My cat is blind

[SloppyHousekeeper]

Last week I noticed my cat seemed a bit disorientated when she came in from the garden. Then I noticed she walked into my slippers which were lying in the middle of living room floor. She has been losing weight recently and is an elderly cat. I was worried about her but didn't consider she had problems seeing.

She went to stay at my mums for a few days while I went away for a short break with my ds. It was my mum who spotted dcat is blind.

I feel awful that I didn't notice. When did it happen? I don't know. She was sleeping more than usual so I didn't really think anything of the fact she had stopped looking out the windows. She is mostly an indoor cat.

I have made an appointment at the vets for Friday. They will want to do lots of tests. Whenever there is anything wrong it is a blood test followed by a more detailed blood test followed by a urine test then the offer of a scan. Does she need all this? She is so frail.

There have been indications of kidney disease in previous blood tests and then sometimes the blood tests are ok. Urine tests have always been ok. X rays show arthritis in knees. I don't want her having lots of tests.

What do you think the vet will offer to do? Does she need tests? I just want her to be happy.

At a health check in February vet said she is in good condition for an older cat and she is still within normal weight range. She used to be chunky now very slim.

They will want to pinpoint the cause. My old boy went blind, it was detected retina caused by kidney issues which affected his blood pressure. They medicated him to ensure he kept the little remaining vision he had.

He was 18 when it happened, and quite frail, but he adjusted very quickly with some help from us (ramp installed on the one step in the downstairs, not moving anything). He even within a week worked out how to jump on and off the sofa, which horrified me the first time I saw it!

I think you know in your heart if it’s time to let them go. If you think she will cope well, then I’d say let them run the tests to make sure her quality of life continues to be good. If you think she’s too frail, then it might me time to have the difficult conversations. 💐

I'm sorry, it's hard. 😢

My puss had kidney disease and went suddenly blind - she had a retinal hemorrhage in one eye because her blood pressure was so high. It's not a painful event - even humans report no pain with that, but I can imagine she must have had a headache with the blood pressure so high. I took her to the vets the morning after we caught her nearly fell off the bed because she couldn't see the edge despite the a white bedspread.

They found the hemorrhage, checked her blood pressure then offered blood tests. I did the tests as I wanted to know how close to end stage we were. We also put her on blood pressure pills, but it didn't take it down as much as we'd have liked. Plus a renal diet.

She was OK for a few more months, but started to deteriorate, refused to eat her renal food so was put back onto Whiskas which she ate like she'd never been fed but the weight just kept falling off her and she drank her body weight in water every day.

We had her put to sleep a few months ago and I miss her so much. It was an undignified ending with a bad UTI, not responding to antibiotics and no longer purring when sat on my knee which was when I fully accepted it was time after a bad few days of trying to her her through the infection.

Ultimately, it was a quality of life question for both us and her and the last week wasn't much of a life for either of us.

If you need renal food, Bitiba website is much cheaper than the vets.

Thank you so much to both of you for your replies and I am sorry you have had to deal with this too.

I have just purchased renal food from zooplus and also my vets. I will definitely look at the website mentioned, thank you. My cat had stopped eating renal food months ago but seems to like it again.

From what you have both said it makes sense to get the tests done as maybe she needs medication. She seems better today. Stuggles to find her food but gets there. She is ok jumping off beds and sofa but waits for us to carry her if we are with her. I feel a bit more positive now and hoping being back on renal food will help her put some weight on.

And a ramp for our step would be good. I hadn't thought of that. We are not moving anything and she seems to fund her way about ok just struggles to fund her food which is always in the same place.

My DSiL's cat went almost completely blind in later life, and like you my SiL was distraught blaming herself for not noticing it earlier.

I can't remember the exact cause, may have been glaucoma, but she carried on for a good few years with regular vet visits. It helped that she was an indoor cat anyway, and they just made sure the furniture was kept in the same place & they didn't leave anything lying about. The rule was always talk to her before touching her so she wasn't startled, but otherwise she coped fine with no real changes. Though she DID stop jumping from the sofa to the top of the open living room door with a yell of achievement, which tbh was a blessing!

My old lady lost her sight during her last few months. It took me a while to realise, but we only picked it up as we'd see her go to the cat flap and move her nose along the wall until she found the flap. She did adapt and found her way around things, stopped going upstairs though. The vet saw her regularly for other issues and her first reaction was that she wasn't blind. Eyes looked ok, so vet through her fist towards my cat's eyes (obviously didn't hit her) and she didn't react.

Just before we realised she was blind, we'd noticed she would only eat fish flavoured food (previously on meat as well). I then realised the fish had a stronger smell, so was easier to find. Just something to bear in mind, in case your cat has problems finding food.

I feel so sad about it. It is good to hear that my cat could continue like this for a few years at least. Or maybe it won't be as long as that but at least there is hope.

Fish flavoured food. I will definitely try that, thank you. She has a problem finding her food and I have bought her beef flavour.

They also recommend you warm the food up @SloppyHousekeeper - makes it easier to find and more palatable.

Not the same but ddog is blind, he's diabetic. Weight loss is another symptom. Have they checked glucose levels?

thank you redcars I will give it a try. I put out the royal canine beef flavour I got from the vets bit she didn't want it. Then tried the purina salmon flavoured renal food and she ate that. It definitely has a stronger smell than the royal canine renal food.

I will try warming her food. I will do anything to help her.

Yoda we are going to see the vet this afternoon for the first time about her eye sight. I don't think she has ever had glucose checked. She definitely has weight loss. The vet will probably want to do alot of test they usually do so will definitely get it checked if the vet thinks she is up to it. She does seem alot stronger the last few days. She is eating well and going put in the garden every morning for 10 mins of fresh air.

The vet feels sure it is her blood pressure and possibly thyroid that have caused the blindness. Dcat is going back to the vet today for tests. They want to keep her in today so they can take her blood pressure a few times. They will also take blood.

Thank you to everyone who replied. I was in shock at first and didn't realise the importance of tests and that medication can even help restore her sight.