One of our new babies may be blind in one eye

Sabrina, who had the eye infection the worst when we found her, now has the eye infection all taken care of but her eye that had it has a thick white film over it. We're guessing she's going to end up being blind in that eye (unless it magically clears up, but we doubt that)

Any tips on raising a partially blind kitten (and better yet, finding a home for a special little kitty) Her siblings will stare right at you, but she turns her head (most likely compensating for the one eye) Just feel bad for her and want to make sure to have info for whoever adopts her from us.


Sorry for the milk face, we just ate! But there you can see her good eye and the white film over the one. There's a more solid white spot over her pupil (and I know her 3rd eyelid's out still. Just put more eye ointment on the eye after the picture but we're almost cleared up!)

I am not a vet, breeder or professional cat expert however, my cat recently gave birth to a single kitten and thus I have been doing research.

Here's some things I clipped for you to read: 

vision will be blurred at first, and their pupils don't dilate and contract readily, so they should be protected from bright lights.

When kittens first open their eyes, you will be able to see that they have a cloudy cornea, the outer layer over the eyeball. This cloudiness will last for about 24 hours and then it will start to clear. The kitten’s vision will remain poor and cloudy until it reaches about three weeks of age, when it will start to improve but they will only be able to see as well as adult cats at about ten weeks of age. For around three weeks after the cloudy cornea disappears, you may notice that your kitten does not react when objects approach it. This is because the cornea reflex is not fully developed but don’t worry, it will come with time. You may also notice that colour of the iris tends to vary. This will continue until it is about eight weeks old, then the [color= rgb(0, 153, 0)]iris colour[/color]  will become more permanent. 

[font=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Don't know how old, but looks to me like the eyes recently opened. Does the kitten have a mother cat? Mother cats lick away at little ones, If you are taking mama cats position you may want to read up on wiping/cleaning the eyes with a warm wipe. [/font]

[font=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Keep in mind mama cats may leave sickly kittens, and in the photo the kits paw looks swelled up. [/font]

[font=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Best of luck![/font]

Her paws are fine (just a little close to the camera) and they're 2 weeks old now and have had their eyes open since we brought them in a few days ago. All the other eyes are clear (including her one eye that wasn't severely infected) and this one's been open for 3 or 4 days now and hasn't cleared up any. They all can focus on things (at least tell there's objects there. They're starting to stare a lot and watch people walk by) and she'll try to watch but she has to turn her head so she can see with the good eye (the others look right at you).

And their mom's a very angry feral next door who we're trying to TNR the whole colony. We took these ones in because of their eye infections and to prevent even more kittens. She didn't abandon them (oh my god she didn't! She was going to kill us! Best mommy cat over there by far) Besides her one eye, they're all happy, fat, and playful and are finally becoming more vocal when they want food. Still very laid back kittens with tiny chirpy voices and smooshy faces.

I would keep up the eye drops or even talk to the vet about a different antibiiotic. Zoe had ulcers on her eyes from a horrible eye infection and she recovered just fine. We had to switch her antibiotics though because she was not responding to the first.

Has the vet taken a look recently? If not, would probably bring her in for a follow-up, as Panda said there could be an ulcer which may be able to be corrected with different treatment. I would also make sure she gets regular eye exams, and if she does have permanent damage/problems, make sure that whoever adopts her understands that they should also take her in for regular eye exams as well to keep up on how the eye is doing and to check for any further damage or infection. Sometimes cats who have infection or blindness are prone to future infections, or to damaging the eye due to not being able to see/avoid obstacles. It is important to have the vet keep tabs on things as further damage or infections can be painful or can spread infection, or it could get to the point where the eye may need to be removed.

As far as tips for raising, if she is permanently blind or limited in sight in that eye, well most times they don't really realize they are impaired and they act pretty normal, although she might not be as good at judging distance/depth so may be a little more clumsy or may run into things if they are on her blind side. However most animals are good at compensating for that type of thing, especially if it happens so early in life. I would try to make sure that when you approach her, try to approach on the "good" side and tell her new owners to do this as well, to avoid startling her.

Hello.  What kind of ointment did you buy for your kitten to make it's eye better?

Lucilu said:

 
Hello.  What kind of ointment did you buy for your kitten to make it's eye better?

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Hi Lucilu,

This is a really old thread, if you have a question about your cat it would be better to start a new thread in our health forum.

If your cat is having eye trouble I'd really recommend a trip to the vet. No one here can tell you exactly what is wrong with your cat and different problems need different medicines to treat them.