Blind after her spaying

Hi All

I am very new to the forum, but was hoping to get some advice on my poor little Smoak.

She went in to be spayed yesterday morning and I got a call in the afternoon telling me she wasn't coming round from her anesthetic as quickly as they would like, and they want to keep her overnight for observation. I went to see her and she was just lying there completely unresponsive. She was breathing on her own, but she wasn't moving and didn't seem to realise we were there.

The night vet called me later to say she was very worried about her as it seems Smoak is now blind, and she isn't moving much. I have looked in to it and I know this can happen, and that there's a 50/50 chance her eyesight could come back. I don't mind if she is blind, I will love her anyway and give her the best life I can.

The advice I need is around the other neurological symptoms. It has only been 24 hours so maybe I am hoping for too much too soon, but when I saw her today she just lay there crying. She can hear, as soon as she heard my voice is when the crying started, but she won't turn her head in the direction of the sound, and she won't eat or even stand on her own. She just sits there, hunched up, crying. They are worried that there are other problems that they haven't yet discovered, and they are talking about having to put her down.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation and can offer some advice? Do I bring her home and feed her through a syringe, as maybe being home and with her litter mate may help?

Thank you 

My four kittens went through their second shot of antibiotic (they got the mange).  Nori, my black kitty, gave a loud cry after the injection.  The day after, when the kittens woke up from a deep sleep, I noticed Nori's walk was not straight and every time he took a step it was like he was reaching for something.  The other kittens were doing well.  It was on the third day, after I saw him bumping into walls, chairs and falling from the table that I realized he went blind.  I cried and thought something must have gone wrong after his shot.  On the fourth day, when I was preparing to take him back to the vet, he walked straight and going faster.  I wait another day and he was back to his old self and rough-playing with his other siblings.

I hope your kitten's blindness is temporary just like mine and it would best to let her stay with the vet for further observation.

Lovely news, I am so happy for your little nori. I am leaving her in the vets at the moment, taking her little bits from home for comfort. They just called and said she had settled more, and they have fed her with a syringe. I just worry about them saying she may need putting down when it seems she's just blind

I would opt to bring her home and see how she does in a week or to before doing anything drastic like putting her to sleep.

I don't blame her for hunching down and crying.  Imagine if you went to the doctor feeling fine and minding your own business and you wake up feeling like crap, in  a strange place with people you are not familiar with and to top it all off, now you are blind?!  I wouldn't want much to do with those people anyway, and if I heard a familiar voice, I would be crying "GET ME OUT OF HERE" too.

Temporary or permanent blindness, your cat can adjust to that and you can have a long happy life together if you are able to keep her an indoor kitty.  Other problems, I would want her to be home where I could care for her and where I know she is more familiar before I start deciding what is neurological and what is behavioral.

Poor girls, you and your kitty... best of luck to you both.

Thank you for the response. I said the same to my partner, if I was her I would be depressed at the moment. I'm going to leave her there a few more days and get her home at the end of the week, as long as she is still stable. They have said she seems calmer and more settled now.

She will be an indoor kitty, and I have looked in to how to help her adapt. I really don't mind if she is blind, I just want her home so I can look after her now.

I would feel the same.  We have a deaf kitty.  Most people would not guess she has any disability.  I have never had a blind kitty, but others on here have said they get around just fine.

There have been a couple of cats recently who had similar issues, going blind after some procedure or another, only neither of them were kittens.  I'm presuming Smoak is a kitten just because that's normally when they get spayed.  And if she IS still young, she will adjust even faster to her loss of sight.  It's such a shame, but she WILL.  As one of the other cat Mom's put it, it was a lot harder for the "mom" than for the cat

I truly hope if Smoak has any other issues from this surgery, she will recover from them, and maybe she will still recover her eyesight.  One of the cats mentioned above did recover partial sight, which was great.  

The vet called this morning. Our little girl deteriorated and couldn't breathe. She had to be put down. Rip my angel. Mommy loved you so very much

ohhhh, I am so sorry.....((hugs)))

What a horrible thing to happen... I know you loved her very much..

I really do not know what to say...(((hugs)))

I'm so sorry for your loss. 

I had no idea that blindness is a potential side effect of spaying.

I am so sorry this happened. I cant even imagine.

All of my kitties are spayed except little Theo, who is not old enough to be neutered.  Please tell me that this is not a complication of neutring as well... I had no idea.  How very sad for you and your kitty.  I'm sorry for your loss.

I am so sorry for your loss. 

So very sorry to read this news.  The TCS team would like you to know that we are very sorry for your loss. Threads are locked after someone has suffered such a loss, as a sign of respect. Please consider placing a tribute at http://www.thecatsite.com/f/19/crossing-the-bridge   to your kitty.