[Meow1]

We have a cat, Pumpkin, who is about 2-3 years old. We rescued her from a sewer and quickly found out she was blind. We took her a pet vision specialist who told us there was nothing we could but give her a good home. All was well until we recently moved to a new apartment. Pumpkin began crying out or meowing during the night. This has increasingly gotten worse and worse. Last night she cried all night long. We have taken her to the vet and had tests run. Seemingly, there is nothing "wrong" with her that could be making her cry out. We treated this as behavioral with Prozac, which gave her seizures. More recently, we tried Xanax, which exacerbated the problem. We have also tried anti-histamines, pheromone plug-ins and sprays, a squirt bottle, locking her in her crate, etc.to no avail. Has anyone else been through something similar? Have any suggestions?

Picture of our sweet Pumpkin when we rescued her:

 

[cooncatbob]

It might just be too quiet for her at night alone, maybe leave the radio on very low in the living room to keep her company.

 

[mimitabby]

maybe you need another cat for company. Does she sleep with you?

 

[Ritzpg]

If cats lose one sense, do other senses compensate?
New apartment, new sound that only Pumpkin can hear? Cats hear much better than humans; maybe a blind cat hears what even other cats can't hear.
I second the suggestion of leaving a radio on all night. Turn it down so you the human can barely hear it. Soft, new age type music; I understand cats especially love harp music. Good luck; poor you, poor Pumpkin.

 

[scooterca42]

Though vision impaired cats often function very well indoors, moving will be even more traumatic than it is for a sighted cat. Have you taken her through the new place? And by taken her through, I mean at a cat's level, on your hands and knees. Don't forget that cats often respond well to positive reinforcement. When you go through with her bring treats, and work on giving her pleasant images of where she is now. Did she have a favoured place to sleep in the old apartment - is that item still with you? Does she sleep with you?
It's hard when they cry, I know - and there's that "poor sad kitty....please shut the heck up...poor sad kitty" 3 am emotional turmoil to deal with too...
It's almost like bringing a kitten home for the first time, in a way. Try treating the behaviour like that. CoonCatBob had a good idea with the radio. Let us know what happens!

 

[MowMow]

Perhaps she's just confused and nervous during the night in a new place. How long have you lived there? Is she allowed in your room with you?

 

[Meow1]

It might just be too quiet for her at night alone, maybe leave the radio on very low in the living room to keep her company.

Thanks for the idea! We'll try this tonight!

maybe you need another cat for company. Does she sleep with you?

We do have another cat, Ali, Pumpkin's big sister. As silly as this may sound, we swear that Pumpkin looks up to Ali. Another thought we had, is that she just wants to play with Ali, but all Ali really wants to do is sleep!

Yes, they both will sleep with us.

If cats lose one sense, do other senses compensate?
New apartment, new sound that only Pumpkin can hear? Cats hear much better than humans; maybe a blind cat hears what even other cats can't hear.
I second the suggestion of leaving a radio on all night. Turn it down so you the human can barely hear it. Soft, new age type music; I understand cats especially love harp music. Good luck; poor you, poor Pumpkin.

I feel that the other senses do compensate for her lack of vision. It is the craziest thing, but Pumpkin and I play fetch with small play mice and Livestrong bracelets. (IE, better hearing, smell)

Harp music it is Thanks!

Though vision impaired cats often function very well indoors, moving will be even more traumatic than it is for a sighted cat. Have you taken her through the new place? And by taken her through, I mean at a cat's level, on your hands and knees. Don't forget that cats often respond well to positive reinforcement. When you go through with her bring treats, and work on giving her pleasant images of where she is now. Did she have a favoured place to sleep in the old apartment - is that item still with you? Does she sleep with you?
It's hard when they cry, I know - and there's that "poor sad kitty....please shut the heck up...poor sad kitty" 3 am emotional turmoil to deal with too...
It's almost like bringing a kitten home for the first time, in a way. Try treating the behaviour like that. CoonCatBob had a good idea with the radio. Let us know what happens!

We have lived at this "new" apartment about 6 months now. Sorry, I should have been clearer. She does sleep with us, and we put our t-shirts, with our scent on them for her to lay next to, in her "spots."

I appreciate your response.

Perhaps she's just confused and nervous during the night in a new place. How long have you lived there? Is she allowed in your room with you?

We've lived there about 6 months now. She is allowed in the rooms with us, except, when she starts meowing, we close her out of the room.

 

[Meow1]

I really appreciate all responses we have gotten so far! You guys are great, and have some good suggestions.

It really makes this frustrating time better for us.

 

[Ritzpg]

Maybe put cat nip (or something equally attractive, though stay away from food) at all four corners in every room in your apartment. Pumpkin can get a better sense spatially of the layout of your apartment, since Pumpkin can't see it.

 

[Lyndzo]

I think she may be sensing something different and it is scaring her. Does Ali sleep with you as well? If not, maybe that will help. I know one of my kitties is fond of this really soft blanket we got for Christmas, she goes to sleep easily on it. Maybe a soft blanket?

She is gorgeous by the way! And very lucky to have such a caring owner.

 

[Meow1]

Maybe put cat nip (or something equally attractive, though stay away from food) at all four corners in every room in your apartment. Pumpkin can get a better sense spatially of the layout of your apartment, since Pumpkin can't see it.

That is a good idea as well. Thanks!

I think she may be sensing something different and it is scaring her. Does Ali sleep with you as well? If not, maybe that will help. I know one of my kitties is fond of this really soft blanket we got for Christmas, she goes to sleep easily on it. Maybe a soft blanket?

She is gorgeous by the way! And very lucky to have such a caring owner.

Thanks for your response. Ali does sleep with us as well. Maybe we can move Pumpkin's soft blanket on our bed for her. Great idea!

We appreciate the nice comments! :mrgreen:

 

[Straysmommy]

You're very kind to have adopted the sisters, good for you. Pumpkin looks adorable. Does she still cry if she's in bed with you holding her?

 

[Meow1]

You're very kind to have adopted the sisters, good for you. Pumpkin looks adorable. Does she still cry if she's in bed with you holding her?

Oh, just to clarify, they are not sisters. They are "sisters" now.

She does not cry if she is in bed with us, however, she won't stay in bed with us long.

Here are more pics of our babies!

Pumpkin:

Ali:

 

[Lenkolas]

You probably tried it already, but what about Feliway plug-in?

I agree there's something scaring her. One of my cats cried for a whole month when we moved to a new apartment (but he's not blind).

I have a friend who owns a blind cat. She tells me she never moves any furniture around, and avoids picking her cat up and carrying him around from one place to another, because that disorients him. She has the most cool "blind cat gadgets", like slippers with little bells attached to them so the cat knows when she's coming, and soft padded walls and corners... When she adopted him, she used to "walk" around with him all over the apartment, crawling around like a big cat. His blind kitty walked around with her as they explored the apartment and went from one room to the other. Now, blind kitty even runs around like a perfectly normal cat.

Best of lucks, I hope things get better soon! Your kitties are beautiful

 

[BotanyBlack]

I knew someone with a blind dog. she kept different scented candles in each room, 1 scent per room, different in each room (never burn these changes the scent). so he could tell which room he had just entered. plus had different textured carpet runners so he knew when he was stepping off into another area,. Basic rule was nothing could be set on the runners, he would run full blast through the house and as long as he was on one he knew he wouldn't hit anything. and rubber nub mats at top and bottom of the stairs so he wouldn't "trip" (he would feel the texture and look for the step).

not sure if any of that would help with a kitty, never tried it.