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Old March 19th 10, 03:04 AM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
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Default Questions about vision problems

I have a 6 year old Ragdoll. I've had her now for a little over a
year. I had previously assumed she had poor directional hearing and
was a tad slow in the intelligence department. But now I am wondering
if may be a vision issue instead. I was thinking of taking her to an
eye clinic, but they need a referral first. I'm not sure if the vet
would find anything that would require a referral since it is not an
injury or obvious problem. I'm hoping to get in next week anyway, but
the earliest would be next Friday (for the regular vet).

So, I'm hoping that people here might have some experience with this
type of problem and some advice on tests to ask for.

The reason I thought she had directional hearing problems is that she
will react instantly to sound, but she has trouble when I call her if
I am across the room. If it is just me in the room, she looks around,
and then comes. If there are multiple people in the room, she goes to
whoever is closest, regardless of who calls her. Then I call again,
she looks, I wave, she comes.

She also goes around the house calling sometimes, and even when I
respond back, she seems to get agitated and hurry around trying to
find me. It's possible that she has both a directional hearing problem
and is nearsighted as well.

What has got me thinking this is a visual problem is that I take her
to cat shows and show her in the household pet class (open a to any
cat, no papers required, faults allowed, basicially judged for
condition, grooming, and personality). She was doing okay until a show
last month. She started getting grumpy, and one thing I realized is
that at the first ring, I took her to the cage, left for the bathroom,
and returned before she was judged. I'm wondering if she saw me leave,
but did not see me come back.

At the last show this past weekend, she did very well, happy once
more. But my sister said she got very upset the two times I was not
visible (once when I took a shower and closed the door), and the
second time when I went to get something from the car). So we know she
is spooky when she thinks I am not nearby. Since those events happened
before the show started, I made a point of putting her in the judging
cage, going to my seat, and then talking to somebody (anybody) at a
decent volume, before the judging started (so that she could hear
me).

She did fine in every ring, except the last ring. Could be
coincidence, but there were no seats available in the front row. I
knew I wouldn't be easy to see in the second row, so I stood behind
the second row. She did her grumpy routine again.

I also noticed at one ring, when we had time before the judging, that
she did not react when I waved to her, but she did react when I called
her name. Could also be coincidence since she could be nervous and not
seeing the crowd as individuals.

But I wonder if this means that she can't pick me out of a crowd when
I am sitting or standing about 12-15 feet from her cage. I can't talk
to her while she is being judged, though I can respond if the judge
chooses to ask questions or chat about the cat being judged. With the
household pet class, it is more relaxed.

There are also times when I show two cats, and due to the other one
being more difficult, I have to take her up first and go back and get
him. I can't let the judge get to him while i am not there, since I
might have to get him out of the cage for the judge. He's good at the
beginning of the day and gets worse over time. I've been practicing at
home, so he's getting better. The last time I took him, I had a helper
carry Quinn so that I could take Jay Jay. But either way, I would need
to stop by her cage and let her know that I am there since she would
probably think I am not there.

I know there is probably no cure or correction as she won't be getting
glasses. But I'd like to know if she has problems, and how that
affects what she sees so that I can find ways to make things easier
for her. If she really can't see me at the shows, I need to find a
consistent way for her to know that I am there, so she feels secure.

Can they test cats for these things like they do with people?