Blind Kitten advice.

Here's a second to the "get his teeth cleaned" recommendation.
Orientals are prone to gum disease and teeth problems anyway, and older
cats usually need this kind of support. Our 15 year old Burmese's
kidney problems have gotten *way* better since we had his teeth
cleaned. A good vet won't put a cat under without doing blood work
that day so, while it is always risky to give a cat anesthetic, it
really can make all the difference in an older cat's overall health.
And purrs to you for being such a loving kitty mom!

dragon

I think it's fantastic you gave a blind and deaf cat an opportunity for such
a wonderful life.

Too many people would not have done so.

I once had a deaf cat although she made up for her handicap by being extra
alert with her other senses.

She purred at full volume too!

sarah

She purred at full volume too!

Jasper sounds like a motor when he purrs...it's quite relaxing.

pam

"Enjoy every second of your life...it may end at any time and you may come back
as some loser with bad taste." -my friend JoeyJojo

***notice spam blocker***

Minerva is doing very well. She is super playful, loves her toys (when
she can find them)- and has explored about 50% of the room she is in
(she still hugs the walls, but has memorized a few things such as her
box, litter, food, etc). The second she realizes you are in the room,
her engine starts up. We started giving her eye drops a few times a
day- she gives little struggle, but the purr always continues. I think
her one eye may be looking a little better. Her eyes changed color
this week from kitten blue to whatever the new color is (hard to tell
with what is left of her inner eye-lids up).
She has managed to get stuck a few times; I have found her on top of a
three-tier cat-tree a few times- she doesn't even try to get down.
At least when she is on the second tier, she realizes now she can jump
off without damage. We had company over on New-Years Eve, and probably
everyone spent some time with her. She would hiss now and then, but
always ended in purrs. Socially, she will be fine (so it seems).
Per the other cats..... Our other new arrival Athena (4 month old
kitten); we introduced them prior to my original post and they both
freaked. Apollo on the other hand (our 1 and a half year old) has
pushed the door open on his own a few times to say hello (only when we
are in the room- he is a jealous mush). The kitten will hiss if he
gets too close, but Apollo doesn't care at all. He will come over
and watch Minerva, giving her some space. He seems interested, but
knows right now to back off ((It took him a week to get use to Athena-
there was a lot of spitting and hissing on both there parts, but now he
plays with Athena, and I caught him washing her the other day)).
Athena has entered in following Apollo, but is still afraid of the
Minerva (btw, both names, Athena and Minerva are for the same goddess,
One Roman Myth, One Greek). Athena tried staring down Minerva when they
first met, but staring down a blind cat seems to defeat the purpose, so
she lost :-).
I will keep you informed as time goes on. When we are in the room,
Minerva always gives silent mews. I am wondering if she is meowing
when I am not around and we don't hear it, making her horse. I had a
radio playing in the room, but shut it off to try to hear her if she
makes noise (I unfortunately have never been blessed with good
hearing). We shall see

Write to you folks later-

Derek

I got your email - thank you- see the reply to the prior post for
current update. I will reply to your email in private, and thank you
again for your advice. I am sure I have a long road ahead of me,
keeping the kitten or not. (I will foster her until the eyes are taken
care of).

TTYL

Derek

I feel kinda bad, but there is no way to not startle him. He cant see or
hear your approach. Poor guy.

Maybe you could walk heavily or tap the floor so he feels it?

I agree. My cat Tiffy is deaf and she "feels" me enter the room through the
floor. Even so, she is often startled.

--
Flippy in Melbourne, Australia.
My Cats: http://www.flippyscatpage.com

We did have him examined thoroughly by the vet right after we got him. I
didn't
want him hanging around Luna until we were certain he was okay. As for the
teeth, the vet said they likely just needed a good cleaning but that cats
have
to be put under for that procedure and that at Jasper's age and
considering his
frailty, it was probably not in his best interest. What do you think? Does
this
sound fairly accurate? It is a little frustrating having a cat with so
much
history that we are not aware of. And I tried to get his vet records from
the
previous family, but they were not so cooperative. The past 6 months have
been
kinda crazed for me as well. I started a new job in August, right after
getting
Jasper and also just got married in December. Maybe now that things are a
little back to normal, I can try and pursue those vet records once again.

Pam

If you can't get the vet records from the previous family, perhaps the vet
would be more cooperative. When I adopted Tiffy the vet gave me their
original vet records because I live on the other side of town.

--
Flippy in Melbourne, Australia.
My Cats: http://www.flippyscatpage.com

"sarah" wrote...
I think it's fantastic you gave a blind and deaf cat an opportunity for
such
a wonderful life.

Too many people would not have done so.

I once had a deaf cat although she made up for her handicap by being extra
alert with her other senses.

She purred at full volume too!

sarah

That's cute, Sarah. My Tiffy doesn't purr very loud, but she does meow at
full volume. MEEEEEOOOOOOOOOW!!! Sure gets my attention. LOL!

--
Flippy in Melbourne, Australia.
My Cats: http://www.flippyscatpage.com

i have a blind kitten named sniff. i got her while working for a local
vet. She was brought in by a local shelter who said a guy dropped her off
because she was wondering around and her eye was out. I was really looking
forward to her coming in, i have never seen such a young animal with this
type of problem and plus it was definitely different than the
spays/neuters we have come in all the time. When she came in i couldn't
imagine how she could have survived for as long as she did. She weighed
almost nothing, her left eye was more than half way protruding out and had
to have been like this for sometime because it had already scabbed over
and you could smell the infection and the other eye was squinted making it
look almost closed. While i was waiting for Dr. Ford i put my hand in the
box and kept it still. Before i knew it she walked over to my hand and
started sniffing it. i couldn't help but to be amazed at how she found my
hand with just a sense of smell. I knew we were going to remove the left
eye and fatten her up, but for what? As we talked we kept running into the
same dilema: where will she go afterwards? She couldn't stay at Dr. Ford's
because we needed all the room we could get, the shelter offered to take
her back with them, but they were worried how long she would sit there
before getting adopted. "I'll take her" is what came out of my mouth
before i knew it. I have never been a cat person, but that day i became
one. We kept her in the surgery room until I was able to take her home and
Dr. Ford even suggested that she probably be penned up until she was 4/6
months old. Boy was she WRONG! The day i took her home i was driving on
the interstate coming around a curve that alot of people wreck at and she
was climbing out of the box onto me as we were riding. I couldn't keep her
in the box, instead i let her ride in my lap. Her initial "Homecoming"
wasn't the best either. My boyfriend freaked out. Because the surgery
hadn't been that long ago, she was really starting to heal as far as the
removal goes. That side of her face was shaved with a 40 blade and you
could tell that it wasn't a pretty site. It was scabbing over and at
times she would scratch at it so hard but it didn't seem to bother her.
The other eye never came at all. There is nothing there in that socket,
and it's been that way since i first saw her. I tried to convince my
boyfriend that after she heals that scab covering half her head would be
gone and her hair and whiskers will grow back as if nothing happened. (It
helps that she is a long haired cat because it really helps hide the scar
that could be showing.) It didn't take much convincing because he
overlooked the scab and was soon nicknaming her. As far as her being blind
goes, you couldn't tell. She definitely makes up for her loss of eyesight
with her sense of smell and hearing. I was going to keep her up like Dr.
Ford suggested, but it was near impossible. She leaerned her way around
our house in no time, occasionally bumping into things. She still does
that, especially when she's excited and running around playing. She
learned how to use the litter box the first night. Although she didn't
understand at first because she tried to eat the litter. She is so much
like a dog it isn't funny. She comes when her name is called. You can be
another room away and not paying any attention to her and she'll come
running in the room ready to play or relax. She pretty much makes herself
welcome any where. You can try to keep her out of the room, but if you
don't have the door shut all the way, she's charging in, literally. She's
a very social cat. She's always where every body else is in the house. She
also loves to lay on just the floor of our house, no carpet any where. She
knows when there are other animals in the house because she'll follow them
around as if she can see them. She's defeinitely different. Having been
around dogs and horses primarily, she was a first. It's amazing how they
can adjust even after losing one of the most important senses. I am glad
however that she has been this way since birth because it would be harder
coping with a cat over 2 years in age because they were used to sight and
now they have none. I'm glad to have had this experience and to have found
other people who share the same. I knew I wasn't the only one with a blind
kitten, just the only one i know. My advice would be to let her do what
she feels comfortable with. She isn't going to do something she does not
feel sure about. I promise. Sniff has gotten to where she'll climb on the
counter as long as there is a chair close by to get up/down from. I don't
know how she figured out how to do that. She would climb in our laps while
we were sitting at the bar and climb on the bar but that would be it. Now
she's learned to do it with out our help! She loves to play and she will
get pretty mean while playing but that's her way. It's partly my fault
too, i played with her too rough from the get go and now that's how she
plays. I'm the only one that will let her get ruthless about it.Her
favorite toy is simply a foil ball. She'll chase that thing around
forever, really! She'll push it across the floor and take off! Totally
amused, it's like a game to keep up with it and follow the sound. Like any
cat, she hates a bath, but she gets them anyways. She'll let you know when
she's hungry and she acts like a crackhead when she hears that Whisker
Lickin package open. She's a converstation piece, people have to look at
her twice when we say that she has no eyes. I'm happy with the way she has
turned out. Even with no eyes, you'll still have a hard time keeping up
with Sniff!

We have one too! Little Angel was dumped off in the field beside our
house when she was only a few weeks old. Both eyes were destroyed.
Apparently from some kind of virus.So she's never known sight. But she
does everything the other cats do. She even loves going outside &
exploring the yard.Of course we keep her under pretty close supervison.
She likes to go up on top of the garden shed & "watch" the horses on the
other side of the fence & believe it or not, she's a real tree climber.
Of course coming back down is another story. We keep a ladder handy to
rescue her. She loves the smells outside & the sound of the leaves
scrunching under her paws & will even chase & try to play with them.
She's just a delightful & loving little creature who doesn't at all miss
what she's never known. We could all learn from these little guys who
were so short changed in life. We think Heaven is gonna look great to
us...Imagine what it's gonna look like to them. Bless em' all. Patty.