Hi everyone,
I wanted to reach out about my blind cat. She is 6 years old, and has been blind for two years. I apologize for the long post- but I have been doing a lot of trouble shooting. Here's the deal:
Just under a year ago, my partner and I adopted two rescue cats. First, we adopted a boy cat named Pancake who has mild/severe CH. A few weeks later, we adopted Bijou, an otherwise healthy blind lady cat. Both spayed and neutered, and tested/vaccinated. We would have adopted them together, but Bijou was receiving daily eyedrops for her cataracts/glaucoma issues. After the vet said she was done with the drops, we felt comfortable adopting her. Both came from different backgrounds, and so they mostly kept to themselves. She can perceive shadows and light, and her eyes are open and searching, but she is 90% + blind.
Although Pancake is a champion with the litter boxes and has no issues, I quickly learned that Bijou needed her own litter boxes. She won't share with Pancake for some reason, and will pee right in front of his litter box sometimes. I can easily keep her boxes from him because of his disability- but not the other way around. I've tried various cat litters, different box sizes and configurations in the house, and keeping the boxes cleaner and/or messier. I tried boxes on the ground for her in a 'private' room, and elevating the boxes to a private tier that Pancake cannot reach. What worked best for Bijou was having two personal boxes that are kept fairly clean. Even then, we would periodically find 'problem areas' and block her access to them. The house is hardwood with some rugs, mainly she would pee in hardwood corners or hidden areas. After time we would allow access to the problem area, after using enzyme cleaner and leaving a slice of lemon on the spot. She wouldn't resume the spot, but pick a new one locally or somewhere new within a week. We were making progress this way, and I felt like she was improving.
Then, this past Nov/Dec, Bijou came down with a chronic inner ear infection. It escalated so quickly that she started having chronic balance issues, and extreme disorientation. We ran her into the vet, and learned she had lost weight from the last visit when we adopted her. She's a small cat to begin with, and lost almost a kg. We started her on Baytril immediately. Paired with the blindness, she quickly became completely disabled. We literally had to place her in front of food and water and/or bring it to her, and do our best to confine her to a space with a litter box, but she would just eliminate anywhere she could. After a week on the medicine, she started to improve dramatically. She was eating enormous amounts of kitten kibble and canned food, her coat improved, and her litter box use improved. By the end of December, she was a whole new cat! Jumping and playing, and getting better with the boxes again. Still having little weekly issues, but much better than while she was ill.
As she came out of her illness, I started using an herbal cat attractant in the boxes, which seemed to work very well. I also lined the house walls with slices of fresh lemon on paper napkins, and dispersed new food and water bowls in problem areas. This seemed to help her along. We tapered off on the Baytril after 5 or 6 weeks on it, as suggested by our vet tech. She ended the antibiotics just after new years.
Things were improving slowly until early February. Then, she started peeing everywhere including sometimes in the boxes. Then, suddenly, in the past three or four days, she will not pee in the litter boxes, and I mean will not. She pees on food bowls, and fresh lemons, rather than in a freshly cleaned box in a familiar area. And she is peeing a lot! Three to four huge puddles overnight. No strong smell, no noticeable discoloration, she's not howling (in fact shes quite stealthy) when peeing, so it's hard to figure it's a UTI. Strangest thing is she's pooping in Pancakes box.
This is not how her ear infection began showing symptoms, but I am wondering if it could be returning. It's been hard to find a vet that really cares about Bijou, many of them just write her off as a 'sick kitty' and suggest we return her to the agency based on her medical history. Our main help has been a vet tech friend who helped us with the adoption. I feel like I can't ask for any more help from him, he's already been overwhelmingly generous and helpful for no charge.
I'm reaching in the dark now, looking for any advice or tips. Today i am confining her to a room, with two litter boxes in opposing corners, and food and water opposing the other two corners. Hoping to see her use a box for the first time in 4 days. Also going to buy the 'cat attract' clay litter today, although I prefer to use natural litters with the herbal attractant that was working fine before.
Hoping for any thoughts, comments, ideas, suggestions. Maybe I am doing something wrong. Help!
I wanted to reach out about my blind cat. She is 6 years old, and has been blind for two years. I apologize for the long post- but I have been doing a lot of trouble shooting. Here's the deal:
Just under a year ago, my partner and I adopted two rescue cats. First, we adopted a boy cat named Pancake who has mild/severe CH. A few weeks later, we adopted Bijou, an otherwise healthy blind lady cat. Both spayed and neutered, and tested/vaccinated. We would have adopted them together, but Bijou was receiving daily eyedrops for her cataracts/glaucoma issues. After the vet said she was done with the drops, we felt comfortable adopting her. Both came from different backgrounds, and so they mostly kept to themselves. She can perceive shadows and light, and her eyes are open and searching, but she is 90% + blind.
Although Pancake is a champion with the litter boxes and has no issues, I quickly learned that Bijou needed her own litter boxes. She won't share with Pancake for some reason, and will pee right in front of his litter box sometimes. I can easily keep her boxes from him because of his disability- but not the other way around. I've tried various cat litters, different box sizes and configurations in the house, and keeping the boxes cleaner and/or messier. I tried boxes on the ground for her in a 'private' room, and elevating the boxes to a private tier that Pancake cannot reach. What worked best for Bijou was having two personal boxes that are kept fairly clean. Even then, we would periodically find 'problem areas' and block her access to them. The house is hardwood with some rugs, mainly she would pee in hardwood corners or hidden areas. After time we would allow access to the problem area, after using enzyme cleaner and leaving a slice of lemon on the spot. She wouldn't resume the spot, but pick a new one locally or somewhere new within a week. We were making progress this way, and I felt like she was improving.
Then, this past Nov/Dec, Bijou came down with a chronic inner ear infection. It escalated so quickly that she started having chronic balance issues, and extreme disorientation. We ran her into the vet, and learned she had lost weight from the last visit when we adopted her. She's a small cat to begin with, and lost almost a kg. We started her on Baytril immediately. Paired with the blindness, she quickly became completely disabled. We literally had to place her in front of food and water and/or bring it to her, and do our best to confine her to a space with a litter box, but she would just eliminate anywhere she could. After a week on the medicine, she started to improve dramatically. She was eating enormous amounts of kitten kibble and canned food, her coat improved, and her litter box use improved. By the end of December, she was a whole new cat! Jumping and playing, and getting better with the boxes again. Still having little weekly issues, but much better than while she was ill.
As she came out of her illness, I started using an herbal cat attractant in the boxes, which seemed to work very well. I also lined the house walls with slices of fresh lemon on paper napkins, and dispersed new food and water bowls in problem areas. This seemed to help her along. We tapered off on the Baytril after 5 or 6 weeks on it, as suggested by our vet tech. She ended the antibiotics just after new years.
Things were improving slowly until early February. Then, she started peeing everywhere including sometimes in the boxes. Then, suddenly, in the past three or four days, she will not pee in the litter boxes, and I mean will not. She pees on food bowls, and fresh lemons, rather than in a freshly cleaned box in a familiar area. And she is peeing a lot! Three to four huge puddles overnight. No strong smell, no noticeable discoloration, she's not howling (in fact shes quite stealthy) when peeing, so it's hard to figure it's a UTI. Strangest thing is she's pooping in Pancakes box.
This is not how her ear infection began showing symptoms, but I am wondering if it could be returning. It's been hard to find a vet that really cares about Bijou, many of them just write her off as a 'sick kitty' and suggest we return her to the agency based on her medical history. Our main help has been a vet tech friend who helped us with the adoption. I feel like I can't ask for any more help from him, he's already been overwhelmingly generous and helpful for no charge.
I'm reaching in the dark now, looking for any advice or tips. Today i am confining her to a room, with two litter boxes in opposing corners, and food and water opposing the other two corners. Hoping to see her use a box for the first time in 4 days. Also going to buy the 'cat attract' clay litter today, although I prefer to use natural litters with the herbal attractant that was working fine before.
Hoping for any thoughts, comments, ideas, suggestions. Maybe I am doing something wrong. Help!
