I don't know how many of you are cat owners, but I thought I might put this out there and see if any of you had heard of, or gone through, the same thing with one of your pets.

Bjorn is an orange-and-white cat we adopted when he was eight years old. He's about nine or ten now. He's always been healthy, rather on the big side. Loves to eat and cuddle and purrs like a motor.

Months ago, we started to notice a big deterioraton in his eyesight. This was very sudden. I mean, not too long ago, if we threw a treat he'd follow it and eat it, no problem. Now you have to shove it in his face for him to be able to find it. He bumps into walls and doors, unless his whiskers tell him not to. He often doesn't see our other cat, Jypsy, and he often bumps into her. She thinks he's attacking her or something and then they both end up on their hind legs batting at one another. Thankfully they're both pathetic fighters so neither get hurt.

I just don't understand how this could have happened so suddenly. I mean, we went overseas just last summer for two months and left him and Jypsy at home with a caretaker to come in for a few minutes a day to clean out the litter and feed them. At that time we were noticing his blindness. When we came back, it was certain that he can't see, and there was no warning at all. I'm sure the poor thing can't see two inches in front of him.

Just yesterday night I was filling their bowls and Jypsy didn't want him too close and batted his head. So he batted her back and she ran off...and he kept on batting the air! She wasn't even there, he just kept hitting and hitting at absolutely nothing. I stroked his head, trying to calm him down and slowly redirecting his attention toward his food.

I know the obvious thing is to take him to the vet, but we've already done that and Bjorn went from Bjorn the Cat to Bjorn the Demon-Possessed. He's declawed (front paws) but would bite through their thick protective gloves and make them bleed. (He's insane, and horrendously strong when he's scared.) They couldn't take a good look at his eyes...so they knocked him out and took a blood test, but it gave no information about his eyesight.

So, I'm wondering, has this ever happened to you, or to someone you know? What could cause sudden blindness in an animal that was perfectly fine when you got him?

Sorry to hear that, Hala.

My wife's mother has a dog that is almost completely blind. We watched him for a week or so while her Mom was out of state. It was pretty sad to see him bumping into walls, and we had to lead him directly to the food dish as well.

He is a very good dog. I don't know why he went blind.

Hi Karateka, Try here:

http://cats.about.com/cs/healthissues/p/eyes_blindness.htm

Not a lot but it's a start.


Good Luck!
Mike

Poor dog...how old was he? I'm thinking this might have something to do with age...but he's not *that* old of a cat. My friend has one that's around 15 years old now but is still healthy and can see fine. It could be bad genes, maybe?

Thanks for your reply, Matt! Really appreciate it.

Oh, Mike, just saw your post. Thanks for the link! Come to think of it, his symptoms look very close to glaucoma...

I don't know if I should bring him in for treatment or let him be. He seems fine and happy for the most part and I don't want to put him under the stress of going through yet another vet visit. He's only gone twice and the first time he lost control of his bladder and bowel five times, and I don't want him to go through that again.

Karateka13, I feel for you as I am a cat lover ... and I love dogs too but we've had more cats in my life time then dogs. I don't want to derail your thread so I apologize if this is out of place so let me know and I'll delete it, but I just wanted to show I understand what you are going through.

In 1997 my daughter got a cat and she named it after my previous cat Tigger. This Tigger was white and absolutely beautiful. The cat actually attached itself to me and maybe because he considered me the alpha male. This cat was like no other and when I came home from work he would be waiting in the window around the time I was suppose to be there and then would run to the door to greet me. I could call him anywhere in the house and he would come running. Every night I went to bed he would come into the bedroom when he was ready and then he would sit looking at me until I noticed him and acknowledged him. Then only when I motioned it was okay to come up would he jump up and snuggle up to go to sleep.

Tigger was a little heavier then most cats later as I fed him upstairs and also downstairs so he always had plenty to eat. He loved to fight and be chased or chase me. He loved when I grapped his tail and dragged him around or lifted him off of the ground. When I watched TV he would sit at my feet and was always there.

He started to get sick and was throwing up a lot. He then started urinating on our bed so we took him in and the vet wanted to put him on anti-depressant pills which was utterly stupid. We took him to another vet and he was perscribed medication and we tried that for a while. Then he started acting weird and just wasn't himself. Then he started getting worse and was defacating and vomitting at the same time and you could tell he was suffering and eventually we had to put him down.

My wife, daughter and I took him but my wife never came in. We filled out the paperwork while he lay over my shoulder all comfortable and my daughter and I started to cry. She couldn't take it anymore so went into the truck with my wife who was crying. I went into the room with the vet and Tigger was calm and beautiful and everything I loved about him. The vet shaved a patch on Tigger front leg and he did not even fuss because he was with me. The needle was injected and Tigger just looked at me while I was crying. I asked the vet how long it takes and he said he was already dead. I lost it totally. When I left the vet I was still crying and did so all of the way home. This was my buddy and I had him put to sleep and he trusted me. I still can see him looking back at me and this still brings tears to my eyes. We only had him for 4-5 years but he was a big part of my life.

When I worked out Tigger was there with me almost always, sort of like my weight lifting buddy. My wife bought a small stuffed white cat that resembled Tigger so that I would always remember him and I have that sitting on top of the door in my weight room. He is still my weight lifting buddy.

I understand your cat is important in your life and that one day may have to happen but hopefully he will die of natural causes. If it does ever come to this you have my full sympathy. Take care of the time you have now ... because as people we sure get attached to our pets and they become a part of our families ... or become our little buddies.

K13: you won't know until you bring the cat to the vet. How about asking the doctor if you can drug the cat first? I used to have the cat from hell...nice cat...until you brought her to the vet.

Dereck: been there. It's been 6 years since I put my little cat friend down...and I'm still not over it. She would sit with me while I weaved...I put away my loom after I put her down...

Dereck...that's so sad...I teared up

I don't know what I'd do if I had to put an animal down...it hasn't happened yet and I hope it never does. Tigger sounded like a wonderful little buddy to have had around. God knows neither of my cats could really give a damn about me (as far as they're concerned I live to serve their every whim) but I love them so much, and wouldn't trade them for the world.



Thankfully, Bjorn seems healthy for the most part although he's lost weight and has a quicker temper than he had when he was sighted. But yesterday he cuddled into my lap for the first time in a long time and was purring really loudly. I was so happy because he's been a little cranky for the past couple of weeks, and it's been some time since he's been willingly cuddled.

Harlan, I'm sorry for your cat too...I know how much like family they can be.

I've had only one cat that died, and it was one my friend gave me when it was only one week old. One week! It was still blind and deaf and looked more like a rat than a kitten. He found it near the soccer field in our school and couldn't find anyone to take care of it. So I took it in and my poor mother shouldered the responsibility of waking up in the middle of the night and feeding it with an eyedropper when it cried--and boy did it cry. (I was only 14, I had school and homework...I couldn't take care of it. My mom said it's like I adopted another baby just for her--like she needed more responsibility.)

It was so cute though! It'd suck on our hands, on the fleshy crevice between the thumb and forefinger. It was toothless so it didn't hurt, but rather tickled the heck out of me. When we stuck the eyedropper full of milk in its mouth, it'd stick its paws out and massage the air, like it would its mother's teat. My friend had christened him "Tiger" because he was white with orange stripes. But he was such a pitiful little thing, so we called him "Miskeen" which is Arabic for "poor thing".

It even opened it's eyes a little! They were shiny and blue. We had it for two weeks. But when we went to visit our relatives in another, much colder, city, we took him with us becuase we had no one else that would take care of him. I guess the temperature change was too much, or he got sick somehow. He started mewling a lot, and white stuff would come out of his mouth. He slowly died in my older sister's hands. We buried him in that city and I cried like a baby. My mother made me promise to never do something like that again, because it kills her to have a creature die in her home and under her care.

Jypsy almost died once too. She was still basically a kitten, and a very curious one at that. We had accidentally dropped an Advil Liqui-Gel caplet on the floor...and she bit right through the plastic and drained the liquid inside. My little sister was the one who found the empty plastic caplet with two vampire-like punctures in it. Jypsy was sooo melancholy...slow to move, slow to eat, breathing funny and sleeping all the time. The cat barely had the strength to drink water, my mother would sometimes dunk her own finger in it and have Jypsy lick it off. Thankfully, she pulled through and was back to her old self the next day.

Who said cats don't have nine lives?

By the way: Harlan, I think I'll ask the vet again sometime if there's a way they can drug Bjorn and still be able to check his eyes. However, he really despises the vet...and when they took a blood test (which wasn't long ago and which told us nothing about his eyes--which was the only thing we wanted to know about) we dished out $400! I want to wait a while before dishing out that much money again. He seems okay for now...lets hope he stays this way. *Crosses fingers*

Fingers crossed too.

BTW...do you guys know that there is something out called 'pet health insurance'? I only discovered it after my cat needed dialysis. Probably a good thing....I might have been tempted to extend her life by doing that...just prolonging the decision. Anyway, with the high cost of medical care for some things....I would suggest looking into it.