Blind

I was thinking about this today. Just plain curiousity. Can kittens be born blind? I'm sure they can, but I've never really heard of it. Is there any of you who have had a blind cat or kitten? Is so, how do you take care of them? How can you tell if a kitten is blind?

I had two blind kittens. Their mother had distemper while they were still in the womb and when they were born their eye sockets were missing. Plus the female Marbles had brain damage. They were both from a feral colony and when I got them I was apprehensive to say the least. But they were wonderful kitties. And Tag who was such a love would catch the flies and bugs that came into the house first! He was amazing. He used to love to sit in the dog bowl it was funny. Unfortunately because of health issues, they did not live very long, but while they were alive and were here, they were nothing but pure joy.

Originally posted by hissy
I had two blind kittens. Their mother had distemper while they were still in the womb and when they were born their eye sockets were missing. Plus the female Marbles had brain damage. They were both from a feral colony and when I got them I was apprehensive to say the least. But they were wonderful kitties. And Tag who was such a love would catch the flies and bugs that came into the house first! He was amazing. He used to love to sit in the dog bowl it was funny. Unfortunately because of health issues, they did not live very long, but while they were alive and were here, they were nothing but pure joy.

Click to expand...

That's a very sad yet happy story all in one. Sad about what happened to the little kittens to cause them "sight problems" yet happy that they seemed to have a joyful life. I am sorry to hear that they are gone.

I used to have a cat who went permently blind when she was 13 years old due to glaucoma in both eyes. A blind cat can cope very well in familiar surroundings, eyesight is less important to an animal than it is to a person. My cat used her whiskers as feelers to avoid running into objects, also she probably had the location of everything in our home memorized. She was still able to find me or follow me around, and she always seemed to know exactly where she was. A cat who is blind does need to be kept inside because they can't cope with outdoor hazards like traffic or dogs.

that if it can happen to humans, it can happen to cats too. You name it, it happens. Diabetes, cancer, sterility, blindness, STDs, retardation.
On the upside, animals don't experience the mental torture we do when going blind. They don't know it is worse, only different, and they adapt quickly.