Sudden Blindness in cats

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 1:00pm

My beloved old shop cat suddenly went blind last Thursday. I took him to the vet and the doctor said that it was caused by high blood pressure probably due to a hyper thyroid. We are working on getting the blood pressure down and the thyroid under control. The doc said there is a slight chance he may regain some of his vision but it is uncertain at this point in time.
Has anyone had a cat that suffered from sudden blindness? Were they able to regain their sight?

[Magdalene]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 1:04pm

My cats have suffered from a variety of ailments, but not this---I hope your cat gets well!

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 1:23pm

Oh my gosh, that's awful! I really hope your cat gets better! If either of my cats is sick or hurt in any way, I feel awful.

[peach]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 1:31pm

I have no advice - but just wanted to send well wishes to your kitty, SNAFU. I hope he recovers quickly and completely!

[MLE]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 1:35pm

Awww, that's awful! Poor kitty! I've never heard of this before, it's so strange. But I hope your cat regains his vision and soon!

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 1:45pm

Thanks for the good wishes! I have never heard of this before either and I have had cats my whole life. We just noticed poor old SNAFU (he shares my screen name) was looking rather confused and his eyes were dialated really wide and would not react to light.
I have done some searching on the web and it seems high blood pressure is the most common cause for this condition. Can't find anything on the chances of regaining sight though. Perhaps the Vet was just trying to soften the blow.
The one thing I did read is that cats are resilient and can live quite well without sight, depending on thier whiskers, sense of smell an hearing to navigate their environment

[wexy]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 1:59pm

How old is the cat? Hope he gets better.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 2:11pm

It is fairly common with both of those conditions your vet cited, and with regards to those conditions, it tends to come with age, if it's going to come at all. While I've certainly heard of it happening, I've only heard of the animals regaining site pretty rarely.

Cats can adjust pretty well to loss of sight, though; their other senses sort of step up to the plate, and even though cats are known to see very well, they rely much more on hearing and smell than they do on vision. It's much more difficult for a cat to adjust to say, the onset of deafness than of blindness. They have very acute hearing abilities, which well help compensate for what they can't see in the event of a loss of vision.

Anyway, I'm sending both you and your kitty good wishes!

Updated On: 11/13/06 at 02:11 PM

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 2:53pm

<3 I wish your kitty well too:)

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 2:59pm

SNAFU just turned 16 (or so we believe,could be 17). We rescued him from the shelter when he was a young adult.He is a big fat old tortoise shell Tabby. The perfect shop cat, a fixture here! Guess his mousing days are over.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 3:26pm

Aww, that is so sad, but what everyone says is true, they can live a full life without sight.....touch, smell, and hearing will get them through.
I hope he does ok.......

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 3:33pm

Yikes.

I hope it resolves a self a bit when things get under control.

Good thoughts for you and SNAFU.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 4:40pm

Thanks all! I feel so sorry for him but he is quite adorable trying to find his way around. The dialated pupils makes him look befuddled!