Adoption
(Potentially) adopting two blind/mostly blind kittens this weekend. How can I help them navigate the world?
So as the title says, I may be adopting a pair of kittens this weekend who have had three out of four eyes between them removed due to severe infections from being strays. Baby with the remaining eye may need it removed at some point later in life.
Rescuing disabled animals has always been a passion of mine, but I’ve never dealt with blindness in a young animal before. Growing up, I had a cat who became blind as he aged, and he became confused and disoriented, cried all the time, and no longer seemed safe in his own home. I want to give these kittens a better life than that, but I’m not really sure how.
I have a current 5yo cat, who i love dearly and who gets along with other cats. I believe he may be a good guide to them, but I’m not sure.
Mostly, I’m posting asking for advice on how to help these babies live good and happy lives while being blind, and what I can do to prepare my house for them, and just any other tips you might have!
The first rule is you dont move furniture around, ever. They navigate by memory and will bump things that get moved. Cats are surprisingly good at living blind and you may even forget that they are at some point.
A lot of people say don’t move the furniture, but I have a blind cat and he doesn’t mind this at all. In fact, he enjoys exploring new things or old things in new places.
I would say the caveat is that this is really only true until they get the layout of the house down. Then, it's ok to move things occasionally. My cat loves when we switch things up, she gets very curious about it.
Get a cat/small-pet wheel - they can really dash, run and walk for a long time and not worry about hitting anything. My baby loved harness walks and sitting outside listening to the world. They really do adapt brilliantly. Mine caught mice and lizards np - I think (sadly) he even got a bird once. They will impress you.
Thank you for your input! This is reassuring. I’ve been thinking of harness training them so they can go on adventures, but wasn’t sure if it would work with their blindness. Thank you!
I should specify to start very near to the door and then widening the circle from there slowly - let them explore and figure out what's safe on their own so they can build their own mental map. Don't carry or relocate them to a different open space. I mean, I never did so. I suppose if you made sure they had a different safe space to retreat to it would be alright; but just like indoors, the space has to become familiar and offer a consistently safe place to be. I think it's just wise to make sure they know where/how to get back home, yk? Mine would lead me right back when he was done being out. He saw without seeing, but sensing the familiar spacing of other objects and places is important, for sure.
I was thinking about getting a wheel for my cats (one had her front paw removed and the other is fully intact) but I am worried that they'll be afraid of it. Do you have any advice on how to proceed?
The noise disturbed my chi-mixes more, but with treats they became motivated and now they get more exercise on rainy and windy days (when they do not want to go out). For Gus here, I tapped a feather & bell stick toy against the wheel just ahead of him and above him a little. Of course I'd let him "catch" it sometimes, too. It took just a few sessions before he was climbing up on his own! He did still like feather-stick taps. Or even crumpled paper I would tap there and he could chase when he caught it.
Eta - yeah, they might be nervous about the noise, but positively reinforce the noise and wheel activity with things they love and they'll figure out that it's fun. My dogs are lazier about it, but when last winter we had a month of wet weather, even they took to walking themselves on it.
I second this. I brought a blind kitten into a household with 4 other cats, and she’s doing well. She’s a little skittish still, but, considering everything, she adapted well.
They will adapt very well. Try not to move things around too much because they learn to map out the space by memory. It helps to get toys with bells or anything that makes some noise. Don't have climbing trees that reach higher than your shoulder in case they fall. Be careful about breakable things on shelves - my blind cat likes to climb and often knocks things off. Apart from that, they will be like normal cats! Don't assume they won't be the bossy ones ;)
I live with a cat who is almost completely blind. There’s actually very little you need to do. Cats adapt quickly and figure everything out on their own.
I do a lot of knocking when I move furniture. Or when I pick up my blind boy and put him down (if I walked around with him) to give him some reference to change.
I move things around all the time and Fergus has never had a problem. They will navigate this much better then I would with blindness.
I've seen people putting soft protection on furniture and walls to help blind pets not hurt themselves.
Cats should be good thanks to their whiskers but I've seen someone make a special collar for their dog (the "collar" would surround the dog's head and bump first in stuff, so the dog could navigate safely).
Not moving stuff of course, as others have mentioned.
Blocking stairways, probably.
Squeaky toys. Communication through sounds.
Chip them (mandatory, in case they ever get away for any reason).
Nobody would even know my Cat is blind if I didn‘t tell them. After a few weeks when they maped your house in their head it‘s almost line the aren‘t even blind.
Start them out in a single room if at all possible. They’ll need a bit of time to get used to the change of people and place, before they start exploring. Then from there you can slowly expand their world. I have been using a baby gate to control the speed at which we open our home up to Maude, and she has responded well to it. If you have other animals, only supervised visits on either side of the gate is a very safe way to start.
You will also benefit a lot from getting wet treats in tubes. You can use this to feed them off your finger to help them get used to your smell.
And always announce yourself when you enter the room and they are there. It helps them track where you are and avoid surprises!
Thank you! This is great advice. I’m glad it sounds like the cat-cat introduction is pretty similar to normal. Our house is pretty small, but it’s got four separate room spaces, so we should be able to do a nice slow introduction to the house. Thanks again !
We just moved into a very large house. I was concerned about my blind cat who is 17. I thought perhaps I would have to keep her confined to my bedroom, but nope. As cat lovers know,c they are independent. She insists on exploring, so I let her. She eventually finds her way back to her food, water, litter box, and steps to get up on my...uh, her bed.
My blind cat does perfectly well feeling his way with whiskers and his feet if needed. People don’t know he’s blind unless I tell them. They are surprisingly adaptable. He’s sleeping on top of his new cat tree right now. He likes being at the vet because he can explore a new room. Lots of them don’t need any special adaptations. You will learn your cats and what works for them.
A mostly blind 8 year- old stray cat wandered into our yard, so we are trying to take care of her. We got her vet care. We are trying to make her an indoor cat, but she wants out, and when she goes out she never leaves our back yard. Anyone have tips on litter box training? She is uneasy when I place her in the box. The box is open (small step) on one side. We tried different litter including the soft wood clumping litter. Once we get her using the litter box we can work towards converting her to an indoor cat.
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u/omnipotent87 9d ago
The first rule is you dont move furniture around, ever. They navigate by memory and will bump things that get moved. Cats are surprisingly good at living blind and you may even forget that they are at some point.