Goggles for blind kitten?

This is a serious question, just a rather odd one-

First a recap-

Several months ago I started fostering a blind kitten. He came to me
as a stray with a very bad infection of feline herpes that had infected
his eyes. The left eye was removed but he arrested during the surgery
and was clinically dead for over three minutes. With supportive care
and a ton of love and good food he quickly gained in weight (and
attitude) and has since made a complete and remarkable recovery. He
has been to a specialist for the remaining eye several times and
actually does have some remaining function (he can see movement
provided the room is very bright).

It should come as little surprise that I completely failed at fostering
him and Jonas is now the latest addition to our family. He has several
other issues as well as the blindness- his front legs are slightly
deformed, his lower jaw is twisted, he's partially deaf, and he may
have some brain damage for the arrest. He also has some problems with
biting, which he is going to Penn for help with. Despite these
problems he is by far the most active kitten I've ever owned and is
quite the charmer. He loves giving kisses and playing with the other
cats-

And here's where the goggle question comes in. Because he can't really
see things coming at him, Jonas seems to lack a blink response. He is
housed with two cats and has a separate room where he sleeps. We hope
to have him completely integrated in the next few months, so that he
can be out unsupervised. Robin generally tolerates him well and will
wrestle with him- which is the only thing he wants to do when he finds
her. Heather, however, just wants him to leave her alone. He knows
the difference between the two cats and won't harass her as he does
Robin- in fact, as soon as he knows he's found Heather he sinks to the
floor and stays still. Still, she does swat him from time to time and
she's not gentle about it. I worry all the time that she'll take out
his eye and since he does have some function in it, I'd really like to
avoid that. I'm considering purchasing a pair of doggles, the goggles
for dogs, to help protect his eye. I'm not kidding myself, though, I
know he's a cat and not prone to tolerate things stuck to his face.
I'm just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions or experience
with doggles. I'd also like to be able to take him on playdates with a
coworker's kitten, so that he can burn off energy, and again I'd like
some protection for that eye. Any thoughts would be wonderful.

For those interested, some new pictures-

http://static.flickr.com/37/74322348_7c6bc323ba_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/37/74322346_ce15d0b74c_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/37/74322344_0aefce008d.jpg

Seth (who wrote this with Jonas running across the keyboard every five
minutes)

Dom wrote:

cat goggles


it does sound menacing

Dom wrote:

This is a serious question, just a rather odd one-

First a recap-

Several months ago I started fostering a blind kitten. He came to me
as a stray with a very bad infection of feline herpes that had infected
his eyes. The left eye was removed but he arrested during the surgery
and was clinically dead for over three minutes. With supportive care
and a ton of love and good food he quickly gained in weight (and
attitude) and has since made a complete and remarkable recovery. He
has been to a specialist for the remaining eye several times and
actually does have some remaining function (he can see movement
provided the room is very bright).

It should come as little surprise that I completely failed at fostering
him and Jonas is now the latest addition to our family. He has several
other issues as well as the blindness- his front legs are slightly
deformed, his lower jaw is twisted, he's partially deaf, and he may
have some brain damage for the arrest. He also has some problems with
biting, which he is going to Penn for help with. Despite these
problems he is by far the most active kitten I've ever owned and is
quite the charmer. He loves giving kisses and playing with the other
cats-

And here's where the goggle question comes in. Because he can't really
see things coming at him, Jonas seems to lack a blink response. He is
housed with two cats and has a separate room where he sleeps. We hope
to have him completely integrated in the next few months, so that he
can be out unsupervised. Robin generally tolerates him well and will
wrestle with him- which is the only thing he wants to do when he finds
her. Heather, however, just wants him to leave her alone. He knows
the difference between the two cats and won't harass her as he does
Robin- in fact, as soon as he knows he's found Heather he sinks to the
floor and stays still. Still, she does swat him from time to time and
she's not gentle about it. I worry all the time that she'll take out
his eye and since he does have some function in it, I'd really like to
avoid that. I'm considering purchasing a pair of doggles, the goggles
for dogs, to help protect his eye. I'm not kidding myself, though, I
know he's a cat and not prone to tolerate things stuck to his face.
I'm just wondering if anyone has any other suggestions or experience
with doggles. I'd also like to be able to take him on playdates with a
coworker's kitten, so that he can burn off energy, and again I'd like
some protection for that eye. Any thoughts would be wonderful.

For those interested, some new pictures-

http://static.flickr.com/37/74322348_7c6bc323ba_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/37/74322346_ce15d0b74c_b.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/37/74322344_0aefce008d.jpg

Seth (who wrote this with Jonas running across the keyboard every five
minutes)


I wouldn't count on those goggles staying on for very long.

I think your efforts might be best spent on trying to get your gang well
integrated.

Thank you for giving him such a chance in life. Many other people would not
have done.

As for the goggles - well, I'd forget them if I were you as he is likely to
be unhappy with them. Cats don;t like to wear anything if they can help it.
It sounds like he's already a happy little fellow and is making the best of
things as he is.

If I were you, I'd let him continue to do just that.

chas

No suggestions but, goodness, that looks like a happy kitty!