Help With Taming Blind Kitten

[kmm808]

Hello everyone. I foster kittens for the shelter and a rescue group as well as anyone that asks for help. I've fostered over 108 in the past 2 years and I used to be a vet tech for 17 years. But this is the first time I've ever had to care for a completely blind feral kitten and I could use tips on how to tame this little one.

Someone posted on Facebook that they found a kitten that was completely blind and she could not keep it. That was all the info I received before she came to my house the night before last. I envisioned a tiny, helpless ball of fur. Instead, the lady presented me with what seemed to be a ferocious tiger in a box, growling, spitting, and hissing with all kinds of scary noises!! I peeked in and saw a maybe 1.5 pound healthy, black, hissing furball. This little feisty one looks to be about 7 weeks old, but it seems that it must have had an infection that is clear now but left him/her completely blind.

Anyway, I picked it up out of the box to which she immediately exploded out of my hands and dropped to the ground and promptly ran into a corner. I quickly grabbed her and put her back in the box. Then when I went to transfer her to a kennel, she was able to explode out of my hands and take off running until she got stuck in a fence.

I left her alone to adjust the rest of the night and the next day. It was able to eat, use the litterbox, but is just growling and hissing whenever we come near the cage. I've been able to touch her but she sits there and trembles and tolerates it, but only for a few minutes.

So here are my questions. Should I keep pushing her into being being petted and carried or let her get more used to us just by voice or leave her alone for a few days?

Can I try putting one of my older foster daddy cats with her and see if that will make her trust us more quickly?

Any tips for taking care of blind kitties in general?

If she doesn't get tame enough to adopt out, we will just keep her in an outdoor cattery, but that would take away another space that we would have used for fostering.

Thanks in advance!! Aloha!

 

[ArchyCat]

You are a kind soul to take on this task. I have no experience with blind cats.
I would wait to introduce your other cats to this kitten. Maybe just spend some time with her, reading a book outlaid so she becomes familiar with your voice and sent. Maybe put a piece of clothing you've worn in her cage to become familiar with your sent. Maybe start and end each session by giving her a treat. But I would guess a lot of patience will be required. also don't pet her or pick her up. Let her take the initiative.

I'm sure more knowledgable members will post answers to your questions.

Please keep us updated on how you and the kitten are fairing!

 

[kmm808]

Thanks for the tips! I'm not sure if I should treat her as I would take a regular feral with sight or if e need to treat her differently

 

[danteshuman]

I have never dealt with a blind cat. If you can I would attach different jingle things to your cat's ... and pin a bell to your shirt. That way she knows where everyone is. I wouldn't force contact but I would feed her 4 times a day. (Plus if everyone in your house plus the cats have a different kind of sound it should help the kitten identify everyone.)

On one of the my cats from hell shows he had them put fingerless mittens on a store bought roasted chicken stored in the fridge. Then fed their hand shy cat from their hands while wearing the mittens. I would try that.

Later when she is calmer I would try to give her all the noisy/textured/scented toys you can. You might try switching towels she and your other cats have slept on to help her/them get used to each other's scents. On the same note maybe you can leave a worn t shirt in her room to help get used to your scent?

Good luck and thank you for taking her and all your previous foster kittens in.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Let her get used to your voices and smells, try a ticking clock or heartbeat toy, try your daddy cat, and try music, low volume classical music or MusicForCats . com.

Maybe calming treats or something...

Poppy Not Cuddling At Night :(

 

[kmm808]

I have never dealt with a blind cat. If you can I would attach different jingle things to your cat's ... and pin a bell to your shirt. That way she knows where everyone is. I wouldn't force contact but I would feed her 4 times a day. (Plus if everyone in your house plus the cats have a different kind of sound it should help the kitten identify everyone.)

On one of the my cats from hell shows he had them put fingerless mittens on a store bought roasted chicken stored in the fridge. Then fed their hand shy cat from their hands while wearing the mittens. I would try that.

Later when she is calmer I would try to give her all the noisy/textured/scented toys you can. You might try switching towels she and your other cats have slept on to help her/them get used to each other's scents. On the same note maybe you can leave a worn t shirt in her room to help get used to your scent?

Good luck and thank you for taking her and all your previous foster kittens in.

I have never dealt with a blind cat. If you can I would attach different jingle things to your cat's ... and pin a bell to your shirt. That way she knows where everyone is. I wouldn't force contact but I would feed her 4 times a day. (Plus if everyone in your house plus the cats have a different kind of sound it should help the kitten identify everyone.)

On one of the my cats from hell shows he had them put fingerless mittens on a store bought roasted chicken stored in the fridge. Then fed their hand shy cat from their hands while wearing the mittens. I would try that.

Later when she is calmer I would try to give her all the noisy/textured/scented toys you can. You might try switching towels she and your other cats have slept on to help her/them get used to each other's scents. On the same note maybe you can leave a worn t shirt in her room to help get used to your scent?

Good luck and thank you for taking her and all your previous foster kittens in.

Thank you for all of your help!!

 

[StefanZ]

The base is as a shy semiferale. Use extra much your friendly voice.

 

[danteshuman]

I would also look for ways to help her know what is coming. Like tapping the floor with my fingers means come here, fork tapping on plate means dinner time, stuff like that. Cats learn body language way before they learn words. So maybe try to think of a few sounds you can make to replace the few words you would be trying to teach her, since she can not see you. Does she have a name? It might be worth giving her one and treats come when you say her name. Also thinking of my cat from hell again but one lady thought her cat was blind to find out her kitten had very limited vision. So when she becomes more tame it might be worth testing to see if she can see ribbon toys in front of her or bright flashing cat toys.

 

[Adelei]

Oskar the Blind Cat is a famous blind kitty. They have youtube, facebook and instagram accounts. Oskar passed away quite unexpectedly last year, but they recently adopted another blind kitty, Juno. Their accounts and videos aren't really geared towards offering advice on raising a blind kitty, but maybe watching some of the videos would give you ideas for things you could do, especially if you're watching with an intent to catch things like that, rather than just for entertainment. I know I've seen them tap the floor when putting down food, just like danteshuman said.

Thanks for the tips! I'm not sure if I should treat her as I would take a regular feral with sight or if e need to treat her differently

I'm sure you have great experience with ferals. I think your normal tactics are probably appropriate, you just need to adjust it a little bit, putting more focus on hearing, smelling, tasting and touching than normal. It could be that she's more scared because she can't see what's going on, especially if she had sight when she was younger and is still adjusting to the new reality of not having it.

One of my cats has cerebellar hypoplasia (the cat version of cerebral palsy) and he tends to be much more scared of people and things than other cats I've had. I'm part of a CH group on facebook and the community at large seems to have a consensus that most CH cats have this problem. We think it's because they can't move as well, so can't get away from danger as easily or as quickly. Your blind kitty could be scared because she can't see if danger is coming.

Another thought is to see if you can find a blind kitty support group on facebook. I know I've seen them in my recommendations before. When I have a general cat question, I come here. But for questions about my CH cat, I always go to my CH support group on facebook. They have experience with CH cats since everyone who is a part of the group has or has had a cat with CH, so they can answer my questions with a little more direct knowledge. Everyone here is great and awesome, but if we haven't owned blind cats before, then it's hard for us to give more than our best guesses.

*Side note - one of my kitties does have diminished vision, but she's not completely blind, so I'm one of those people who can't really speak from experience.

 

[kmm808]

Thanks! Great info and support!

 

[ArchyCat]

kmm808 Any updates? Has the kitten calmed down? Please keep us posted!

 

[kmm808]

kmm808 Any updates? Has the kitten calmed down? Please keep us posted!

Thanks for asking! I am able to pet her on the head with treats after tapping the floor about a foot away from her. Still a little hissy but not the ferocious growling and spitting anymore.

I am using a towel to corner her so I can scruff her and get her eye meds and oral antibiotics in, then lots of chicken treats. Of course she is food protective so I leave her be so she doesn't think I'm trying to steal it.

I was so amazed that she could climb to the 3rd level of her cat condo, but I had never caught her getting upt there. I kept freaking out that she would fall off and kept putting her back on the floor, but after reading the Oskar posts, it seems like blind cats are just as agile as sighted ones and love to be up high... and I left her up there yesterday and quietly watched. I put food on the floor of her condo and watched her nose go up in the air and she spider crawled from the side of the condo to the second level and jumped to the floor with perfect judgment!! It was amazing to see that!!

We still have a ways to go, but it has only been 5 days and we are making progress in leaps and bounds!!

I will keep you all posted and get some pictures posted soon! Thanks for all of the support!

 

[ArchyCat]

kmm808 You're making excellent progress! Has she a name yet?

 

[Furballsmom]

This is fantastic to hear!! Good for you, and her .

 

[RajaNMizu]

I'm going to suggest an Instagram page for a cat owner with two blind cats, Shadow (who has no eyes) and Rosa (may have some vision). Dave is "no eye shadow" on Instagram and Rosa was one of kittenlady's babies.

 

[kmm808]

kmm808 You're making excellent progress! Has she a name yet?

My husband and I are trying to find her the most perfect name!! I am so thrilled as right this moment she is playing with a ball!! She is actually happy and chasing after it! It's so funny how every accomplishment with her is soooo exciting!! Yet I take it for granted with all of my "sighted" fosters!!

 

[danteshuman]

I had a kitten that needed a new name. So I posted his picture, story and personality under the cat's meow asking for help ..... and someone came up with the perfect name for him. It is now Jackie's current name. It might be worth a try.

Also I think that she may not be feral or she may not be anywhere near as feral as you think. A cat that becomes blind will feel extra insecure and be more aggressive.

Can we see a picture of her just to see her?

 

[kmm808]

I had a kitten that needed a new name. So I posted his picture, story and personality under the cat's meow asking for help ..... and someone came up with the perfect name for him. It is now Jackie's current name. It might be worth a try.

Also I think that she may not be feral or she may not be anywhere near as feral as you think. A cat that becomes blind will feel extra insecure and be more aggressive.

Can we see a picture of her just to see her?

No

I had a kitten that needed a new name. So I posted his picture, story and personality under the cat's meow asking for help ..... and someone came up with the perfect name for him. It is now Jackie's current name. It might be worth a try.

Also I think that she may not be feral or she may not be anywhere near as feral as you think. A cat that becomes blind will feel extra insecure and be more aggressive.

Can we see a picture of her just to see her?

Not a really good picture, she is mostly black but I think she has some white underneath, I didn't want to sttessher too much trying to examine her. She is super smart and her hearing is unbelievable!!

 

[kmm808]

No

Not a really good picture, she is mostly black but I think she has some white underneath, I didn't want to sttessher too much trying to examine her. She is super smart and her hearing is unbelievable!!

Sorry, I'm having phone troubles. If you see a reply that says no, it just shut off when I was typing

 

[Rosepud]

Hi! I don't know if this would help but a shelter I volunteered at had 3 blind cats and they had free roam of a room and they used these scent marker things to help tag certain items and to help them be able to navigate the room by smell was the idea. It's really nice of you to take care of so many kittens. As for socializing I've known a few feral kittens and usually because they're young they adjust fairly quickly to people they tend to respond well to food but if she is food possessive giving her treats from your hand and petting her so she associates you with good things might not be a good choice. Maybe just play with her and talk to her make sure she only associates you with good things would be my best guess. Good luck!