Anyone have a cat with cataracts?

My Tigger has cataracts; we knew this from when we adopted her at 14. Now she's 16, and last night I noticed that as I was feeding her some pieces of macaroni, she couldn't see them - she was pawing on her boogie mat at the little birdies, thinking they were the pieces of macaroni. That's kinda sad - but I was wondering if anyone would know what we're in for here. Thanks!

Well, I'm not terribly knowledgeable about kitty cataracts, but my father is a cataract surgeon, so I know that human cataract surgery is now a very simple, outpatient procedure. I can't help but wonder if kitty cataract surgery is a possibility? You might want to ask your vet if they know of a feline ophthalmologist that could give you a consult. If she has such a good quality of life otherwise it seems sad for her to lose her vision.

Yes, the vet told us when we got her that her vision would go gradually, and we or she wouldn't notice it that much. As an actual cataract patient, (I got them when I was 30), I do know what she is going through. However, unless she had a lens implant, she wouldn't be able to see, and cats see far and near - I just don't know how they would do that.

When I took Smudge into the kitty opthamologist, I heard him talking to a lady with a dog with cataracts. It sounded like he did the procedure a lot.

I know its possible for dogs, so I figure its probably the same for cats.

I know of many people who get the cataract corrected in one of their dog's eyes (its expensive) and they do very well with just that vision.

Yeah, it's kind of hard to decide what to do in an otherwise healthy 16 year old cat...that gets around just fine, and I hadn't noticed how bad it had gotten until yesterday. Of course I did notice that when I changed her food location she had some trouble, but then she did so well I sort of forgot about it.

I'm sure someone will come along who's had experience with visually impaired kitties.
From what I've read on here, some of them are just fine even if they can't see. I think the time to worry would be if she was in obvious distress. My family had a cat that couldn't see very well, but as she aged she developed dementia, and the combination caused her to be very frightened all the time.