Considerations before adopting cat blind in one eye?

My boyfriend and I have been conducting a very thorough search for an adult cat who would be a great solo cat for a small apartment.

I thought we found the PERFECT cat for us this weekend -- a four year old male, ginger tabby cat who responded instantly to my voice and came right over and rubbed against me before settling down for some quiet time. It was one of those "instant connection" moments. I'm pretty much in love.

I did notice something seemed strange with one of his eyes -- one of his pupils was all of the way dilated while the other seemed normal. I made some inquiries ended speaking at length with the shelter's vet who confirmed my fear -- the cat was blind in one eye.

The cat doesn't seem to be in any discomfort and has a very "low key nature" but that could also be that he's just shy and overwhelmed at the shelter and I just have a feeling he would blossom in a quiet home.

My boyfriend and I are being very methodical in our search for a cat. We want to be really sure that the cat we bring home is the RIGHT cat for us and we are the cats RIGHT people.

In that spirit, I wondered if anyone had any advice for us?

We don't know exactly how he became visually impaired in that eye, just that he arrived at the shelter that way. He was also a little batter then (broken nails on his paw, neck abrasion) but is mostly healed now.

What should we take into consideration before adopting a visually impaired cat? For example:

1. What kind of extra care might he need?

2. If we took him to be evaluated by a specialist, how much would that cost (baseline)?

3. Anything else that I can think about? General advice?

Thanks in advance.

(I might also mention that my boyfriend is very reluctant about adopting a cat -- he's not really a cat person so his ideal cat would be a dog, so what we need is a "good cat" behavior wise who would be good for us both -- which is probably the biggest reason why finding the right cat has proved so challenging for us. )

Minnaloushe said:

My boyfriend and I have been conducting a very thorough search for an adult cat who would be a great solo cat for a small apartment.......


(I might also mention that my boyfriend is very reluctant about adopting a cat -- he's not really a cat person so his ideal cat would be a dog, so what we need is a "good cat" behavior wise who would be good for us both -- which is probably the biggest reason why finding the right cat has proved so challenging for us. )

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What I'll say is coming from a lot of life experience.....a "lot" meaning many years..........

If we were close friends, I'd be saying to you "It's you who wants a cat, not him....perhaps those "challenges" are coming from a different place?....maybe there's a subtle/unstated agenda behind the "challenges"? .......if you are determined to have a cat, you need to have an honest internal conversation with yourself (if I were to 'somehow' become single again, what would it mean to have a cat by myself? How would I manage that? Where would I live and could I have a cat there? How would I afford the cost of a cat? How would I afford Veterinary costs? What if there were emergency Vet costs...could I afford that or would I have to euthanize the cat? Ask yourself really tough questions like that, be "brutal" with yourself. We naturally tend to deny/ignore all the negative possibilities....often, later down the road, to find ourselves 'in a pickle'.

If you can't answer those questions in a way that will be fair to the cat.........you should not adopt a cat right now. Period.

What you could do, though, is explore and pursue the opportunity to foster a cat (maybe that cat).......ask the shelter about that.

Now, just a tidbit about the implications of caring for a cat that, while blind in one eye, still retains that eye.

I have a cat with an ongoing eye condition/disease issue, so I've had to do a lot of reading up ("research") on feline eye health. From all of that, if I were in your shoes, I would want to know what happened to the cat's eye to cause blindness....was it an eye condition/trauma/congenital....what is the prognosis for the eye...should it come out or can it remain without posing the need for removal surgery down the road....etc, etc

It seems that most shelters 'partner' with pet insurance plans to offer "free" short-term health insurance that the adopter can then  take over for minimal monthly cost.....would this cat's eye be covered by such a plan? (if the Vet says in writing that there is no foreseeable issue with the eye, then it should be covered - and not considered "a pre-existing condition"). If that kind of insurance is available, take it....in your name ONLY.

I guess my bottom line is, foster for now.........for everyone's sake.

Hope something in there helps !

(-Dear Abby )

Thanks! I pretty much completely forgot that pet insurance is a thing, so I will look into that!

As to foster vs. adopting -- we've had many, many discussions many months before we moved in together about adopting a cat, and he knows that having a cat is a "price of admission" for living with me, just as I know that once we move to a bigger place with a yard, getting a dog is mandatory.

In terms of the cost of care for a cat generally, we agreed to split the "chores" (litter box, food, etc.) but I would handle most of the financial cost -- which makes sense as I am the primary driver for getting the cat and make more money than he does.

We actually already fostered and rehomed one cat, so we have that experience, and he's ready for adoption. We've looked mostly for cats in a foster homes actually, as we feel the information is more true to what a cat will be like in a home, but stopped by this shelter where we met the visually impaired kitty as a friend recommended it.

i adopted a kitten with one eye from the humane society. When they found her, her eye was just hanging out. They think a bird pecked it out. Anyways they removed it and sewed her up. She is now almost 2 years old. We keep her inside and she does just fine. The only problem she occasionaly has is coordinating her claws on the side without the eye. Sometimes she gets her front claws on that side stuck in things and has a hard time getting them out. This is a rare thing though.. really not a big deal.  She gets along fine with all the other cats. A cat with one eye, or blind in one eye is more common than you would think. Good luck with him! Im sure he'll do fine.