The cry of the cat syndrome or Cri-du-Chat is a genetic disease, caused by a change in chromosome 5. The disease has this name because the cry of the child at birth looks like the meow of a cat.
Babies born with cat cry syndrome have developmental delay, mental retardation, short stature, small chin, teeth protruding forward, small jaw, coarse-looking ears, long fingers and gastric reflux.
The diagnosis of cat's cry syndrome is made by observing symptoms and blood tests.
The treatment of this syndrome involves improving the child's motor development and can be done through physiotherapy, hipotherapy and hydrotherapy. Occupational therapy seeks to improve the child's development in daily activities, speech therapy assists in language development and alternative therapies such as acupuncture and music therapy are sought to promote relaxation and stress relief in patients with the syndrome.
