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This is the newest kitten, and very last addition, of our cat bridgade.
Her mum, Quasi, was born with one eye, but she was born with no eyes. She’s healthy otherwise, though. At first we were thinking her eyes were gonna open late, but being a week after the normal it was realised she doesn’t have eyeballs. She has the empty sockets and her eyelids are sealed except for the tear duct that still works. She has great hearing and sense of smell for a kitten so young, too.She’s been called several names. Mojo, MeGo, Squint, Scoot, Shorty…. I think we all settled on Tu, after we got a card from the clinic listing some of the cats that needed boosters. (“name! and name, name, name, name, too!”) But we had to give it a unique spelling. XD
Dadoo didn’t like the idea of yet another cat, but with her being blind, we think it would be hard to find her the right home where an owner would properly look after her. So, we’re keeping her and taking care of her will be so much fun. Gotta get her a bell collar though…. I can see her attaching to someone fast. Hell, she loves sitting in my lap.
What are your thoughts on having to raise a kitten (or other pet) like this? 😯
I wouldn’t want to give her to anyone else myself….I’d worry myself to death about her… My other thought is, if she was born without eyes, are all her internal systems ok? Does she have any life-threatening deformities that haven’t been found yet? Being born without eyes will mean that she’ll probably learn her environment and depend heavily on it being consistent. I think she’s adorable, and I’d want her myself (I have a softspot for her..) but my other cats would probably try to kill her, the last kitten I had ended up in a different home because my cats were hurting her.. 😕
It’s great that you’re going to take care of the kitty, Algy. If she has no other problems besides a lack of eyes, she should be happy.
Oh she is so adorable. I agree with what purplecat about her needing a home that is heavily consistent. It might be a good idea to talk to your vet about tips to care for her as well.
I’d agree! I’d talk to a vet and get her a check-up so that you know that nothing else is wrong with her. Then the next step is kitten-proofing your home… I’m sure you already know how to do that, but for a blind kitten it’s going to be a bit different! Any objects or furniture with sharp projections at cat-level need to be moved or blunted until she is old enough not to have the Dreaded Kitten Clumsies. 😆 Of course any small objects such as strings, twist-ties, rubber bands, etc, need to be kept away from where she might play and ingest them. You’ll have to watch her and see if she’s one of those kittens who thinks that playing with electrical cords is fun; if so you’ll need to raise them, or tuck them under carpeting, etc. Be aware of kitten-sized holes in things and under furniture and appliances. Our kitten crawled under the fridge once, lord knows how… it was a nightmare getting him out safely once he got stuck. Just common sense stuff! You kinda gotta get down on your belly on the floor, and think “if I couldn’t see and was this small, what would be a problem?” 🙂
Best of luck!! 😀
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My art: featherdust.comShe is cute! I’m glad you’re keeping her, too. I think they know when they’re not wanted and are only staying temporarily. I didn’t know cats could be born without eyeballs! 😯 Sounds genetic, but thankfully recessive 🙂
Aww, it’s nice of you to keep and look after her. She really is a cutie 🙂 As for her lack of sight, it shouldn’t really affect her that much. Actually it will probably be easier on her in the long run to have been born blind. My dog is diabetic and went blind from the insulin, and he had a pretty rough time at first since it happened so completely so suddenly.
I’d say try to move the furniture as little as possible and always look where you’re going (since they can’t watch out for you and scuttle out of the way). I think that’s the hardest part of having a blind pet… Maxx can hear me coming, he knows I’m there, but he has no clue just where my feet are going. So he freezes and it’s my job to mind my clumsy feet 😆
I can’t see the pictures, but I can see the red x’s.
I would agree with others that you should get it checked out. I think it would be difficult to deal with a blind pet because they can’t talk to you to tell them if they need anything. Let us know how it goes.
Thankas everyone!
Nam- Believe it or not, she doesn’t try to eat anything (aside from the typical eating-litter-for-the-first-time). Our house is pretty much kitten proofed already from the previous litters, too. 🙂 Our biggest concern with her right now is the stairs, so we’ll have to fix up some short gates so the other cats and the dogs are able to jump over it with ease.
She actually does pretty well. She does bump into things, but I think her hearing is sharper than normal since she slows when she gets close to something. We’ll be taking her in again soon for a full check up when we get an appointment set for some other cats for their booster shots.
We’re going to spoil her soooo bad
I’m so glad she’ll be spoiled! I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she has extraordinary hearing and smell since it’s how she interacts with her environment. In a way it’s easier on her to be born without eyes at all rather than learn her environment with her eyes and then be without them. Keep us posted as she gets bigger! 😀
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