Newly Blind Cat

[rampionrampage]

Poor guy.
First pic is him napping with me (and halfway decent, the lower pic was my laptop camera).
Second is him with his new heated pet bed. Hoping it helps with his anxiety some, and his legs seem to bother him so maybe this will ease that a little, too.
Neurologist tomorrow.

 

[Brian007]

I wish you all good luck for tomorrow.

He looks safe and sound in your hand there. And, he looks snug as a bug in his comfy new bed.
I find my electric blanket helps with my anxiety. Toasty toes lessen the woes (of cold toes, at the very least).

 

[rampionrampage]

Ever try weighted ones?
I love them. I just have to find some place to wash the one my (other) cat peed on.

 

[Brian007]

If you mean weighted blankets, then, no. Having said that, have you seen the size of my cat, Dudley?

 

[Elfilou]

I'm really sorry to hear that this happened and I think you guys are doing great.

I have been around one blind cat a lot, though he was only 1 year old when he became blind. One thing to keep in mind is that cats are, obviously, hunters. Everything about their bodies and brains is specifically designed for that purpose. So you best believe that their spatial memory is much better than ours! Of course he will have to adjust, but cats will generally just do much better than say a human when becoming blind, because of their great ability to have a map in their brain like a GPS. I believe he will adjust very quickly! Good luck!

 

[Brian007]

Aww, thanks for joining in and wishing Kanine good luck, Elfilou , I'm sure it is appreciated.

 

[rampionrampage]

I'm really sorry to hear that this happened and I think you guys are doing great.

I have been around one blind cat a lot, though he was only 1 year old when he became blind. One thing to keep in mind is that cats are, obviously, hunters. Everything about their bodies and brains is specifically designed for that purpose. So you best believe that their spatial memory is much better than ours! Of course he will have to adjust, but cats will generally just do much better than say a human when becoming blind, because of their great ability to have a map in their brain like a GPS. I believe he will adjust very quickly! Good luck!

Thanks. Unfortunately, Kanine lacks much of feline grace (and skill). I think of him more like a yellow lab in a cat body, though his energy level is way down from what I first named him thirteen years ago. And when he was completely blind last spring, my boyfriend was sitting in the middle of the living room floor, talking (so, sound, and smell), and Kanine went straight past him, not even a foot away, to see if boyfriend was in his chair on the other side of the room. He got better at memorizing where furniture was but everything else was kind of... hapless. Not even as good as a lab at that. Brightest crayon, he is not.

Right now he can still kind of see so he's acting like he sees normally, which is getting a bit stressful as he's trying to do certain jumps that will end in bad falls. Because he's taking extra time to do them, we've caught him before he's done anything really stupid. The apartment is tiny, with only two rooms, in the basement of a house, and they're shaped weird so we can't block off the stairs well. We keep him locked up in the bedroom when we're not home, or sleeping, sadly. There's only one risky jump in there and it's easy to block off.

Main thing beside the sight and balance issues is the anxiety. Every night, probably between 9pm-11pm, he starts getting angsty. He paces, esp in bed, which is what we considered an early warning before this incident. Just circles around us incessantly, cried for us from the living room back when he was still allowed out there at night. I have been sleeping on the futon in the living room because that's where he calms down fastest (and he doesnt' try to jump on things if he's sleeping with me). If nothing else tomorrow I'm hoping to get some kind of sedative or anxiety medication for this because I literally cannot sleep, and he is clearly in distress. The rest I can troubleshoot... with a full night's sleep.

 

[Brian007]

I can't recommend valerian high enough for chilling anxious cats. You can get it in 'cat-calming' preparations. Now then, I'm going to qualify this following remark as not a "recommendation" but as something I do, and that is give human strength valerian extract to my cat when he has to go on very long car journeys, it calms him down no end. But that's just something I do, and not something I'm suggesting you do. Disclaimer!

 

[rampionrampage]

Had to miss the appointment. A jeep crashed outside our house due to snow, and we don't have all-wheel-drive. :-/ Even if safety weren't as big a concern, it's an hour-plus drive on a clear day, would probably take two or more each way now.

His new stairs came (the thing I used to use got demolished by one of the other cats after his sight came back.

He's in an okayish mood right now.

 

[rampionrampage]

<3

 

[Brian007]

He certainly seems very cosy and happy in his new home (his heated bed). His colouring even matches it. I feel a wee bit envious of it actually, I want one for me to curl up in!

It's a shame you couldn't make it out to the vet but it was no fault of your own, and at least Kanine gets to spend more uninterrupted time in his new love-nest. I hope that the weather eases up enough for you to go another time soon.

The new stairs sound good, I liked your old ones, so have high hopes for these. My mum has shrunk down to 4 foot 8 inches due to her spine collapsing and vertebrae fusing, so she has to have lots of boxes/stools/wee ladders around her house to reach things and function vaguely normally. I always think of her when I see pet stairs as they look just the ticket for clambering onto the bed.

 

[dustydiamond1]

<3

I just now followed Brian007 here to your thread and I wanted to send my best wishes your way and I hope the New Year brings good news for your dear kitty and you and yours.

 

[dustydiamond1]

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.

 

[dustydiamond1]

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-
Cat Pens: Octagon Pet Travel Pen at Drs. Foster and Smith

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".

Milly-octagonJoinedPods.JPG

• PushPurrCatPaws
• Mar 1, 2017

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.

Milly-octagon-scratchPost.JPG

• PushPurrCatPaws
• Mar 1, 2017

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.)

Milly-octagonSunbeam.JPG

• PushPurrCatPaws
• Mar 1, 2017

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

This pen seems excellent!

 

[rampionrampage]

This pen seems excellent!

It's really cool, it's just that he would destroy it. :-/ Quite dog-like. We've had other cats ruin soft-sided carriers before, too.

 

[rampionrampage]

Heading to the neuro today. It's only -7 degree windchill factor.

 

[dustydiamond1]

Heading to the neuro today. It's only -7 degree windchill factor.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

[rampionrampage]

-10 outside but the cat neurologist says he'll be fine.

I can trust him because Kanine, hater of vets, CLIMBED INTO HIS LAP as part of his quest to get back to the carrier.

He might have more 'spells' and the temporary blindness last spring remains a mystery, but he's not overly concerned about this particular set of symptoms he has now... Didn't even recommend extensive testing. The vet is sweet, albeit ancient, and spent 45+ with us discussing symptoms and reassuring us that Kanine has a long(er) life ahead of him.

 

[rampionrampage]

Oh, i've been bad about updates - to be clear, he recovered very quickly the last few days. This is why, sans random blindness last Spring, we're ok with the neuro's assessment. Our assessment of his vision a couple weeks ago could be more linked to vertigo than actual vision issues.