..
Guardian: So far, it seemed like the lump was her biggest characteristic, but
if she can get it removed and the operation goes well
I hope the fact that she had a lump on her head would only remain within our memories and this painting
It’s like a flower that blossomed, not a lump
Let’s leave the lump with the Yookjjok in the painting
What's the secret of the lump on Yookjjok's forehead?
Informant: Oh, there are a lot of cats living in the farm
and there's one very special cat so I called you guys
PD: Oh, yeah? Where is she?
Informant: Please, come inside with us
Informant: If you look here...
Two cats are being lovey dovey not being distracted by cameras
Guardian: The two are siblings with the same mother
Yangpa’s a male and Maneul’s a female
Guardian: There are other cats apart from these two
Guardian: They are all hiding
Guardian: This is Maneul’s firstborn son, Iljjok
This one’s Yijjok
We named the mom Maneul (garlic in Korean)
and she bore 6 cloves (jjok in Korean)..
Iljjok (♂) Yijjok (♂) Samjjok(♀) Sajjok((♀) Ojjok(♀)
Guardian: Lastly, there’s Yookjjok
The precious youngest Yookjjok of the Maneul family(♀)
She’s a charmer, isn’t she?
Yet..!
Guardian: She was born with a lump on her head, so
I thought she had scars that other's don't have
Unlike her siblings, Yookjjok was born with a small lump
They took her to a hospital, but
as she’s too small and young, the vets said the only thing they could do now is to wait it…
Guardian: Perhaps the mom thinks that she's a little different from the other kittens,
she arranged a separate space for her (Yookjjok) and breastfed her separately
Maneul, mom of 6 siblings, takes extra care of Yookjjok with love
Guardian: Since Maneul gave birth too early
I was worried if she’d be able to take care of her kittens, but she has very strong maternal love..
Guardian: Do you see, over there?
Uncle Yangpa takes as much good care of Yookjjok as her mom
PD: They must know that Yookjjok needs special care?
Guardian: Yes, I think they do
Guardian: When other siblings run around everywhere,
the mother cat doesn't seem too bothered, but
since Yookjjok falls behind them (siblings)
she tends to accompany her mom often
Fortunately though,
under her family’s love and care, Yookjjok has grown up all bubbly
She’s so active! / Yes, she is..
Not siding with anyone, the fella gets along with her siblings
She even hisses at her sibling who tries to take her toy!
Guardian: She doesn’t have any issues moving around, but that’s what worries me more
I mean, I hope it’s (the lump) nothing serious..
Let’s eat~ guys!
Guardian: Ey, Yookjjok, let’s eat!
Due to the lump on her head, Yookjjok can’t stand against her siblings for food
Guardian: If the lump was hard, she could push them with it, but
she can’t and rather, she gets pushed over..
As the guardian puts out separate food for her, only then does she eat comfortably
The guardian gives her snacks out of pity..
After meal play time!
Maneul's children are so bubbly and energetic
and Yookjjok only watches it from afar
Guardian: This isn’t stuck, but
fluffs as if there’s a balloon hanging,
I think it makes it harder for her
Even for humans, when we wear a hat or something that bulges out,
it sometimes blocks our sight..
I think it must be the same for her, too
Eventually, leaving the scene
Yookjjok hides in a corner
Guardian: I’m sorry! I won’t do it anymore, I won’t
It’s over now. It’s alright~
It’d be good if she can move around like other cats, but she only moves around on the floor..
It’s (the lump) getting bigger, so if you look
she opens her eyes unevenly at times, and it’s slowly pressing on her eye..
The lump began to press on the eye
In what state is she in..?
If you touch her right here, it really seems like there’s no skull here
So, the cranium is supposed to protect the brain entirely, but
it feels like the bone in this bumpy part is sunk.
Vet: that's your seat?
wow, you know when people love you, don't you?
I think she's falling asleep!
Vet: We just met and she's falling asleep, leaning on my arm
Hey, you can't lean on someone's arm and fall asleep on first encounter, huh?
For an accurate diagnosis, a detailed examination proceeds..!
Vet: But she hasn’t had any symptoms?
No! She just can’t see up, but she does everything else.. Why?
What we suspect is something called a ‘cerebral porosis’
Normally, the brain is supposed to form well, but
sometimes, it doesn’t form well
So inside, water starts to fill up the empty space
and as the water fills up, it induces pressure and like that..
It seems water protrudes out even outside the head
Yookjjok is suffering from a cerebral porosis, a condition where a hole is created in the brain
[Normal brain] the cerebellum, the diencephalon, and the midbrain
are connected like this, but
[Normal brain] [Yookjjok's brain] as the water filled up inside the brain and caused pressure in the brain
[Normal brain] [Yookjjok's brain] the round cerebellum is crumbled up..
As the water filled up inside, even the cerebellum has been pushed out due to pressure
The fella.. seems perfectly fine despite having an abnormal structure of the brain
Fortunately, Yookjjok doesn’t have any other symptoms
If the cranium was closed it would have been severely.. we call it brain pressure
This pressure, when the water fills up, it (lump) sides out,
which enables this fella to live normally
Unfortunately, she has this defected part, but
what allowed her to live normally until now was
due to the cranium that’s been opened. We can say that’s fortunate
Yookjjok’s lump decreased the brain pressure and enabled her to live normally..
But, the problem is she’s only three months old and she’ll continue to grow
She might have symptoms of being unable to keep her balance or have seizures
So, I think we’ll have to discuss among ourselves, think what’s best for the fella,
and have the guardian think a bit, and make the decision
The vets have come together for Yookjjok
The issue is, in the animal brain..
we have cases reported of cephalocele, but there haven’t been any reports of congenital diseases combined
But, when we compare it with the cases reported of humans,
having undergone an operation can be a bit riskier than leaving it alone
We never had this hard of a time making a decision, but
as this is a very rare case..
What’s the best decision for Yookjjok..?
visited the hospital again to hear the results
Vet: We contemplated a lot on whether it’s right to operate right now
Undergoing a preemptive surgery to have preventive opportunities is a big pro,
but the con is, as it is a brain surgery you may need to consider the side effects and such
So, asking questions on whether ‘we should perform the surgery’ considering all of these,
as the fella has a part that decreases her brain pressure,
we came to a conclustion it’s better to do the surgery when a problem arises
rather than right now
As the lump on her head decreases the brain pressure allowing her to live normally,
they decided to observe her /rather than undergoing with the risky surgery right away..
I think it’s a miracle.
If she didn’t have that defected area,
then she wouldn’t have been well
or she might have possibly passed away
Actually, thanks to the lump, Yookjjok was able to avoid / the worst situation
This is my personal opinion
I mean, I don’t know if she’ll have the surgery later on or if that may be difficult in the future, but
I think it’s better for her to enjoy the moment
A few days later
The guardians are cleaning Yookjjok's room!
Guardian: I heard it’s better to take out risky things (from her living space)
so, I’m organizing some things that may expose her to danger
For Yookjjok’s safety, organizing the environment again
Meanwhile, the other guardian prepares a special gift for everyone!
Guardian: They are 100 days old today; today’s their 100th day
so, I’m gonna stack the snacks and make them into a cake
Iljjok, Yijjok, Samjjok, Sajjok, Ojjok, and Yookjjok’s
Guardian: We found out what kind of disease she has and what condition she’s in
Despite everything, she’s still the same Yookjjok to us
I think it’s our responsibility to provide her appropriate environment
so that she can live as long as possible
If she gets sick, I hope she signals us so we can know right away and take her to the nearby hospital right away
Let's live happily together <3