Living with a blind cat (updated with new question)?

[Darkwave]

So, my partner and I are considering adopting a blind cat. It’s a kitten, specifically - 12 weeks old. She’s getting bullied in her current situation, and so she needs a home. Otherwise healthy, negative for everything, getting spayed in the next few weeks.

Any advice or thoughts on living with a completely blind kitty? We do have stairs in our house, though my sister (a vet) thinks that stairs are not an issue. One set of stairs is open, with a drop off of 5-7 feet to the side, which makes me a bit nervous.

We have another cat right now, who is currently an only cat, but has lived with a variety of dogs and cats in the past before we adopted her, and always gotten along well with others.

I’ve done some research, and so I think I have a handle on the basics - avoid loud sudden noises, don’t move furniture around unless you have to, litter box and food/water always in the same spot. Any other advice?

I’d love to give this one a home. But I want to make sure we can provide the right home before we commit.

(edited to add: cat would not be going outside. We live in a fairly urban area, and I don’t let cats outside - sighted or not)

[Stitch_In_Time]

I don’t have any experience with a blind kitten, but we had an elderly cat go blind (or mostly blind) the last few years of her life from cataracts. She got around just fine, had no problem finding the food and litter box, or a lap to sit in. The only problem was that I would occasionally forget that she couldn’t see (I was in college and not home often) and would pick her up to pet her and she was a bit disoriented for a minute or two when I put her back down.

If an elderly cat can adjust to losing their vision I’m sure a kitten will do just fine, animals are so adaptable.

[NoDQhere]

Bless you for taking in this kitten! She will do just fine. Cats are so perceptive to their environment.

[Darkwave]

Thanks, all!

[shayaalliard]

My thread on Abbi the blind kitten- now two year old cat. She does just fine.

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?450525-To-love-again-and-sometimes-love-is-blind-(kitten)

[TC3200]

Could you fasten pieces of clear Plexiglas to close up the side(s) of the stairway? That might solve the fall risk problem. I think it’s cool that you want to adopt a blind one. There are a few blind cat YouTube stars. Blindness doesn’t seem to bother them. Its harder on old cats who suddenly go blind but even those adjust well.

I got down and crawled around on the floor to find hazards to my blind cat. Might need to pad or change drawer pulls, or move or remove anything pointy or sharp.

[Darkwave]

Yeah, I’m thinking plexiglass might work. Or chickenwire with a small mesh, in a pinch (the stairs in question lead to a partially finished basement, so I’m not too concerned about the looks). Just need to get the SO sold on a) the adoption and b) the plexiglass.

SO is a bit reluctant about adopting a blind kitten. But SO was also reluctant to adopt our current kitty (who is special needs). And now he and her are bonded buddies, and I’m the third wheel. So…

[french_fry]

Check out Beth Stern’s (yes, Howard Stern’s wife) Instagram! She fosters all types of cats and kittens but especially advocates for the blind ones. They evidently do great with very minimal assistance. She mainly seems to recommend starting in one room and giving them access to the house slowly so they can learn the layout.

[TC3200]

My cat was 14 and had a sudden loss of vision due to a stroke. He learned really fast how to cope with it. We kept him on the first floor because he had some balance and strength issues after the stroke. But he did amazingly well and was a happy cat. I kept baby gates at the stairway to 2nd floor. The cellar stairs had a door at the top, so I just kept that closed. Cats just adapt and keep going. I expect a young blind one would cope extremely well.

[CindyCRNA]

You need to read Homer’s Odyssey. True life story about a writer who adopted a blind kitty. She has a great Facebook page and advocates adopting special needs kitties. I wouldn’t hesitate adopting a blind kitty.

[shayaalliard]

mine runs up and down stairs, jumps over the baby gates, climbs into the bed and on the tables-
took her quite a while to learn to jump, as she had to memorize how far it is- but she really never had any issue with stairs from the get go.

[Darkwave]

Thanks all so very much. Kitten adoption is a GO! I pick her up a week from tomorrow.

One question for those of you with experience with blind cats - as I noted before, we have a set of very old stairs to the basement that are not enclosed on the side. No railing, nothing (and yes, they’d be against current code for that and other reasons, but replacing them is unfeasible.) Closing off access to the stairs isn’t an option either - any pet gate would have to be placed at the very top of the stairs, creating a dangerous tripping hazard.

A picture of them is here (let’s hope this works): http://anarcha.livejournal.com/photo/album/573/?mode=view&id=4969&page=1

Any ideas for how to enclose the side? I’ve seen products for closing gaps in stair railings, but those won’t work here since no railings to attach to. Plexiglass was suggested before, but I’m not sure that will work here.

[enjoytheride]

Can you get a pet gate with a door in it? That way you could swing the door open when you needed to use the stairs?

[Darkwave]

[QUOTE=enjoytheride;8844817]
Can you get a pet gate with a door in it? That way you could swing the door open when you needed to use the stairs?[/QUOTE]

We have one of those for another room, but not a good idea here - even with the gate opening, it’s still a tripping hazard.

Additionally, we spend a lot of time in the basement (it’s our version of a home theater/rec room) and so I hate to bar the cats from it. Current kitty follows us down and hangs out any time we’re there.

[enjoytheride]

Can you post a picture of the top of the stairs? That might help people get creative. I’m thinking you can fence it off somehow until she gets her bearings in the rest of the house, then introduce it to her slowly.

[french_fry]

I think you can create sort of an airlock with pet gates vs. just gating off the top of the stairs - maybe panels from an X-pen? Or a 3 panel gate with a door? http://www.brookstone.com/primetime-petz-360-degree-3-panel-configurable-gate-with-door/893586p.html?bkeid=compare|mercent|googlebaseads|search&adpos=1o6&creative=97619011284&device=m&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CMHvuv_Dkc8CFQVkhgodjooG8g

Long term, though, is it possible to add a railing or redo the staircase? Those stairs would make me nervous to walk down myself, let alone my klutzy pets!

[chestnutmarebeware]

No gate suggestions here, but congratulations on deciding to adopt the kitten!

Pictures are a must, and I hope you’ll post a video or two of some blind-kitten-shenanigans when you start seeing them!

[Darkwave]

Here’s a picture from the top: http://anarcha.livejournal.com/photo/album/573/?mode=view&id=5253&page=1 (cat for scale, and because…cat)

As you can see, there are hinges for a door, so if we wanted to block off access to the entire area, we could just replace that door. But we’d rather not, since we spend a lot of time down there, and would like the kitties to join us (current kitty loves hanging out in that area with us). I just want the stairs to be safer for blind kitty, which involves addressing the side of the stairs.

Total replacement of the stairs will be difficult (not impossible, but not appealing). Besides having no railing, they’re also too steep to comply with code, and have no landing on the other side of the door frame. All of those things would have to be fixed in order to bring the stairs up to code if we redo them, and we don’t really have the space to expand the stairs (so they’re less steep) or to add a landing on the other side of the door frame.

I’m not saying that replacement of the stairs is not possible (nearly anything’s possible in home renovation, given enough money and time), but it’s not an easy thing, or something that can be done in the near future.

I’d really just like to figure out a fairly quick and easy way to block off the side to prevent a tragic blind kitten accident. A friend suggested chickenwire - thoughts?

[Darkwave]

After a bit of searching, I’m thinking about perhaps buying this https://www.amazon.com/Kotap-Regular-Weight-Shading-Retardant-Scaffold/dp/B00ZP4CZNQ/ref=pd_day0_469_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=C56REED2PQ72R1SB4K8X

and stapling to the side of the stairs and the ceiling. Thoughts?

[Dutchmare433]

Definitely read Homer’s Odyssey. It’s a fun read, and very heart warming. The lady adopted the blind kitty, who went on to do adorable things like hunt and kill bugs with deadly accuracy (pretty cool for a blind kitty!). He also managed to save her from an intruder in her house…it’s been a while since I’ve read the book, but I think kitty leapt out of her bed and attacked the guy, clawing his face long enough for her to call 911.