Hello folks it has been a while since I have been on here last. To make a long story short(I'll give the long version later when I am on a computer and not my phone), I have seven cats in my house right now. Four of them are under eight weeks and one is under six. This post is about the youngest. She contracted herpes from the other three kittens as did all my cats. My three adult cats got over it with nothing more than some eye **** and sneezing. The baby kitten did not. She got conjunctivitis and has nearly lost her sight. We are treating her symptoms, but that's about all we can do considering her young age. My question is if anyone has experience with a blind cat. She is a normal kitten in most respects but I wan to know what to expect with her as she grows. Will be keeping her, I don't have the heart to put a blind kitten through the stress of moving. I am a raw feeder, natural rearer, and a minimalist, so please don't tell me to try putting her little system through the **** of antiviral medication. I honestly think that would kill her.
Blind as a... Cat?
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Mitts & Tess has lots of experience with caring and advocating for blind kitties. Hopefully she'll be here soon to give you the low-down. 
Perhaps unsurprisingly, blind cats can pretty much hold their own and function completely normally in a household.
Good luck with her medication. Personally I would take her to a vet for antibiotics if she doesn't seem to be getting better, but its your choice as an owner.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, blind cats can pretty much hold their own and function completely normally in a household.
Good luck with her medication. Personally I would take her to a vet for antibiotics if she doesn't seem to be getting better, but its your choice as an owner.
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a friend of mine growing up had a cat with no eyes (not sure if it was a birth defect or if they were removed due to abuse/ilness). You'd never tell that the cat couldn't see. It often followed walls and would get disoriented in new places but as long as it had a stable environment, it always found its food, the litter box, and the sunniest window sill!
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I follow a rescue where four kittens got herpes eye infections... one died and the other three had nasty corneal lesions. Eye drops got rid of the lesions for two of the kittens and one eye on the third... further special eye drops are supposed to save his eye and his vision. His eye does look better but I guess it's a process. I'm not sure what kind of drops they were, though. I could ask if you'd like.
this is good news. Like I said earlier she is very much a normal kitten except that one thing. She still bats at toys and fingers and strings and tails etc, but they typically need to touch her before she realizes where they are. If antibiotics would fix this she would already be on them.
I'm not obtuse about going to the vets, this is a viral infection is all. We are flushing her eyes 2-3 times daily, keeping them clean, and making sure she doesn't scratch at them or rub them on stuff. The infection is on the way out but the damage has been done. Her eyes are a milky blue grey and she has reduced sight.
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https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.362543063799365.81767.347010335352638&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...82017020.79575.347010335352638&type=3&theater
The first one is an album of old pics, some of which show how bad his eye got. The second is a more recent pic that shows his progress. If you're interested in learning about what all has been done for Moss (the kitten) then message the page... the lady seems like she'd be willing to be helpful about it.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...82017020.79575.347010335352638&type=3&theater
The first one is an album of old pics, some of which show how bad his eye got. The second is a more recent pic that shows his progress. If you're interested in learning about what all has been done for Moss (the kitten) then message the page... the lady seems like she'd be willing to be helpful about it.
I raised a blind kitten when I was in my teens. I found her as a tiny kitten, horribly malnourished and desperately ill at a horse show. She was already blind at that point. I don't know whether the malnutrition or the illness destroyed her sight, but it was a moot point by then.
Satan navigated the household fairly well, though she would sometimes run into furniture if she really got going. She was also extremely polydactyl and kept getting her claws stuck in the carpet and furniture, so she often required rescuing. Her senses of hearing and smell were very acute. She could hear the can opener from anywhere in our 3 story house and come tearing into the kitchen. Her absolute favorite game was chasing and retrieving balled up cellophane wrappers from around my mother's cigarette packs. She could track that strong tobacco smell from at least 30' away.
So, keep claws trimmed, remove anything with sharp edges that she could run into, and buy her toys with strong scents (concentrated catnip spray should work). And try not to change her physical environment any more than absolutely necessary. Announce yourself when you approach her so as not to startle her with your unexpected presence. Oh, and don't keep her litterbox immaculately clean. She'll need a little "waste" scent to find the box easily. One last thing ... don't ever forget that she won't see you coming and won't automatically get out of your way. Always watch where you're walking and where you're sitting.
Laurie
Satan navigated the household fairly well, though she would sometimes run into furniture if she really got going. She was also extremely polydactyl and kept getting her claws stuck in the carpet and furniture, so she often required rescuing. Her senses of hearing and smell were very acute. She could hear the can opener from anywhere in our 3 story house and come tearing into the kitchen. Her absolute favorite game was chasing and retrieving balled up cellophane wrappers from around my mother's cigarette packs. She could track that strong tobacco smell from at least 30' away.
So, keep claws trimmed, remove anything with sharp edges that she could run into, and buy her toys with strong scents (concentrated catnip spray should work). And try not to change her physical environment any more than absolutely necessary. Announce yourself when you approach her so as not to startle her with your unexpected presence. Oh, and don't keep her litterbox immaculately clean. She'll need a little "waste" scent to find the box easily. One last thing ... don't ever forget that she won't see you coming and won't automatically get out of your way. Always watch where you're walking and where you're sitting.
Laurie
Lol Laurie, did you miss the part that there are seven cats in the apartment? Not keeping the litterbox immaculate shouldn't be a problem, at least not until some of the fosters get adopted out. Thanks do the other info, didn't even think about watching where I sit!
Ah, yes, I did gloss over the 7 felines in an apt part. LOL!
When we were kids, my older sister ruptured my cat's spleen by accidentally sitting on her. And that cat wasn't even blind! Luckily, emergency surgery saved my cat. But that childhood experience made me extra vigilant about where I put my behind.
Laurie
When we were kids, my older sister ruptured my cat's spleen by accidentally sitting on her. And that cat wasn't even blind! Luckily, emergency surgery saved my cat. But that childhood experience made me extra vigilant about where I put my behind.
Laurie
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Hi There
We have a cat with no eyes, found her outside that way, vet thought she was around a year old when we found her. She was a little wild when we brought her in, but she is a great cat. She has no trouble getting around the house, she will run in to chair legs and other cats sometimes, but she plays with ball's and chases the other cats. She likes to set in the window and hear the birds outside, so I built a little set of step's up to the window lege and screwed tight to the wall so its always in the same place. Most people don't know she is blind, unless they see her face. If you look at my photo bucket, her name is Trooper.
We have a cat with no eyes, found her outside that way, vet thought she was around a year old when we found her. She was a little wild when we brought her in, but she is a great cat. She has no trouble getting around the house, she will run in to chair legs and other cats sometimes, but she plays with ball's and chases the other cats. She likes to set in the window and hear the birds outside, so I built a little set of step's up to the window lege and screwed tight to the wall so its always in the same place. Most people don't know she is blind, unless they see her face. If you look at my photo bucket, her name is Trooper.
Update on the lil blind bugger:
Her eye infection is fully healed I am glad to say so happy dance!!:yellbounce:yellbounce:yellbounce
However, her vision has not returned or gotten better. =/ She is a perfectly normal kitten tho. She harasses the foster kittens and can even jump onto the couch(usually. She has missed a few times). She eats like a champ and uses the litter box with more consistency than I have ever seen in a young kitten. She is a HUGE cuddle monster tho and lulls you into a false sense of security before pouncing and ATTACKing. She esp loves attacking glasses and hands. She wrestles like any other kitten, and even wins sometimes.
All in all, Erwin is an AWESOME kitten. Her story is a LONG one and the fact that she even EXISTS is a testament to just how much of a will to live she has.
Her mother is a TINY cat. Seriously. TINY. Kyra weighed in at 7lbs when she was FAT. she shouldn't have been able to have a litter of kittens. If she got pregnant, she shouldn't have been able to carry the litter. And FORGET about giving birth. Oh, and not to mention that one tiny little itty bitty teensy weensy fact that Erwin's dad is NEUTERED.
Yup, you read that right. Erwin's dad, Tucker, was neutered when he was just about three months old. Turns out, he has three... boy parts. One of which the vet did not find and remove when he was neutered. So Tucker "hugged" Kyra, and that was that. Or was it?
Approx 40 days or so into her pregnancy(that we had no idea about!) Kyra went into premature labor. (at 3AM when I had work the next morn, thanks, Kyra. >.<) She birthed one tiny itty bitty naked stillborn kitten and then went out of labor. I could still feel a lump on one side of her tummy so off to the emergency vet we went. They did x-rays and confirmed there was another kitten, nowhere near to term. They did not have an ultrasound tech on duty so they couldn't confirm if the kitten was alive or not. The vet said we could give her a shot and induce labor but because this was an emergency clinic, the surgery to remove the kitten if she didn't pass it normally would be 1500$. For a kitten that wasn't near to term and we couldn't confirm if it was even alive. The vet agreed that this was not a good option. Option #2 was an emergency spay, but That didn't seem right to me. The stillborn she passed was too developed to be "just a fetus" in my mind. Kitty abortion was a no-go. Option #3 was watch her LIKE A HAWK. Honestly the only feasible option. If the kitten was alive, hopefully everything would go right. If it was dead, it was potentially very harmful for Kyra. With the vet's cell on speed dial, we took her home.
Two uneventful weeks later Kyra gave birth(a few days premature) to a tiny, blind, fuzzy tiger. We named her Erwin Schrodinger(google "Schrodinger's cat" if you don't immediately understand why the name is so fitting). Kyra cleaned the kitten, Erwin started screaming(as newborn kittens are apt to do), and Kyra freaked out. I found her hiding under the bed from the evil screaming ball of fur. Erwin's placenta was still attached even. Kyra had absolutely ZERO interest in nursing her, so I prepped my kit(I foster wild kittens, and those who know me know I have bottle raised before). I tied off the cord and cut it with sterile scissors and a betadine dip. Just for "poops and giggles" I decided to give Kyra another shot at being a good mom. Interestingly enough with the kitten stinking of me and having no more bloody sac attached to her, Kyra decided the kitten was ok.
And then the fosters came. Three kittens, approx four weeks old, were found under a car in the parking lot of a physical rehab center. Dirty, skinny, angry little wild kittens. As if that weren't bad enough, one was COVERED in mysterious lumps and scabs. Another's skin was very pink and her fur was sparse. Fearing the worst, I went to go pick them up, crate in hand. When I got them home(COMPLETELY isolated from all other animals), I let them settle down for a few hours before taking a closer look at them. Between hissing, scratching, yowling protests I managed to get a good look at the only boy in the Rehab Gang. Thankfully it wasn't mange or ticks. Something had gotten a hold of him and chewed him up pretty good. His sister had her tail chewed up, but the redness was just from dirt. After a bath and a couple weeks of good raw food his scabs are now 100% healed and his fur has grown back.
The kittens brought with them a herpes outbreak, though. Every single cat in my care had a flare up. All of them healed with only some sneezing and eye gookies though. All of them except for Erwin, who went blind.
A couple of days ago the first of the Rehab Gang, Chaos the tabby, went to her forever home. She is now Chairman Meow, Cherry for short. The Rehab Gang are VERY tame, social "little"(FATFATFAT) cats. All three of them are very handsome animals and I can't wait to get picture updates as they grow! They are roughly two weeks older than Erwin, so it was a really fortunate thing that they were found. They give her the illusion of litter mates so she has a very nearly normal kittenhood.
And for the record, I did not introduce the Rehab Gang to Erwin and Kyra until after their symptoms cleared up, but I obviously didn't wait long enough.
So there ya go. The story of why I have six cats in a two bedroom apartment. LOLOLOL It is SO MUCH work, but well worth it knowing that the Rehab Gang would be dead without me.
Her eye infection is fully healed I am glad to say so happy dance!!:yellbounce:yellbounce:yellbounce
However, her vision has not returned or gotten better. =/ She is a perfectly normal kitten tho. She harasses the foster kittens and can even jump onto the couch(usually. She has missed a few times). She eats like a champ and uses the litter box with more consistency than I have ever seen in a young kitten. She is a HUGE cuddle monster tho and lulls you into a false sense of security before pouncing and ATTACKing. She esp loves attacking glasses and hands. She wrestles like any other kitten, and even wins sometimes.
All in all, Erwin is an AWESOME kitten. Her story is a LONG one and the fact that she even EXISTS is a testament to just how much of a will to live she has.
Her mother is a TINY cat. Seriously. TINY. Kyra weighed in at 7lbs when she was FAT. she shouldn't have been able to have a litter of kittens. If she got pregnant, she shouldn't have been able to carry the litter. And FORGET about giving birth. Oh, and not to mention that one tiny little itty bitty teensy weensy fact that Erwin's dad is NEUTERED.
Yup, you read that right. Erwin's dad, Tucker, was neutered when he was just about three months old. Turns out, he has three... boy parts. One of which the vet did not find and remove when he was neutered. So Tucker "hugged" Kyra, and that was that. Or was it?
Approx 40 days or so into her pregnancy(that we had no idea about!) Kyra went into premature labor. (at 3AM when I had work the next morn, thanks, Kyra. >.<) She birthed one tiny itty bitty naked stillborn kitten and then went out of labor. I could still feel a lump on one side of her tummy so off to the emergency vet we went. They did x-rays and confirmed there was another kitten, nowhere near to term. They did not have an ultrasound tech on duty so they couldn't confirm if the kitten was alive or not. The vet said we could give her a shot and induce labor but because this was an emergency clinic, the surgery to remove the kitten if she didn't pass it normally would be 1500$. For a kitten that wasn't near to term and we couldn't confirm if it was even alive. The vet agreed that this was not a good option. Option #2 was an emergency spay, but That didn't seem right to me. The stillborn she passed was too developed to be "just a fetus" in my mind. Kitty abortion was a no-go. Option #3 was watch her LIKE A HAWK. Honestly the only feasible option. If the kitten was alive, hopefully everything would go right. If it was dead, it was potentially very harmful for Kyra. With the vet's cell on speed dial, we took her home.
Two uneventful weeks later Kyra gave birth(a few days premature) to a tiny, blind, fuzzy tiger. We named her Erwin Schrodinger(google "Schrodinger's cat" if you don't immediately understand why the name is so fitting). Kyra cleaned the kitten, Erwin started screaming(as newborn kittens are apt to do), and Kyra freaked out. I found her hiding under the bed from the evil screaming ball of fur. Erwin's placenta was still attached even. Kyra had absolutely ZERO interest in nursing her, so I prepped my kit(I foster wild kittens, and those who know me know I have bottle raised before). I tied off the cord and cut it with sterile scissors and a betadine dip. Just for "poops and giggles" I decided to give Kyra another shot at being a good mom. Interestingly enough with the kitten stinking of me and having no more bloody sac attached to her, Kyra decided the kitten was ok.
And then the fosters came. Three kittens, approx four weeks old, were found under a car in the parking lot of a physical rehab center. Dirty, skinny, angry little wild kittens. As if that weren't bad enough, one was COVERED in mysterious lumps and scabs. Another's skin was very pink and her fur was sparse. Fearing the worst, I went to go pick them up, crate in hand. When I got them home(COMPLETELY isolated from all other animals), I let them settle down for a few hours before taking a closer look at them. Between hissing, scratching, yowling protests I managed to get a good look at the only boy in the Rehab Gang. Thankfully it wasn't mange or ticks. Something had gotten a hold of him and chewed him up pretty good. His sister had her tail chewed up, but the redness was just from dirt. After a bath and a couple weeks of good raw food his scabs are now 100% healed and his fur has grown back.
The kittens brought with them a herpes outbreak, though. Every single cat in my care had a flare up. All of them healed with only some sneezing and eye gookies though. All of them except for Erwin, who went blind.
A couple of days ago the first of the Rehab Gang, Chaos the tabby, went to her forever home.
She is now Chairman Meow, Cherry for short. The Rehab Gang are VERY tame, social "little"(FATFATFAT) cats. All three of them are very handsome animals and I can't wait to get picture updates as they grow! They are roughly two weeks older than Erwin, so it was a really fortunate thing that they were found. They give her the illusion of litter mates so she has a very nearly normal kittenhood. And for the record, I did not introduce the Rehab Gang to Erwin and Kyra until after their symptoms cleared up, but I obviously didn't wait long enough.
So there ya go. The story of why I have six cats in a two bedroom apartment. LOLOLOL It is SO MUCH work, but well worth it knowing that the Rehab Gang would be dead without me.
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That is an awesome story! I'm sorry Erwin is still blind, but glad she's otherwise ok. I did google the name and it literally made me "LOL." If you don't keep her, I hope she finds an awesome forever home with someone who will appreciate her despite her "disability."
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Do you know if your kitty can sense any light at all? I don't have any experience with a blind kitten, but one of my girls has been blind for about 4 years now. I keep a nightlight on by her food, and I leave the hallway light on at night. She does react to light, so this seems to help her, if only by making her feel some sense of security.
When she first went blind, and when we first moved to my current apartment, she spent quite some time circling rooms and pacing back and forth. Because this continued even after she seemed to have adjusted and figured out spaces, I think she does sometimes just get disoriented, and I"m not sure what causes it.
As Laurie said, keeping the physical environment the same is important. I try to put furniture back in its usual place immediately after vacuuming, and not to leave random objects, like packages, on the floor in a place that's usually empty. Putting stuff back where it was is hard with kitchen chairs. I work at the table a lot and the chairs always get moved around. She persists in walking under the table, trying to navigate 4 table legs and 16 chair legs, rather than just walking around it.
I've taken to saying "be careful, be careful!" if she's about to walk into something. It's been several weeks, and she finally seems to understand what I'm trying to do.
When she first went blind, and when we first moved to my current apartment, she spent quite some time circling rooms and pacing back and forth. Because this continued even after she seemed to have adjusted and figured out spaces, I think she does sometimes just get disoriented, and I"m not sure what causes it.
As Laurie said, keeping the physical environment the same is important. I try to put furniture back in its usual place immediately after vacuuming, and not to leave random objects, like packages, on the floor in a place that's usually empty. Putting stuff back where it was is hard with kitchen chairs. I work at the table a lot and the chairs always get moved around. She persists in walking under the table, trying to navigate 4 table legs and 16 chair legs, rather than just walking around it.
I've taken to saying "be careful, be careful!" if she's about to walk into something. It's been several weeks, and she finally seems to understand what I'm trying to do.
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