Blind Kitten advice.

Hi. Last week upon returning home I found a 7-8 week old blind,
dehydrated, 1lb 2oz kitten. It was below zero out and I was not about
to leave her outside. Been to the vet twice and probably the states
best pet optomologist (sorry for bad spelling). Apparently her mother
must have been ill during pregnacny- her right eye had ruptured and
resealed and is non-light reactive. Her left eye is severly damaged,
and somewhat light reactive. On top of all this, there are NO
upper-eyelids on this kitten for any of the lens layers (the outside
one exists, but it is the inner ones that are used to moisten the
eyes). On top of this, roundworm (normal for outdoor wild cats).
The veterinarian suggests removing the eyes when she reaches 5-6 months
old (if no improvement), and until then, placing in eye drops to keep
them moist 3-4 times daily

Now for the few dilema's I have. I have raised cats all my life, have
2 college degrees in Animal Science (not in spelling), and have delt
with older cats who have lost their sight over their lifetime.

1: How do I handle this situation?!?.
She cannot see more than 4 inches from her face. She is playfull and
will pounce depending on sound, but she misses regularly. She has
gotten stuck on a second layer of a cat tree, and doesnt realize she
can get down. She is in a spare bedroom in quarenteen (due to the
roundworm), and has partially explored it. She still runs into
objects, but takes it in stride. Introducing her to a 3 story house
will be an interesting challenge at best.
2: I have 2 other cats- one kitten I adopted the day before finding the
blind one. She is 4 months old. Today I attempted to let them meet to
slowly get them aquainted. The blind one puffed what furr she had,
then went on her merry way- not realizing the other kitten was still
there unless the kitten made noise. The meeting was not a success (not
that I expected it to be).
2A: I do not want to let her out until she and the 4 month old are
friendly- I have a 1 1/2 year old who it took a week to acclimate the
older kitten. I fear what he will do the the little one. Without
sight, her only defenses are her ears and smell. Both the older kitten
and the adult can be pretty stealthy. (I may get bells for now for
their collars).
3: At this point, the kitten may only be a foster. I am willing to pay
the medical bills to get her fixed up, but as it is I may not be able
to keep her. We rent the house, and as it is, pets are not allowed (as
you can see, we are breaking this rule already). One of the people I
am sharing the home with had no issue with a second kitten, but thinks
three cats is pushing it. I know finding a home for a blind kitten
will be near imposible (though I know other people willing to foster
her).

Any suggestions on raising her? I do not want her bullied by the other
two cats (which I dont see happening after they set the pecking order).
The house is already kitten proofed, but it looks like I will need to
do more; I am afraid of the kitten falling through a railing or down
the stairs.

All advice on this would be welcome-

Thanks

Derek

in article , Njwatcher
at wrote on 12/29/04 9:56 PM:

Hi. Last week upon returning home I found a 7-8 week old blind,
dehydrated, 1lb 2oz kitten. It was below zero out and I was not about
to leave her outside. Been to the vet twice and probably the states
best pet optomologist (sorry for bad spelling). Apparently her mother
must have been ill during pregnacny- her right eye had ruptured and
resealed and is non-light reactive. Her left eye is severly damaged,
and somewhat light reactive. On top of all this, there are NO
upper-eyelids on this kitten for any of the lens layers (the outside
one exists, but it is the inner ones that are used to moisten the
eyes). On top of this, roundworm (normal for outdoor wild cats).
The veterinarian suggests removing the eyes when she reaches 5-6 months
old (if no improvement), and until then, placing in eye drops to keep
them moist 3-4 times daily

Now for the few dilema's I have. I have raised cats all my life, have
2 college degrees in Animal Science (not in spelling), and have delt
with older cats who have lost their sight over their lifetime.

1: How do I handle this situation?!?.
She cannot see more than 4 inches from her face. She is playfull and
will pounce depending on sound, but she misses regularly. She has
gotten stuck on a second layer of a cat tree, and doesnt realize she
can get down. She is in a spare bedroom in quarenteen (due to the
roundworm), and has partially explored it. She still runs into
objects, but takes it in stride. Introducing her to a 3 story house
will be an interesting challenge at best.
2: I have 2 other cats- one kitten I adopted the day before finding the
blind one. She is 4 months old. Today I attempted to let them meet to
slowly get them aquainted. The blind one puffed what furr she had,
then went on her merry way- not realizing the other kitten was still
there unless the kitten made noise. The meeting was not a success (not
that I expected it to be).
2A: I do not want to let her out until she and the 4 month old are
friendly- I have a 1 1/2 year old who it took a week to acclimate the
older kitten. I fear what he will do the the little one. Without
sight, her only defenses are her ears and smell. Both the older kitten
and the adult can be pretty stealthy. (I may get bells for now for
their collars).
3: At this point, the kitten may only be a foster. I am willing to pay
the medical bills to get her fixed up, but as it is I may not be able
to keep her. We rent the house, and as it is, pets are not allowed (as
you can see, we are breaking this rule already). One of the people I
am sharing the home with had no issue with a second kitten, but thinks
three cats is pushing it. I know finding a home for a blind kitten
will be near imposible (though I know other people willing to foster
her).

Any suggestions on raising her? I do not want her bullied by the other
two cats (which I dont see happening after they set the pecking order).
The house is already kitten proofed, but it looks like I will need to
do more; I am afraid of the kitten falling through a railing or down
the stairs.

All advice on this would be welcome-

Thanks

Derek

Oh my! Well, I sure hope that MaryL sees this. She has a cat she adopted who
was blind from birth. Though he was an adult when she got him, she will have
very good advice for you on this. She will tell you (and show you ) how
marvelously Duffy gets along. I think there is great hope for this little
one. Since it is SO young, I think you will actually have a good chance of a
good introduction if you take it slowly. I would just try to look at the
room kitty is in and try to baby proof as well as possible. I too would keep
her safe there until she is older and familiar with everything. I would
guess she will adapt more easily than you imagine because she does not know
that being blind is "different". Good luck and please keep us posted.

"Njwatcher" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi. Last week upon returning home I found a 7-8 week old blind,
dehydrated, 1lb 2oz kitten. It was below zero out and I was not about
to leave her outside. Been to the vet twice and probably the states
best pet optomologist (sorry for bad spelling). Apparently her mother
must have been ill during pregnacny- her right eye had ruptured and
resealed and is non-light reactive. Her left eye is severly damaged,
and somewhat light reactive. On top of all this, there are NO
upper-eyelids on this kitten for any of the lens layers (the outside
one exists, but it is the inner ones that are used to moisten the
eyes). On top of this, roundworm (normal for outdoor wild cats).
The veterinarian suggests removing the eyes when she reaches 5-6 months
old (if no improvement), and until then, placing in eye drops to keep
them moist 3-4 times daily

snip
Thanks

Derek


Hi Derek,

You are really facing two separate issues he (1) blindness in a kitten
and (2) how to slowly -- and safely -- introduce two cats. Item #2 is
particularly important in your case because your kitten is blind.

I adopted Duffy a little less than 2 years ago, and he is pure delight. I
can assure you that a blind cat can lead a full and active life. I will
send private email to you this evening (email because the message will be
lengthy and most will duplicate information I have previously posted here).
In the meantime, please do *not* try to introduce your two cats at this
early date.

You will find links to two "albums" under my signature. The first shows the
pictorial history of how I introduced Duffy to Holly. The second shows more
up-to-date photos -- the "transition." If you will scroll part-way down in
the second album, you will see some pictures of Duffy on his cat tree. He
is like a little gymnast, and will swing himself from one pole to another.
So, the problems you described about your kitten running into objects are
temporary and will probably be overcome as your kitten grows and becomes
more familiar with his surroundings. Like you, I arranged for an evaluation
by an ophthalmologist at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine
because I wanted to see if there was some vestiges of sight (and, if so,
what I should do to preserve it). In Duffy's case, I actually thought that
he might have some sight because he has compensated so well. There, I
learned that Duffy is completely blind and that he has a condition known as
"anterior cleavage syndrome." There should be space between the iris and the
cornea. In Duffy's case, the two components are pressed together, and there
is no space between them. This probably happened before birth and possibly
was caused by infection in the mother.

I am delighted that you are willing to give this little kitten the
opportunity for a full life. Too many people hear "blindness" and view it
as an unsurmountable handicap -- and, for many, the next step is death. In
actual fact, Duffy is active, healthy and happy.

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

Too many people hear "blindness" and view it as an unsurmountable handicap --
and, for many, the next step is death. In
actual fact, Duffy is active, healthy and happy.

This is a perfect spot for me to tell you all about Jasper. Also known as
Dudley. It doesn't much matter what we call him because he cant hear us. Nor
can he see us.

Jasper's mom died in August. She was an old lady with 2 cats (Jasper and
Max...who didnt get along very well.) Her dying wish was to have her cats put
down upon her own death. (!!) The old lady's daughter is a dear friend of my
mother-in-law, named Linda. And at the wake, Linda asked my husband and me if
we wanted another cat. After having gone through a bad situation with a cat we
had adopted from a shelter and deciding not to keep him...our hearts were
already battered and we feared another cat would just be another let down. We
figured our cat Luna just really needed to be the queen of her domain forever.
Well, Linda said that Jasper was a great cat and we should just go see him. I
caved. We went. Mind you...this is just a few blocks away from the old lady's
funeral. The 2 cats were still in her apartment. We come in and see Jasper. I
start petting him. He starts purring. He looks so sad. He was very close with
the old lady. I knew we had to get him out of there. He's an older cat
(probably around 12, but we're not even totally sure) and the other cat was
younger, so we figured he would be easier to adopt out. They were definitely
not a "bonded pair" even though they lived together. I decided we would take
Jasper and even if it didnt work out with our cat, Luna, that we would take the
responsibility of finding Jasper a new home. We kept Jasper quarantined for
almost week until Tim could get him to the vet for a checkup before being
introduced to Luna. In this week, we discovered that Jasper didnt seem to see
much. Or hear much.

So, to make a short story long....
We kept Jasper. He is a gorgeous cat. very dark siamese. And he is blind and
deaf. And he has terrible breath and bad teeth and cant really eat anything but
wet food. And we absolutely adore him. He gets around quite well considering
his handicaps...plus...his NOSE SURE WORKS!!!

He does bump into stuff sometimes...but only when things are out of place. He
really knows his way around and is quite content.

People often look at us in shock when we say we adopted a 2nd cat...who is both
blind and deaf. Like I said, we didn't even know this when we rescued him from
that apartment. But what a joy he is. His purrs are the best. And when you get
home from work and say hi to him, it startles him and he squeaks. It is the
best. I feel kinda bad, but there is no way to not startle him. He cant see or
hear your approach. Poor guy. But right after the squeak, he starts purring
because he is so glad you are there. Then he rolls over on his back and starts
doing this swimming thing with his paws while you just rub and rub and rub his
tummy.



that's my happy story.
happy new year 2005 kitty lovers.
Pam
p.s. here's a pic of jasper back in august on his first day with us!!!

http://public.fotki.com/kitkatluna/m...om/jasper.html





"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***

in article , Kitkat at
lex wrote on 1/1/05 2:30 PM:

Too many people hear "blindness" and view it as an unsurmountable handicap --
and, for many, the next step is death. In
actual fact, Duffy is active, healthy and happy.

This is a perfect spot for me to tell you all about Jasper. Also known as
Dudley. It doesn't much matter what we call him because he cant hear us. Nor
can he see us.

Jasper's mom died in August. She was an old lady with 2 cats (Jasper and
Max...who didnt get along very well.) Her dying wish was to have her cats put
down upon her own death. (!!) The old lady's daughter is a dear friend of my
mother-in-law, named Linda. And at the wake, Linda asked my husband and me if
we wanted another cat. After having gone through a bad situation with a cat we
had adopted from a shelter and deciding not to keep him...our hearts were
already battered and we feared another cat would just be another let down. We
figured our cat Luna just really needed to be the queen of her domain forever.
Well, Linda said that Jasper was a great cat and we should just go see him. I
caved. We went. Mind you...this is just a few blocks away from the old lady's
funeral. The 2 cats were still in her apartment. We come in and see Jasper. I
start petting him. He starts purring. He looks so sad. He was very close with
the old lady. I knew we had to get him out of there. He's an older cat
(probably around 12, but we're not even totally sure) and the other cat was
younger, so we figured he would be easier to adopt out. They were definitely
not a "bonded pair" even though they lived together. I decided we would take
Jasper and even if it didnt work out with our cat, Luna, that we would take
the
responsibility of finding Jasper a new home. We kept Jasper quarantined for
almost week until Tim could get him to the vet for a checkup before being
introduced to Luna. In this week, we discovered that Jasper didnt seem to see
much. Or hear much.

So, to make a short story long....
We kept Jasper. He is a gorgeous cat. very dark siamese. And he is blind and
deaf. And he has terrible breath and bad teeth and cant really eat anything
but
wet food. And we absolutely adore him. He gets around quite well considering
his handicaps...plus...his NOSE SURE WORKS!!!

He does bump into stuff sometimes...but only when things are out of place. He
really knows his way around and is quite content.

People often look at us in shock when we say we adopted a 2nd cat...who is
both
blind and deaf. Like I said, we didn't even know this when we rescued him from
that apartment. But what a joy he is. His purrs are the best. And when you get
home from work and say hi to him, it startles him and he squeaks. It is the
best. I feel kinda bad, but there is no way to not startle him. He cant see or
hear your approach. Poor guy. But right after the squeak, he starts purring
because he is so glad you are there. Then he rolls over on his back and starts
doing this swimming thing with his paws while you just rub and rub and rub his
tummy.



that's my happy story.
happy new year 2005 kitty lovers.
Pam
p.s. here's a pic of jasper back in august on his first day with us!!!

http://public.fotki.com/kitkatluna/m...om/jasper.html

Awww. How old is he?

"Kitkat" wrote in message
...
Too many people hear "blindness" and view it as an unsurmountable
handicap --
and, for many, the next step is death. In
actual fact, Duffy is active, healthy and happy.

This is a perfect spot for me to tell you all about Jasper. Also known as
Dudley. It doesn't much matter what we call him because he cant hear us.
Nor
can he see us.

Jasper's mom died in August. She was an old lady with 2 cats (Jasper and
Max...who didnt get along very well.) Her dying wish was to have her cats
put
down upon her own death. (!!) The old lady's daughter is a dear friend of
my
mother-in-law, named Linda. And at the wake, Linda asked my husband and me
if
we wanted another cat. After having gone through a bad situation with a
cat we
had adopted from a shelter and deciding not to keep him...our hearts were
already battered and we feared another cat would just be another let down.
We
figured our cat Luna just really needed to be the queen of her domain
forever.
Well, Linda said that Jasper was a great cat and we should just go see
him. I
caved. We went. Mind you...this is just a few blocks away from the old
lady's
funeral. The 2 cats were still in her apartment. We come in and see
Jasper. I
start petting him. He starts purring. He looks so sad. He was very close
with
the old lady. I knew we had to get him out of there. He's an older cat
(probably around 12, but we're not even totally sure) and the other cat
was
younger, so we figured he would be easier to adopt out. They were
definitely
not a "bonded pair" even though they lived together. I decided we would
take
Jasper and even if it didnt work out with our cat, Luna, that we would
take the
responsibility of finding Jasper a new home. We kept Jasper quarantined
for
almost week until Tim could get him to the vet for a checkup before being
introduced to Luna. In this week, we discovered that Jasper didnt seem to
see
much. Or hear much.

So, to make a short story long....
We kept Jasper. He is a gorgeous cat. very dark siamese. And he is blind
and
deaf. And he has terrible breath and bad teeth and cant really eat
anything but
wet food. And we absolutely adore him. He gets around quite well
considering
his handicaps...plus...his NOSE SURE WORKS!!!

He does bump into stuff sometimes...but only when things are out of place.
He
really knows his way around and is quite content.

People often look at us in shock when we say we adopted a 2nd cat...who is
both
blind and deaf. Like I said, we didn't even know this when we rescued him
from
that apartment. But what a joy he is. His purrs are the best. And when you
get
home from work and say hi to him, it startles him and he squeaks. It is
the
best. I feel kinda bad, but there is no way to not startle him. He cant
see or
hear your approach. Poor guy. But right after the squeak, he starts
purring
because he is so glad you are there. Then he rolls over on his back and
starts
doing this swimming thing with his paws while you just rub and rub and rub
his
tummy.



that's my happy story.
happy new year 2005 kitty lovers.
Pam
p.s. here's a pic of jasper back in august on his first day with us!!!

http://public.fotki.com/kitkatluna/m...om/jasper.html





Wonderful story! One suggestion, though. Have you had Jasper's teeth
checked (in fact, a thorough physical exam)? A cat should not have bad
breath, and this is often a sign of medical problems. You did mention that
he has "terrible teeth." Has your vet made any recommendations?

Thanks for adopting Jasper and taking care of him.

MaryL

Wonderful story! One suggestion, though. Have you had Jasper's teeth
checked (in fact, a thorough physical exam)? A cat should not have bad
breath, and this is often a sign of medical problems. You did mention that
he has "terrible teeth." Has your vet made any recommendations?

Thanks for adopting Jasper and taking care of him.

MaryL

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


"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***

in article , Kitkat at
lex wrote on 1/2/05 11:39AM:

Awww. How old is he?

We are not exactly sure. The vet's guess is between 10 and 12, but closer to
the 12. Apparently before living with the old lady we got him from, he lived
with *another* old lady, who also died on him. :-( So, his history as well as
his age is kind of a mystery.

Of course, I'm hoping that my husband and I do break the cycle that Jasper has
been thru. We'd like to outlive him..if it all possible.

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***

If he is just 12, and if you run a blood test and all comes back well, I
would sure have his teeth cleaned. Bad teeth can lead to worse health
problems and so he will really benefit from this. If your vet is
uncomfortable, I would look for a feline vet, whom I'm sure have done many
older cats under anesthesia. He's a beautiful color!

"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...
in article , Kitkat at
lex wrote on 1/2/05 11:39AM:

Awww. How old is he?

We are not exactly sure. The vet's guess is between 10 and 12, but
closer to
the 12. Apparently before living with the old lady we got him from, he
lived
with *another* old lady, who also died on him. :-( So, his history as
well as
his age is kind of a mystery.

Of course, I'm hoping that my husband and I do break the cycle that
Jasper has
been thru. We'd like to outlive him..if it all possible.

pam
If he is just 12, and if you run a blood test and all comes back well, I
would sure have his teeth cleaned. Bad teeth can lead to worse health
problems and so he will really benefit from this. If your vet is
uncomfortable, I would look for a feline vet, whom I'm sure have done many
older cats under anesthesia. He's a beautiful color!


I agree, 12 is not old at all.
--

I.P.Freely

"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...
in article , Kitkat at
lex wrote on 1/2/05 11:39AM:

Awww. How old is he?

We are not exactly sure. The vet's guess is between 10 and 12, but closer
to
the 12. Apparently before living with the old lady we got him from, he
lived
with *another* old lady, who also died on him. :-( So, his history as
well as
his age is kind of a mystery.

Of course, I'm hoping that my husband and I do break the cycle that
Jasper has
been thru. We'd like to outlive him..if it all possible.

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***

If he is just 12, and if you run a blood test and all comes back well, I
would sure have his teeth cleaned. Bad teeth can lead to worse health
problems and so he will really benefit from this. If your vet is
uncomfortable, I would look for a feline vet, whom I'm sure have done many
older cats under anesthesia. He's a beautiful color!


This is good advice. It is important to have the blood tests first, but bad
teeth can lead to still more health problems -- and the fact that Jasper has
bad breath leads me to think that he has *very* bad teeth (if that is the
only health issue). Many cats live to be much older than the estimated age
for Jasper, and it would not be in his best interests to face years of
untreated dental problems.

MaryL