Newly Blind Cat

My cat has gone blind. I'm trying to crate him (practice run) because he isn't used to it yet and has hurt himself. We're home as much as possible but obviously there are some things we have no control over. We are doing our best to retrain him to use aids, put up barriers, scent markers, etc, all the things that we can do, but obviously he still occasionally tries to do things like he's sighted.

First thing he did was get so upset he threw up. Then he struggled (obviously) with understanding he was restricted. Then he really started flipping out. He's in the bed now, which is the one he always used before, but periodically he gets up and tries to escape.

I'm not really asking for advice since really all that can happen now is he gets used to it but I mostly want to crawl under a rock and die. I can handle everything else, but this is just one step too far.

RampionRampage said:

 
My cat has gone blind. I'm trying to crate him (practice run) because he isn't used to it yet and has hurt himself. We're home as much as possible but obviously there are some things we have no control over. We are doing our best to retrain him to use aids, put up barriers, scent markers, etc, all the things that we can do, but obviously he still occasionally tries to do things like he's sighted.

First thing he did was get so upset he threw up. Then he struggled (obviously) with understanding he was restricted. Then he really started flipping out. He's in the bed now, which is the one he always used before, but periodically he gets up and tries to escape.

I'm not really asking for advice since really all that can happen now is he gets used to it but I mostly want to crawl under a rock and die. I can handle everything else, but this is just one step too far.

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How old is he and how did he go blind?  I have a blind from birth cat who has never known any differently, but if you want to ask me general blind cat things, precautions etc i'm happy to help.  Toilet seat covers down is a helpful thing.  Restraining his access to your home may or may not be helpful depending on your cat's personality, but he will in time learn everything.

One thing that i've leaned over time is that our blind cat performs in my opinion, spatial mapping.  It's not just spatial memory, its a 3D graphic understanding of space without sight.  When moving MRI's were done on blind people, they found that sounds moved into the visual cortex of the brain, suggesting that sound is connected to sight receptors in blind creatures....

Auditory memory also becomes very important.  We keep our cat carriers in a certain cabinet with a specific sounding latch and when Jenny hears that one latch being opened, she slinks away as fast as she can .

Talking to a blind cat becomes very important for social reasons, and for making sure they know where you are and don't feel alone.  Through repetition and using a stern voice we have also trained jenny to freeze on command.  We can also coax her to come toward us with a sweet voice hat lets her know its safe if for some reason she is unsure.

He's twelve and a half, the blindness was sometime in the last week. We didn't catch it immediately because he was recovering from a vestibular issue. I'd personally say it's been since Saturday or Sunday at least.

We live in a two-room basement apartment, bathroom is in the upstairs, so there isn't much to do re: keeping him safe. We put up a gate by the stairs, he's either in the bedroom or the living room (wherever I am). We're training him on using pet steps, etc.

I don't ever intend to crate him when we are home, but I found an abrasion on him while I was out of the room for all of an hour so until we feel more secure with his ability to get around it's really the only option.

I do understand all the compensating mechanisms blind cats build. It's just hard to watch while he builds them. Especially considering we can't do much to treat the underlying condition outside of prednisone (we personally don't feel that surgery/radiation/chemo/etc is for us or our cats, i hope that doesn't get too much judgement here). So there isn't that much time left.

...that came out wrong. We would probably treat with surgery/radiation/chemo in the instance that we had cancer. We just don't feel it's the right route for our cats.  I know not everyone feels the same. Occasionally on sites I feel a bit judged for going the symptomatic/palliative route.

Your cat has emotional needs in addition to physical needs.  Keeping him in a crate has just shrunk his world tremendously for no real reason and that will play horrible games with his mind.  No different than the cats that are kept in tiny cages in shelters.

At this point rearrange nothing.  Your cat will already have the memory of the layout, which will help in adjustment.  Scent markers will help.  Take a towel, rub him down and rub the towel on things safe for him.  General babyproofing will also help (tie up blind cords, toilet seat down, cabinet locks where the dangerous chemicals are, no loose wires, things like that.

Good luck.

So if I leave the house, knowing that at this time he is still having issues that are causing him harm, I'm supposed to let that happen? Seriously? It's only for when no one is home to check on him, and untnil he consistently navigates safely.

I just needed to do it while home to acclimate him/check on him because I'm not going to totally shock him by going to work and just leave him all day.

Wow. Judging didn't take long. Guess this was a mistake.

RampionRampage said:

 
Wow. Judging didn't take long. Guess this was a mistake.

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No one knows your cat better than you so when you get advice that is less than helpful i would just ignore it and focus on the comments that are helpful.  Less stressful that way, and generally i look at unhelpful comments as background noise, and i just adjust the dial .   It sounds like your cat's condition is serious and for that i'm very sorry. There is no objectively correct response to any cat's condition and all conditions are different.  So whether to go the treatment route of the palliative care route is deeply personal, and even for you there may be no "correct" decision, what there can be is the decision that you feel is the best one.  

Every day we try to make the best decisions and if we make more good decisions than poor ones, then we and are cats are heading down a good path, even though good paths eventually come to an end.

I have a sweet senior cat with liver cancer, and we decided not to do chemo on her, and we feel it was the right choice for us and for her.  So far she is symptom free, and stress free, and when things become hard for her, we will let her go.

Stephen

I just don't appreciate that it only took two posts to be criticized (basicallly accused of emotional abuse) and given directions to do all the things I'm already doing, and have stated in my original post that I am doing.

While it would be NICE that he already knows what is going on, the way he has acted while we are home and the injuries we've found show that he is not ready to be alone in the house yet.

He's smart in some ways but common sense is not one of them. He's learning some things quickly (treats for steps) but still tries to jump on things he can't see and missing.

I am so sorry for what you are going through. I have never had experience with a blind cat. However, personally, I myself would also crate my cat if he/she was having adjustment, illness, surgery or even just scary issues while I was out of the home. His/her safety is paramount... as is as much of your peace of mind for him that you can gather into your heart while you are gone and worried about him.

Here's a crate I would suggest you try, as it (to me) is a much safer and more cat-friendly crating option than the metal, barred crates that so many people use:

Soft-sided octagon pen-
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3261+28595+22277&pcatid=22277

I know the various sizes are a bit of money to invest in, but honestly, we used several of these when I had to crate my kitten last year during her 8-week recovery period from patella surgery on her back right leg. I just DID NOT want any of the metal, barred crates -- I knew my kitten would be super stressed in those things.

We bought TWO of the medium sized ones, and since they have top zippered access, plus a zippered side door for another access, we velcroed and clipped together the two medium pods at the side door junctures to create a sort of double-podded bigger "crate".



In one octagon, we put a blankie and her litter box. In the other octagon, we put a small scratch post and her sleeping bed, food and water. We kept everything in the same places at all times, so that our cat could become familiar with the lay-of-the-land.



The zippered top access is great to use for when you have to lift out the litter box to clean it daily. The bottoms of the octagons can be wiped clean of messes. We could drape various towels or pillowcases over the sides of the octagon, if the cat wanted to have a darker space and not visually see so much outside of the pod (although, with your kitty, this won't be an issue). Some kitties like to hide in dark spots when they are nervous.

We also bought the smallest sized octagon for a "travel pod"; in this, we could move her at odd times during the day to different parts of the apartment to be near us as we moved around (and to enjoy kitty sunbeams, etc.)





The octagon crates do have a week or so period of "off-gassing" when they first arrive, while the soft-sided material vents itself from being stored in a box. But that smell dissipates and the soft crate gains the cat's familiarity and scent as time passes. (Eight weeks is a long time for a kitten to be crated but she learned to feel safe and happy in there.)

Sending good wishes

Thanks so much for the advice. I'd love to do something like that but my cats have destroyed things like that in the past. My guy was a pica kitty and got really good at it, lol.

RampionRampage said:

 
I just don't appreciate that it only took two posts to be criticized (basicallly accused of emotional abuse) and given directions to do all the things I'm already doing, and have stated in my original post that I am doing.

While it would be NICE that he already knows what is going on, the way he has acted while we are home and the injuries we've found show that he is not ready to be alone in the house yet.

He's smart in some ways but common sense is not one of them. He's learning some things quickly (treats for steps) but still tries to jump on things he can't see and missing.

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Hi

Well i read @arouetta's post and i read it differently than perhaps you did, and i definitely don't see it as accusing you of emotional abuse, although s/he does have a strong opinion that could have been worded more gently. Perhaps this would be an opportunity for her to apologize to you and clarify her thinking.  My point above with respect to unhelpful comments, is that once we start focusing on them, the thread becomes about something else and not about getting you quality comments. By way of example, we are now trading posts commenting on other people's comments, that's why i try to dismiss them and move on.

This is a public forum, and any member can comment within the limits of the site's TOS.  If you feel that anyone has violated the TOS you can report the post for moderation.  People make comments here based on their understanding of the situation, situations which are described by the OP (original poster) but unless the OP wants to write a book, that description will be incomplete.  So this imperfect process involves abbreviated descriptions by OP's, with comments that follow that are either helpful or not.  My POV, focus on the helpful, if someone says something that reflects poor understanding on their part, consider informing them more specifically, and then continue to focus on what is useful to you.  Most of the time, this works well.  :-).  You have a very unsual situation, that is probably outside the experience of 99+% of the people here.

Stephen

I will apologize.  However your initial post said you were keeping him crated.  Nothing was said about it being only part time.  It really did sound like you wanted to "protect" him by confining him for life.

I think something I want to clarify is that we live in a basement that we converted to an apartment. It's not really a 'normal' layout, it's pretty dense, irregularly shaped, difficult to cordon off from the stairs, etc. My boy has always been clumsy, always been weird. Dont' know much about the first few months of his life but I know that he came to me as very peculiar cat.

The crate will serve two purposes, really. One is for when we aren't home. The other is that it basically creates a little room where there is always food, water, litter, and a bed. It's a large dog crate, not a carrier. We got the biggest we could reasonably fit.
I'm home five days a week, so I can help him learn to use that as his own little room even when we are home, particularly as other neuro symptoms develop.

For now, though, I finally got the freaking baby gate assembled and up. -.-
Because we live in a basement with uneven floors, that was was not a good time. Despite having higher up ways to get around the gate, my middle cat cries like she's trapped.

We're in bed, he's happy and he's purring. I use the sound of the treat bag to get him from room to room so that he's always safely with me. With a bit of guidance he still gives kisses.

I don't have an edit option. So, I meant that when we're home the crate is there and the door is open.

RampionRampage said:

He's twelve and a half, the blindness was sometime in the last week. We didn't catch it immediately because he was recovering from a vestibular issue. I'd personally say it's been since Saturday or Sunday at least.
...

I do understand all the compensating mechanisms blind cats build. It's just hard to watch while he builds them. Especially considering we can't do much to treat the underlying condition outside of prednisone (we personally don't feel that surgery/radiation/chemo/etc is for us or our cats, i hope that doesn't get too much judgement here). So there isn't that much time left.

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RampionRampage said:

...that came out wrong. We would probably treat with surgery/radiation/chemo in the instance that we had cancer. We just don't feel it's the right route for our cats.  I know not everyone feels the same. Occasionally on sites I feel a bit judged for going the symptomatic/palliative route.

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RampionRampage said:

...

We're in bed, he's happy and he's purring. I use the sound of the treat bag to get him from room to room so that he's always safely with me. With a bit of guidance he still gives kisses.

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I think you're doing great with all that it seems you are having to handle. You know more than anyone what your cat is going through, and your love for him is clear to me.

Thanks. I'm calming down a lot because he did eventually deal with the crate okay. He also settled down soon after being let out. He really is a super easy-going guy, he's just confused right now.
He also sucks at tracking sound, has all his life. His hearing is fine. He's just always had some crossed wiring, lol. Hopefully he'll get better at it now. I did a lot with scents and treats so we'll just keep practicing. Cancelled all my classes tomorrow. I'll have till Tuesday to get him in better shape.

Poor guy. Not sure what I would do if I went blind!
Thank goodness you are there for him. (Now if you could get your other cat to stop yelling, lol!)

I'll pray for you both, you will be blessed for showing him so much love and kindness!

He *hates* the living room. I think it's too 'busy' for him as far as furniture and openness goes. He has to be either in here or in the bedroom (again, due to architectural issues), and I'm worried that if he just stays in the bedroom all day he'll never learn to get around or be confident out here.

He definitely knows where the gate to get to the bedroom and cries to be let through if I'm at it.

We're thinking of belling the other cats so there are fewer unpredictable moving parts. One of our cats can annoy him or groom him, he should be able to avoid her if he wants to.