I have a beautiful, wonderful, amazing, adorable 22-yr-old cat who went blind in the last few months (vet says he can see a little light and dark). I am moving to a new home, 1500 sq ft, in the spring. I am home most of the time. How can I go about helping him adjust? Also, should I restrict him to the bedroom, or will he be able to learn the entire house? (All the windows have screens to keep him inside, we are real careful about that.)
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Moving to new home with 22-yr-old newly blind cat
- Thread starter dwdanby
- Start Date
No need to restrict. He will want to check out his new home though he will be able to smell the difference but not see it. Once he smells all the regular clothes,blankets, furniture he should be ok.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
I'm so sorry, I forgot to mention, he has almost no sense of smell - he can't smell his food at all, even if he touches it with his nose. Been this way a couple years.
This will sound very weird but I can't think of anything else. I assume his hearing is till OK. Find a particular noise he likes. Something off your tablet or phone,a song. One of my cats bites me if she hears a noise she doesn't like. She prefers music from Duran Duran hungry like a wolf and the reflex. George Michael she bites me. Maybe it's his deep voice. Or she likes me singing!
Hmm. I’d restrict him to one room at first with lots of things that have his and your smell on them: toys, clothes, blankets. Cat hate change anyway and being blind will make it even harder. Even if his sense of smell is compromised, surely he can smell a bit and the texture and feel of his familiar things will be reassuring. Before I’d let him explore, I’d make sure everything in the rest of the house is placed where it’s going to be so he doesn’t have to bump into things more than once. Then I’d do one room at a time with him. You could call to him to help him find his way initially, but they’re amazingly adept at using their whiskers to navigate. I’d avoid picking him up and carrying him places; he needs to learn his own way from place to place.
His age may make this a bit more challenging (my 20-year-old Max had a bit of dementia and would get confused about where he was sometimes), but he’ll probably learn to navigate his new place pretty quickly. Let us know how it goes!
His age may make this a bit more challenging (my 20-year-old Max had a bit of dementia and would get confused about where he was sometimes), but he’ll probably learn to navigate his new place pretty quickly. Let us know how it goes!
