Vet Said My Cat Is Blind. Help Needed.

[jackal2001]

I took 17 year old cat to the vet to get blood work as he's been drinking a lot of water lately and they said, "you know you cat is blind"? I was in disbelief and tried explaining there was no way. They said look how big the pupil is dialated. That and how they tried to make him blink but that didn't happen either.
I looked online for tests to do at home. Drop a feather, laser pointer, etc.
Here are some quick vids and a picture of his pupils. Look at his eyes.

 

[mightyboosh]

Coincidentally, my brother is visiting me and he was told the same thing by the vet regarding his 18yr old Tigger. It is down to diabetes for which she is now taking medication. Tigger is a recent rescue and my brother didn't notice because, well, she hardly moves from the comfy places and is waited on hand and foot. It makes sense now when one looks at her eyes.
She's happy though so it's a matter of adjustment.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I can't figure out how he would react like that to BOTH feathers if he were truly blind, and if he were partially blind, I don't understand how he could have reacted to the smaller feather. If he were just seeing shapes and shadows, he might have spotted the large one due to movement and contrast, but that bit of downy fluff? That just doesn't compute.

That said, those widely dilated pupils do indicate that something is going on with his eyes. I wonder if there could be something going on that is intermittent, or something that is just starting? Is there a good university vet school nearby who could assess him? They would be expensive, but you would get cutting-edge care with the finest equipment there. Should you decide to do that, make sure that they see those feather tests that you did.

Now, should he actually be losing his site, it is not the end of the world for either of you. Blind indoor-only cats do very, very well, indeed. There are only a few adjustments to make for them, such as don't leave things lying in areas that are normally clear, and stock up on toys that make noises. With that done, any blind cat will be as happy as any other cat! They don't waste one minute mourning over what they lost, they just adjust and make the best of it, which is very good, indeed.

 

[jackal2001]

I also did some other tests.
Laser pointer - Cat followed it with his head no problem
Left a 1/2 packing peanut on the floor in a room he wasn't in. When he walked in he noticed it (which was out of his way) and went to investigate it.
I put a USB stick on the floor and had it covered by my body so he couldn't see it. I walked away and here is what happened. He went to investigate, going directly to it. See video below.
I also went ahead and purchased some PetWellbeing kidney support gold for cats. I asked the vet about that as well and they stated "it won't hurt".


And one last one of his eyes and how they normally look. Watch him follow my hand/ring.

 

[Blakeney Green]

I don't think that your cat is completely blind, but I also think that in the videos he's tracking the motion of your hand and predicting the direction of an object coming from your hand rather than tracking the item itself. My guess is his vision is pretty limited, but cats can hide that really well because they're so sensitive to air currents and smells.

That said, blindness isn't a huge deal for cats. Toad is mostly blind, and she can do the same things as other cats - climb, jump, play with toys, chase her brothers, etc. She doesn't require any special care due to her vision loss.

I think your kitty seems to be adjusting well, so I'm sure he'll be fine.

 

[jackal2001]

One more with the laser. He doesn't really play with them. Never has bit you can see he is tracking it.

 

[LTS3]

Dilated pupilis can indicate high blood pressure. Ask your vet about that. You can also seek out the opinion from a veterinary opthamologist. If you're in the US, you can look here Veterinarians & Public

Did the vet determine the cause of the increased water drinking? That can indicate diabetes or kidney issues. Do you feed canned food or dry food?

 

[jackal2001]

They did blood pressure but they said it was just a little elevated but that may be from the stress of going to the vet.
The blood work is supposed to come back Friday.
Also did an eye exam and didn't really say anything after that.
He gets fed 1/2 a small can natural holistic wet food in the morning like tuna blend, chicken, etc. Then in the afternoon he gets 1/2 a chicken tender (Perdue) cooked. Then in the evening he gets 1/2 small can of Fancy feast. He always has a very small bowl of dry food available - taste of the wild.
He had surgery to remove all his teeth years ago except the canines which is why he primarily gets wet food. He has been on the same diet for over 10 years since the teeth were extracted. Also my wife said her mom remembered that his pupils didn't go back from being dilated after his surgery (she works at the vet). He was put on steroids at that time due to loss of balance and his eyes twiching back and forth after that surgery.

 

[jackal2001]

All blood work came back negative.
I also told the vet he passes all vision tests, laser, feather, etc.
Unknown why his water intake picked up. I'm going to put him on that kidney support from petwellbeing as a preventative as well. The vet said it wouldn't hurt.

 

[di and bob]

My cat had a blown pupil too, he seemed to see fine. It also started after a surgery he had, he came home that way. Vets have told me it also could indicate a fever, but not in my cat unless he had a fever for 16 years! There are many reasons foe dilated pupils, and it doesn't mean blindness, though it could make it hard for him to see in bright light. When he got older he drank a LOT of water, and urinated huge amounts too, everything tested out fine. He lived to be 17 and did fine right up to the end.

 

[jackal2001]

I still curse my wife for her wanting to take our cat to that vet that did the surgery, just because her mom works there. I told my wife never again will I take my cat there. They didn't seem to care at all not to mention he had some issues after surgery and got sick as well. I guess I just never noticed if his eyes were normal before surgery and what they looked like after surgery (then again I was more concerned with his 3rd eye issue).
I can only find a few pictures of him back from 2002 when we got him and his eyes were fine at that time.

 

[Antonio65]

My cat, pictured left, and now at the Rainbow Bridge, had her pupils just the same as yours (have a look at the pics in my album).
She was blind, she was visited by three different eye doctors, they all said that her retinas were compromised and detached due to high blood pressure. One of these three doctors was a very well known eye doctor and was regarded countrywide as the utmost expert in this field.
He said "Your cat is totally and irreversibly blind. There isn't the slightest chance she can see anything!"
Well, my blind cat would dodge object even in places where she had never been before (like the vet surgeries), would follow objects and chase flies, she would watch the world from the window and peep into narrow spaces. I made several videos of my cat who would avoid any kind of obstacle even in set-up situations and do other things or actions that only a normal cat could do.
Very often vets don't know what they are talking about...

 

[jackal2001]

Thanks for that story.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

And I will just add this...if your cat were proven to be blind, you would suffer over it far, far more than he would. Cats are so amazingly adaptable to physical changes like that. And they live very happy, contented lives with things that would make us miserable.

 

[Blakeney Green]

It's possible your vet is wrong and your cat can see fine, but don't underestimate how much cats rely on their other senses. They can appear to "see" when they are actually perceiving in other ways.

Toad is undoubtedly mostly blind. (She may have a small amount of vision in her left eye.) If you look at her eyes in person, it's obvious that there is no way she could have normal vision - they're so clouded she doesn't even have a clear eye color. Currently, she's sitting on my lap playing with my headphone cord. She just found a hair tie on the floor and was batting it. She can climb the wall and get in a storage area above the door that requires her to make a sharp 90 degree turn at the top, and she discovered that all by herself. She rarely runs into anything and navigates most obstacles without pause even when something changes in her environment. Most of the time you would never notice she has a vision problem except from the appearance of her eyes and the fact that she sometimes vocalizes softly when she's running (her own sort of echolocation.)

Obviously I can't have a definite opinion on your cat, but living with a cat with a vision impairment, the signs are a lot more subtle than would be expected.