Sewing cat's eyes shut? (Blind cats)

So when I first got my kitten she was born with no eyes. She had pockets, but no eyeballs. I was asked at her first check-up if I wanted to sow her eyes shut. I declined. Though the eyes produce a lot of discharge that needs saline cleaning every so often.

Yesterday I redeemed a cat at the shelter that had one eye sown shut. I asked the person about it and they told me they don't experience the discharge after the surgery.

Now I am wondering if I should get this done. If anyone has had this done, could you let me know also how much it cost?

First let me say thankyou for giving a special kitten a loving home

You'll find that she'll get along just fine without eyes. I read a story about a blind cat, one in a similar position except this kitten lost his eyes because of cat flu. I believe his were sewn up as there were no eyeballs. He astounded his owner by being able to walk (run) up and down the stairs and even jump onto the kitchen worktops. The first time he missed, the second time he didn't miss and never missed again. Cats, even blind cats have an uncanny way of judging distance.

One of my own cats is nearly blind - our vet thinks she can only see shadows now - old age but she can jump over 5ft up to her favourite place and never miss.

I have no idea how much getting your kitten's eyes sewn shut would be but I'd be guided by your vet.

How old is your kitten?

PS. A Butterfly for you

I would inquire more about it by actual vets; they can tell you the advantages, and disadvantages to such a surgery.

I know that it is 'normally' done to prevent all that discharge; once it's done, they don't drain anymore, because there is no more 'hole' for the drainage to go to...I think, then, any drainage from that area goes through the nose. At any rate, I would talk to your vet further about it; I don't see any harm in it, although I know if there are 'flaps' (the lids) where the eyes should be, these can get caught on things when they bump about trying to figure out where they are at. I could see the surgery as an advantage there; normally a cat could 'see' things in his way, to prevent those lids from getting torn, but because he has none, he can't.

I would ask your vet whether sewing them shut would stop the discharge - if the answer is yes, then unless there are no other health reasons why she shouldn't undergo the procedure, then I would say yes definitely go for it - not having to have her eye area washed out will likely be a little bit of an improvement in her quality of life, and yours too.

I would also ask if there's an increased likelyhood of infection by leaving them as they are - my concern is that if discharge can get out, then bacteria can get in.

I would try to judge it on clinical criteria - she would have to have anaesthetic or be sedated which always carries a slight risk, but if it can improve quality of life in the longterm or prevent potential problems later in life, then it may well be worth doing - but the best person to ask is of course your vet.

Sounds as if you have a very special cat and that she was lucky to find someone as caring as you

IMO, I'd opt to sow the eye shut. From my experience with missing eyes.....having the socket sealed up helped prevent infection, etc. But I do agree to check with several vets for opinions.

Most cats that I've seen that have lost an eye have had the eyelids sown up. The fur then just grows normally over it. They seem to get along just fine. I would think the same as Epona

My dog lost an eye before I adopted him and it was sewn shut. He has no problems at all with it, and it just looks like his eye is closed.

I've seen a dog with a removed eye that did have discharge from the area, so it's very important to find a vet you trust to do the procedure.

Thank you for adopting a special needs kitty. :hug:

Thanks for the gift Python!

Really there wasn't a second thought about her when I brought her home. I work at a shelter and she was going to be euthanized.

Since we don't euthanize people for being blind, I wasn't going to let that happen to her. She was five weeks old when she came in with an abandoned litter. The only question for me was "Can she use a litter box?" and she could, matter of fact her two siblings had accidents outside the litter box but not her.

She is two years old now. She is very active and talented. She can catch flies and whatever else she hears buzzing around. She doesn't run into walls either unless she has too much momentum going and she slides. lol.

I will call around to some vets. I didn't know if this was a common thing or not. The risk from sedation would be my biggest worry. I just don't know if I can justify that. However if they are sedated when they are spayed I would think that there isn't too much of a complication there.

Here's a picture of her with her best buddy Frito. They love eachother so much.
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/24570...54454150KDEtsu

Aww. They're lovely

She was going to be PTS because she's a little less than perfect????

All I can say is thank goodness there are people like you

Breal, thank you for rescuing this beautiful baby girl!

Our Flowerbelle lost most of her sight to the herpes virus. She only had to have one eye removed, and it's sewn shut. To new people on the site, I sometimes get the comment that she's winking in each picture. The vet can easily do pre-anesthetic testing to check reaction to the chosen anesthetic, so they'll know in advance if there's going to be a problem. Ask about it. Ours charges $30 for the service.

Unfortunately, I don't remember how much the surgery cost - it was - 5 years ago?. But since stuff like that varies so much between communities, probably best to chat with your vet about it.

I'm pretty sure you're going to come to the conclusion that it should be done. Flowerbelle has had no discharge from that eye ever, and it healed up just great.



Laurie

I have a blind girl (well, two actually) and she went blind from cat flu before I rescued her. She had her eyes sewn up and it's a great way to go. It prevents discharge and ends up looking absolutely fine  (attaching a photo of my Moet here). Good luck!


By the way blind kitties are the best. Moet gets around like a sighted cat and she's so spirited and happy!

Sewing a cat’s eyes shut is just not medically necessary.  It sounds repressive; can you imagine having your arm sewn to your sides just because you never extend your arms often enough?  Or having your fingers sewn together, since, you simply don’t have an “obvious” need to spread your fingers wide?  No, having skin tissue – muscles for facial expression sewn shut is not medically necessary, and no, my cat DOES NOT get stuck on things by her eyelids, nor does she get dirt or more mucous than usual just because she is blind.  Can you imagine your own eyes being sewn shut, simply because you can’t see?!?  This is a non-medically necessary surgery and in my opinion, torturous for the rest of the poor cat’s life.

just wanted to share a funny story about this topic.

a friend of my dad is a Dixieland trumpet player and has a blind cat. like most blind cats, she gets around his house with ease. one night after a gig however, my dad's friend set his trumpet case down in a not normal spot. his cat came along and being that the case was in an abnormal location, she bumped into it. after taking a little time to acclimate herself to this new obstruction, she finally jumped over it and continued on her way. my dad's friend has never set his trumpet case down on that spot ever again, but to this day whenever his cat comes to that spot, she jumps over it. makes me giggle
just shows you, they are just as adept as blind humans at figuring out their surroundings and can live happy, normal lives.

I have 2 who are missing an eye. My vet won't sew them shut; he says it keeps the natural discharges from draining. For whatever that's worth, lol.

I will say that it's a little creepy seeing an empty eye socket on a ligher-colored cat. My first one-eyed kitty is black and you can barely tell there's no eye there. But the other one is blue and his eye socket is very visible :/. Oh well, whatever is best for him.

I just joined this forum and am grateful for all of the posts about empty eye sockets. I recently rescued a kitten with only one eye. He had an upper respiratory infection and the vet said the eye fell victim to the infection. I have had him for about a month and have been wondering if having his eye sewn shut is something I should have done. I don't want him to get an infection in it. But after reading the post from Shamlesscatlady half of me thinks it is not necessary. The other half thinks the skin would stretch and adjust and since there are no bones or tendons it would not be painful. So I am still on the fence.

Closing an "eye" by surgery - yes or no
This is a very recent discussion on the subject

I am not personally familiar with this issue as I have not had a cat who lost an eye; the two dogs I knew (one belonging to my vet) who were missing an eye did have the lid sewn shut.

Just wanted to chime in about blind cats. My cat was born blind and you can't even tell he's blind most of the time. He gets around just as well as a sighted cat, and he doesn't jump on counters. It's kind of a sweet deal