Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => Pets without Feathers => Topic started by: John on November 25, 2011, 19:06
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Last Tuesday, in a fit of madness, we went to the cat rescue and came home with a 5 month old black tom cat and an 18 month? old pale ginger female who has just weaned 3 kittens that she raised in a shed as a stray.
Well Amber is loveable and loving and very pretty with large black pools for eyes. Which was what worried me. Her pupils don't react to light. Apart from being in need of fattening up post lactation, she's fine. A bit nervous and hesitant but she's in other cats' territory.
We popped her into a vet who couldn't find anything wrong but that night it was obvious her eyesight wasn't right. So to another vet who said he was pretty sure she was blind and suggested we go back today to see the specialist ophthalmological vet.
Well the news ain't good. She's 98% blind, her retinas are no good. Not even any blood supply. She checked for glaucoma and it's not that, probably congenital.
So we now have a blind cat. Funny thing is I've never been sure keeping a blind cat alive was the right thing but her quality of life is actually very good. She found the cat toys and was playing with the tinkly ball as well as shredding the catnip mouse. She's also been chasing the kitten - although he loses her by jumping up onto things.
Bit worried about her going outside and getting lost - she's been trying the catflap already. There's a photo of her here: http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=20757.msg958201#msg958201
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Shes beautiful!!
Regarding quality of life, if she has never had sight she will have got used to it and won't know any different. You can tell a depressed cat and yours sounds fine, if she can chase the kitten she can see enough to get around, tho I'd be wary of letting her out at night.
Slightly different but we had a blind hamster who got on just as well as the others, remember they don't need sight to read or watch TV or drive for fun like we do (sorry that wasn't meant to sound patronising, they do a lot by instinct).
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I know it's not the same, as dogs aren't (normally) allowed out alone, but I have a blind dog who does amazingly well. His retinas are lost through progressive retinal atrophy. He enjoys life to the full. We have been told by one person that it is cruel to keep him alive,(They have never even met him!), but quality of life wins every time.
Good luck with your cat, she looks gorgeous. maybe another owner of a blind cat can give some tips. :D
jack is the lab on my profile pic. (in the allotment shed! :blush:
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Well we thought through our options even before it was 100% - but the vet insisted on running through them to make sure we knew what we were doing.
Put her to sleep - a cat that has good quality of life. Never.
Return her to the rescue - and remove every mirror in the house as I couldn't stand to look into one. Besides, they'll not have a realistic chance of homing her elsewhere.
Handle it and accept we're not ideal. There's no way we can keep her indoors (with the other cats having free access) so always a chance she'll get lost but it's not that much higher risk than a sighted cat. At least we're well away from the road.
He enjoys life to the full. We have been told by one person that it is cruel to keep him alive,(They have never even met him!), but quality of life wins every time.
My first reaction would have been that it was cruel to keep her going - but when you see how well they can cope. Thinking about it, both dogs and cats live in a world of scent, hearing and vision. Plus cats use their whiskers to judge things. Our hearing is like a half deaf dog at best and as for smell - well even perfume makers have less than 001% of a dog's ability. So vision is far less important to a cat or dog
Now she's happily lying on the bed as if she's been here forever :)
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Thinking about it, both dogs and cats live in a world of scent, hearing and vision. Plus cats use their whiskers to judge things. Our hearing is like a half deaf dog at best and as for smell - well even perfume makers have less than 001% of a dog's ability. So vision is far less important to a cat or dog
This was what I was trying to say, I couldn't think of how to word it!!
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She must be able to cope really well if she managed to grow up and have kittens of her own.
If she coped as a stray - think how much easier her life will be with a fully trained owner
slave ;)
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She's very responsive - approached the woodburner (which was going) and I said to keep back. Immediately backed off. Must have sensed the danger tone in my voice. But ripping up furniture is only a no no if she thinks I'm not watching.
Oops, must dash - her cat milk bowl is empty again :)
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It can boil down to what you want from a pet, and what they want from you.
If they bring so much to the house, then you're fortunate, if they don't, it's your responsibilty to love them, when nobody else will, and they will eventually fit in, because that's what they do in their own time, so you understand what is more important.
Brave you in this case, and so generous for doing this, because, in fact, everyone wins this way.
We had a gorgeous boy cat, who caught some awful kidney condition just as he was letting us stroke him after about a year (he was a rescue chap).
It took several months after he'd gone, before we got our Jack Russell, and we have never looked back, but she'd had awful nasties before as well, (twice rescued) so we understand what you're going through, but, I rate your attitude dearly!
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What a beautiful cat John, I'm sure she'll find her way around in her own way - what a great story and so glad you just decided to go into the shelter by chance :D
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My big worry is that she'll get herself lost outside - perhaps something might scare her and she becomes disorientated. Keeping her indoors isn't going to work - eventually a door gets left open and we've the rest of the pack using the cat flap.
So the contents of the litter tray are being incorporated into the back border - not far from the back door. This scent marks the area for her for when she does get out.
I've just found a radio tracking collar for sale from the USA.. not cheap but could be a lifesaver.
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Could you train her to come to a particular sound ?
A whistle perhaps.
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the sound of the fridge opening sends geriatric 15 year old Ted scampering down the stairs like a kitten! ::) :lol:
John - I have loved reading your thread about this. Well done you for caring so much. I am intrigued to see how it all develops.
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She reacts to shaking a sachet of cat food (the good stuff) quick enough and tapping the bowl with the cat milk in enables her to home in like a guided missile :)
She's worked out where the fridge is as well - honestly, if you met her you wouldn't immediately think she was blind, just a bit hesitant. One thing we've learned is that if we pick her up to only put her down either where she was or somewhere familiar that she's 'mapped'
We're also helping her learn - warning of danger like the stove and letting her find her way down from a chair herself. Ached to pick her up but that wouldn't have taught her. She now knows the chair is the same height as the settee.
Could you train her to come to a particular sound ?
A whistle perhaps.
Good thinking - we'll teach her our 'food's up' whistle :)
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We had a cat who went slowly blind, just age degeneration, but it took us a while to realise. :( She was fine while things stayed where there were mapped, but if we moved them - which since we were in the middle of a house rebuild happened, she would wander into them. ??? Once we twigged on why it was happening, we did try to be more considerate of her main routes. Given her years she didnt go far, but each day the weather was fit, she went for a stroll outside. :)
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You were meant to have her John, sure of that. Our old cat could hear a packet if crisps open where ever he was in the house!
Our Miki has wonky eyes, one pupil dilates to nothing, the other dilates to half a big pupil if that makes sense!
Pamela
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Perhaps its just as well John doesn't have one of these, softy that he is ;) :D
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We had our vegetarian neighbours for dinner last night (vegetarians are lovely, 45 minutes per pound at gas mark 4, serve with a side salad as a homage)
All was well until the cheese came out whereupon Amber was up on our knees and tracking like radar :) She then gave a demonstration of kitten chasing!
Next milestone will be the blood test results, checking no underlying problems. She's a bit scrawny and we're trying to build her up for the operation (spay).
The other cats are still pretty unsure of the newcomers - lots of hissing and singing which is all normal and will resolve in a little while. It's hard not to leap in to her defence. She did give Lotty (the dominant of the pack) a bat when Lotty tried to push her off the cat milk. Yes!
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Well done to you and Val for taking on Amber... she sounds lovely :)
It's very strange as my Dad sent me a link a few days ago for a bllind kitten in America who is about 5 months old now who copes extremely well with no sight (he was born without eyes :() The link shows him as he experienced playing with a toy for the first time at 8 weeks old (I must admit I shed a tear watching it! ::))
There are numerous clips of him on the net... just google Oskar the blind cat.... just like Amber he knows exactly where the kitchen is! He even has his own Facebook page.
I hope Ambers tests come back clear and that she has many happy years with you :)
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just found the link
playing:
lNpeTCEPrRk
and feeding time:
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and Oskar V hairdryer:
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:D
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Happy to say that Amber copes just as well if not better :) I think she's realised she's home - not wolfing food as if it might vanish and very relaxed. Runs to the door when she hears Val coming in. I think she might be Val's girl but that's OK.
The other cats are beginning to accept the new intruders. Should be OK in a week or two.
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I know it's not a cat, but here's Jack in action. I'm sure you will find the right level with your new addition too, though it does seem a daunting task at first. :D
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Wow! I find it quite overwhelming watching them. :)
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Wow! I find it quite overwhelming watching them. :)
it took some time to work out since we adopted Jack two years ago. He had been a gundog and gradually, we saw what he liked to do and expanded on it. We put bells on the dummy and a line in case he didn't find it. Your cat will show you too. :D
( he was going to be shot once he went completely blind, our vet's nurse recommended us to the owner)
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I think this one is hilarious. Its not the stone thrown that Jack finds, but hey, a stone is a stone!
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I think this one is hilarious. Its not the stone thrown that Jack finds, but hey, a stone is a stone!
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Well I don't want to hijack the thread, BUT, this is what Jack calls a stone... Now you see why we put bells on a dummy. Saves his teeth :lol:
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watching Jack you really wouldn't guess he was blind, absolutely fantastic :)
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Just a quick update - Amber's blood tests came back fine. No problems. :D
She's now firm pals with our other rescue, young Tom cat Luther (who is for the chop tomorrow)
The original pack are still pretty unsure about her but it's getting better day by day. Only been a week after all.
Next stop - get a radio tracking collar for her so when she goes outside (she's showing interest in the cat flap) we can get her back if she gets lost. Mind you, it's a howling gale out there again and none of the cats seem interested in being out!
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thats great news about the test results :).
She is one lucky cat finding you and Val to be her new guardians/slaves :D
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She'll be wanting to join in with the shrew catching
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She's a bit disgruntled this morning because her kitten has vanished. He's at the vets having the unkindest cut of all (gentlemen may clamp their knees together)
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:unsure: oooh.
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if you place wind chimes by the back door or maybe around the garden she'll get used to them and know that indicates "home" so if she wanders too far off she can listen for the familiar sounds... and of course shaking the cat biscuit box ;)
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if you place wind chimes by the back door or maybe around the garden she'll get used to them and know that indicates "home" so if she wanders too far off she can listen for the familiar sounds... and of course shaking the cat biscuit box ;)
That's a really useful idea - thank you. Not very savoury, I know, but I've been emptying the litter tray in the back border (used the Mantis tiller to incorporate) so her scent is strong. Ordered the radio locator collar last night - so we'll be ready for her going out soon.
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the sound of the fridge opening sends geriatric 15 year old Ted scampering down the stairs like a kitten! ::) :lol
Keep the kitty food in the cupboard, now all our doors are the same, yet only that door brings lazy cat running :D
Handy though, you can use it to get cat indoors, downstairs, off the chair. :D