Cat went suddenly blind last night

[Cleebope2]

Any ideas what could be going on? We have a vet appointment later. But our 11 yr old suddenly went blind last night. She cannot see anything. She was on antibiotics and eye drops for a cold. She seemed to be much better and was acting normally yesterday. No vomiting, no diarrhoea, eating and drinking but cant see her bowl. It is v distressing. I feel I can’t leave her alone at all now.

No idea what it could be. Fingers crossed the vet can help. I believe cats can cope well without sight as they rely on their other senses.

It happened to my friends dog.

She never got her sight back but lived happily for another 3 years.

I hope it's temporary for your cat though

Do her pupils look dilated? If so it could be detached retinas. It happened to our beautiful girl in later life (as well as thyroid issues, heart problems and high blood pressure)

Yes they do but what would cause that? She didn’t get any injuries.

In our girl it was due to the thyroid problem

This happened to my cat. It was detached retinas. It was really sad as similarly to you we only noticed when she had actually already gone blind and there was nothing to be done about it. The good news is that she soon learnt her way around- poking her paw around in a tentative and adorable way to check for what was in front of her- and has lived very happily for the last ten years or so completely blind.

I had a cat go blind from stroke but he had other obvious symptoms. Sorry you’re going through this but if it’s any comfort at all my cat lived a fairly normal life and figured his way around quite quickly.

This happened to my cat. I rushed her to the vets asap. She had very high blood pressure which had caused her retinas to detach. Unbelievably as we got her on medication so quickly they reattached by themselves, but the vet said this was very very rare. Hope your cat is as lucky.

Really? She got her sight back? I am going in an hour or so but the vet couldn't see her any earlier she said. Happy to hear stories that they can adapt. I am lifting her in and out of the litter tray at the minute.

We had a cat go blind (and had other cats at the time) the blind cat learned to use the cat flap (to my horror) getting out was easy getting back in more of a problem! She knew the area pretty well but we found her once sleeping in a patch of sunlight on a neighbours driveway a few houses down.... She was always in trouble before she went blind and was just as much of a terror afterwards. We never found out why she went blind, but the vet thought she might always have had poor sight. She lived happily for a number of years after that, and caused me a few more grey hairs.

How did you get on at the vets @Cleebope2 ?

This happened to my friends cat - it was sudden onset kidney failure. She lived quite a few years after though.

How did the vets go?

Yesterday the vet couldn’t clarify what exactly was wrong. We got up this morning and she had knocked over a toilet brush bowl near her litter tray and was covered in bleach and had walked it all over the house and peed on the living room. So she can’t be left unsupervised and we have to remove all hazards.She is spending today at the vet getting tests. The vet said if she stays healthy she could live longer if we get her a crate for unsupervised times so we are buying that today. She usually sleeps all day but has not slept now for 36 hours and just walk round the house agitated and trying to find her bearings . I have cried buckets thinking how she will never see again. .

Did they actually check her blood pressure? This happened to our cat and it was high blood pressure. She's been blind for 3 years now and is almost 18.

Cats are amazing at adapting to blindness, they make a mental map of the house, she might occasionally bump into something that's been moved but generally is totally fine.

Our cat was already a mainly indoor cat as she doesn't like to go out alone so you might need to keep yours inside now if possible. But ours goes in the garden still as long as someone is with her. Also don't unexpectedly move or block access to the litter tray!

So sorry for your dcat op. Can you add some item worn of yours to her cage? May be comforting having your smell around her...

Your poor cat OP. Must be very distressing

My friends cat went blind after a bad car accident. He has adapted really well, it took time but he is very happy, still manages to hunt and is fine manoeuvring now
It will take a bit of time, it's like when you have a power cut and panic and can't find anything but then you get your bearings

Sending love OP and hope DCat can adapt well

The batteries for blood pressure gauge were defunct so getting that done today. Haven't bought a crate yet so any advice on that is appreciated! We may try a safe section of the kitchen first. She is mainly an indoor cat so that won’t be a problem. We are going away for 3 days tomorrow to visit my daughter at uni but my son will be here mainly WFH.Such a worry.

I assume the vet checked her blood pressure?

My beloved elderly puss went suddenly blind - she had kidney disease, and developed such high blood pressure that it blew the vessels in her eyes. Non-painful (as reported in humans) which made me feel slightly better, but we managed it for another 6mths or so with medication until her kidneys failed.

She was just fine bumbling around the house. We didn't move furniture in that time and ensured we lifted boxes or random crap off the floor. I put steps in next to the bed, not that she used them, and she'd happily jump on and off her usual perches. The biggest problem was the dog - she kept walking across the dog's face or tail etc and initially the dog didn't take kindly to it but soon realised something was wrong. In the end, they actually shared a bed (albeit with the dog looking a bit panicky about the cat touching her 😂) because they learned to tolerate each other in new and different ways.

And I wouldn't crate a cat that has no experience of it - she'll have no clue what's happening, it seems unfair to me. Mine was an indoor cat and she just cracked on. Obv you'll need to be vigilant about her going outside but it's the right time of year for closed doors and windows at least.

That’s ridiculous that she couldn’t check her BP. What a basic thing to not be able to do 😡 Hopefully you will get some answers today. Can they give her something to calm her down? When I accidentally cut my cats whiskers off on one side whilst clipping her they gave an antihistamine to make her calmer for a couple of days until she adapted to walking without them. Poor thing. Can you delay going away? Not sure I’d want to leave her like that.. 🙁

Can’t delay, would if it was easier. Cant afford to lose the £500 spent on the travel and accommodation and cant go another time either. But perhaps a crate would distress her too much. Will try to create a safe section in kitchen.

Similar thing happened to us at first, our usual (amazing) vet was on maternity and her replacement said that because her blood was flowing normally during blood test that he was sure her BP wasn't the issue so didn't bother checking (we didn't know any better). Instead told us it was just her age, said we could go to a vet eye specialist "if we wanted". We chose to take her to specialist and lo and behold her blood pressure was through the roof! She wrote a very angry letter to the covering vet about missing such a basic check!

Sometimes if it's due to pressure, prompt treatment can mean some vision returns.

My cat has been blind from birth. She's indoor (garden with supervision) but she has the run of the house and lives a full and happy life. She's even managed to successfully hunt very occasionally! She was able to chase our sighted cat up and down the stairs

It might take a while for your kitty to adjust as she's used to vision, but they adapt amazingly well.

I certainly wouldn't crate -that's a cruel and unnecessary restriction on her freedom. There are grips on fb for owners of bind cats, and ice never seen one that's been crated. It honestly sounds like your vet is totally clueless.