"weavergirl" u34042@uwe wrote in message news:71e9dc14f4408@uwe...
Let me just start out my story on how I aquired my foster kitten named
Roxanne. I work at a hotel and we have stray cats from the area and then
seem to breed and birth on our property. There is one female cat named
Patches(by a co-worker) that is the alpha female that has all the kittens,
that I know of. Last year at this time she had 7 kittens and were all
healthy
and I fostered them for about 2 weeks and found homes for all of them, I
kept
one. This year she had kittens again, however, she let one behind,
Roxanne.
snip
The reason I am writing this thread is because I hope someone can help me
out.
I need to know first if anyone has witnessed an episode like this before
and
can enlighten me as to what happened(I am thinking a siezure), second how
can
you tell if a kitten is blind.


I am writing in response to the part of your message that asks about
blindness in a kitten. The "easy" check is to move your hand back and forth
(and up and down) in front of the kitten. Watch to see if she follows the
movement of your hand. Do this in good light, but not direct sunlight that
might be difficult for a kitten to use for contrast. You could also use a
flashlight to see if there is any reaction. Is there a veterinary college
near you where you could take Roxanne for an evaluation? I have a wonderful
blind cat, Duffy. If you google, you will find that I have written numerous
times about Duffy and his incredible feats. He can do almost anything that
a sighted cat can do, and he is an incredibly loving, happy, active little
guy. I took him to Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine for an
evaluation. He is completely blind and has been blind since birth, but it
would be well worth having an examination while the kitten is young -- just
in case there is something that you can do to preserve some vision for
Roxanne. (Duffy was estimated to be 3-5 years old when I adopted him.)

Please keep us updated.

MaryL

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
Duffy: http://tinyurl.com/cslwf
Holly: http://tinyurl.com/9t68o
Duffy and Holly together: http://tinyurl.com/8b47e