I'm adopting two 6 month old kittens who are 80% blind, the rescue say they can probably see light and movement. Brother and sister pair. Does anyone have any advice for caring for cats with disabilities? They weren't born blind, their eyes became very infected and their sight couldn't be saved, this occurred very young. Any tips or recommendations that might improve their life with us? Things they might like? Many thanks
My friends cat is blind from a road accident. The only thing he says is he tries not to move stuff around! He likes all the normal toys, noisy ones and catnip type He has they think practically no vision and goes out on an enclosed balcony and managed to take down and kill a pigeon in the 20 seconds he turned his back
My DBro's old cat went almost completely blind a few years before she died. Reiterating the not ever moving stuff around, plus we would always speak to her before any touching or coming close. Like your two, we reckon she could just about see light & movement, and she did surprisingly well.
Our family cat went blind due to high blood pressure when she was old. Again my Dad said the best thing was that my skin couldn't change the furniture around. Live 5 happy years upstairs ( it was a large house) hopping on and of furniture and lying in the sun.
I've had three or four go completely blind in old age (and often only a few months after I took them on). I have always been amazed by how quickly they seem to adjust and just seem to carry on as usual. And that advice about not moving things around - well I'm terminally disorganised and tend to leave random stuff lying in random places. They all coped with that just fine.
Ours has lost most of her sight through age-related high blood pressure. One thing she loves is playing with a ping pong ball in a large cardboard box - it means she can bat it about without it pinging off where she can't find it. Smelly toys are also good (catnip, valerian).
Yes. Do a FB search and you'll find a few groups dedicated to blind/visually impaired cat owners, and we'll happily take you through what to do/not to do and give your support.
In short, they are amazingly adaptable, and you will be amazed how will they manage without sight!
My last cat went blind in old age due to high blood pressure. We tried not to move furniture around, but with two young DCs it was impossible to keep the floor completely clear for him. He managed pretty well by using his whiskers to measure gaps and spaces. We spoke to him a lot and we would also tap on things (like the sofa, so that he knew where we were when he jumped up) and his food bowl when we were about to feed him. He managed really well and apart from not going out roaming/jumping into the high garden wall as he had when fully-sighted, a lot of the time you wouldn't have immediately thought he was blind.
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