Biddy Cat

[thermalsatsuma]

Poor old Biddy is now completely blind - apparently her retinas are no longer functioning. She still seems to be able to find her way round the house, albeit bumping into furniture, but she looks very confused and lost. I feel desperately sad that I can't explain to her what's happening to her, but she should be able to adapt to her lack of vision given time.

Comments

[lisy-babe.livejournal.com]

It shouldn't take long for her to get used to using smell and sound to get around.

Have you thought about putting some "tactile flooring" down so that she can feel underfoot if she's about to crash into something (e.g. putting masking tape on the floor around furniture - it won't take her long to work out that masking tape underfoot means impending object)?

She might be a bit confused at the moment at having to learn her way around the house again, but, like I said in my last comment about her, I doubt she's feeling sad about it - animals just don't get depressed about becoming disabled in the same way humans do, because they don't have the same social pressures.

[thermalsatsuma.livejournal.com]

Thanks Lisy. I think that I'm more upset about it than she is - she can find her way up and down the stairs with no problems now, and she is moving cautiously enough to detect furniture with her whiskers.

[lisy-babe.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised to hear that she's already gotten used to using her whiskers to find out where things are... but, as you say, she's moving cautiously. I was just thinking the tactile flooring idea might give her a bit more confidence in moving around.

Also, remember not to put stuff on the floor now. If you live with a blind human you can come home with the shopping, dump it on the floor and just shout "watch out, I've left some shopping by the living room door." But seeing as how cats don't speak human, you can't give her the same warning.

I can kind of imagine it's like an adventure for her rather than being anything to get upset over. You know how when you bring home something new, cats want to get to know it. They'll look at it, smell it, poke it, maybe even lick it. Given as how cats have such an exploratory mindset, I can imagine she's finding it a bit exciting getting to know everything again in an environment that was familiar.

[shullie.livejournal.com]

poor biddy, but she's a canny cat.. and will, I'm sure, make the adjustments she needs..

lots of love and hugs for all the humans concerned