Conference misery::feline_v1

    Is she a house cat?  Then even if worse comes to worse and
    she loses her sight, she will be okay.  There are plenty of handicapped
    kitties in this file that do fine.  I should add that I know
    zero about cataracts, so i don't want to alarm you -- I have no
    idea if cataracts lead to blindness;  maybe they don't.
    

    The milkyness could also be from a previous infection that damaged her
    eyes.  I have seen kittens with very bad eye infections that will have
    this.  Sometimes it just goes away, and sometimes it doesn't.  The
    sight often isn't affected, depending on the severity.  
    
    cin
    

    If any of you have seen my American Shorthair Silver Tabby, Misha,
    he had the problem that Cindy described in .2.  He is a very 
    healthy cat, but one eye has a white film over it. 
    
    As a matter of fact, Misha's breeder has 3 other silver tabby
    babies that also have this same problem.  They are 3 months old
    and she is looking for good homes for these pretty babies!
    
    If anyone is intersted, please send me mail.  I think
    that there would be very little if any cost for adopting  one
    of these monkies - as long as they have GOOD homes.  She has both
    males and femals.  If you send me mail, I will provide you with
    the contact phone number of the breeder.
    
    Elaine

re .1 : yes, Laveau is an indoor cat.  However she is a very curious and active
        cat and I think that it would be hard on her to lose her sight, as 
	opposed to our other kitten who is never happier than when she is
	asleep in someones lap.  I agree that worrying about blindness now is
	probably extreem - but it's hard not to!

re .2 : she had conjunctivitis when we brought her home but we got some drops
	from the vet the next day and it cleared up very quickly.  Maybe she
	had some sort of infection that we did not notice.  She is a solid
	black cat so we could have missed any swelling but she never had
	any discharge once the conjunctivitis cleared up.

re .3 : How old is Misha?  It's strange - a litter of kittens with the same
	problem!  What does your vet say about Misha's eye?  

I've made an appointment for next week for Laveau to see the opthamologist.
Maybe I'll solve this mystery!  

					Thanks a lot for the advice.
							Roseanne

    Misha is  a little over 2 years old.  He started with the problem
    as a kitten.  It's fine now - no problem, but the eye is cloudy.
    He is VERY active and doesn't even know he is missing some or all
    of the sight in that eye.  He learned very young to compensate
    for the loss.  He races up and down the spiral staircase just the
    same as everyone else with NO problem!  
    
    I don't want to be negative, but the truth is probably in the future,
    there may be some sight loss , if the cloudyness remains after a
    long period of time.  Cats have keen sense of smell, which will
    compensate for loss of sight.  Try not to worry too much.  YOur
    kitten may clear up completely - mine didn't, but he's fine,
    and VERY handsome and sweet, I may add!!!

    The cloudiness could also be caused by eye ulcers.  Rhinotracheitis
    can cause ulcerations on the cornea.  These can be treated though,
    so don't despair.  I am sure that the opthomologist will be able
    to help you sort through this problem.
    
    Jo

    We went through a few years of recuring eye problems with Bumpy-tail.
    Her troubles appeared as opaque patches on the cornea.  The vet
    never knew why they appeared and theorized that perhaps she had
    an allergy.  After a few years they stopped coming back.  her eyes
    cleared up complete. 
      I must admit that one of the funniest things I'd ever seen was
    poor Kitty bumps wearing an elizabethan collar and trying to back
    out of it, or getting the bottom edge caught as she walked forward
    and ending up on her nose.  Poor Bumpy-tail and we laughed at her.

    My first cat, Lucky, got cataracts on both eyes at the age of 16
    and became totally blind.  For a cat who loved to look out the
    window, you'd think this would have been a devastating blow.
    Not for Lucky!  She moved a little slower, but knew every inch
    of that house, getting around amazingly well using her other
    senses.  She even still loved to go outside on her leash!
    
    In fact, my parents even moved to a smaller house,
    which of course changed furniture placement and eliminated
    the second floor, and Lucky performed like a champ!  No 
    problems, no complaints, just lovable sweet kitty (although
    she did occasionally forget and go looking for the second
    floor ;-).  She died in her sleep at 19.5.  I don't believe
    the loss of sight affected the quality of her life at all.
    She was with the people she loved, and that was really all
    that mattered to her.
    
    Mary-Michael, Niniane, Charm, Dream, Boogie, and soon one
    of those sweet silver tabby kittens Elaine talked about earlier!

    A friend of mine recently acquired a grey tiger kitten that had
    problems with his eyes.  The *third membrane* (I think) had never
    receded from covering his eyes.  Poor Dudly only had half-vision.  When
    she had Dudley neutered, the vet also removed the covering on his eyes. 
    Dudley can see !!!!!!!!!!  He is now making up for lost time.
    
    Sandi
    
    

    When our 19 year old Siamese, Sister, began to suffer from complete
    organ failure (kidneys, liver, etc.) and we took her into the vet, it
    was discovered that she was completely blind.  In the last couple of
    years of her life, she had become a _very_ private cat living in her
    own "apartment" (a cardboard box) and we only saw her occasionally when
    she came out to eat. The vet figured she had been blind for two or more
    years, but she knew the whole house and one would have never guessed
    that she couldn't see.  Cats sense of smell and hearing is really
    remarkable!.
    
    Chuck
    

    Pookie had a cataracts removed last winter.. (she was just about 13
    years old).. she did fine.. after a bit of time.. as a matter of
    fact she also had cosmetic surgery, at the same time..
    he did "an eye tuck"..  heh-heh. she consented to it,,
    as a matter of fact.. she insisted on it.. :*))..
    regards
    Kate

    I'm a little confused about cataract surgery.  I had the idea
    that it was removing the lens of the eye, and that therefore
    people had to wear glasses or have replacement lenses (presumably
    from deceased organ donors) inserted during the operation.  This
    would seem to make it not useful for cats.  But
    it sounds like just removing the cataracts improves sight?
    

    I never had a cat with cataracts but I had a horse with cataracts
    in both eyes. At that time cataract surgery in horses was fairly
    experimental so I did not have them removed. Now I guess it can
    be done successfully. Anyway, even with them she was able to perform
    quite well- she trusted her rider - and only 3 people ever rode
    her -  jumping as well as thru the woods too I might add. 
    She got along with acute hearing and sense of smell, and alot of trust.   
    
    My daughter's guinea pig also had cataracts - blind as can be- but
    what senses of smell and hearing!! That little guy never missed
    the sound of the refrig door opening!! 
    
    I think cataracts can be removed nowadays by lasers. But animals
    can live quite well even if they don't have the cataracts removed.
                               
    

    re: .12  Now a days they implant an artificial lens, I believe.
    My dad had two cataracts removed at different times.  After the
    first he had to use a hard contact lens, which he HATED! When
    they did the second they implanted a lens.  Later he went back
    and they implanted a lens in the first eye so he didn't have to
    use the contact lens.  He still had to wear his bi-focals tho.
      Nancy DC
    

Well, my husband just took Laveau to the opthamologist.  He said that the 
doctor took one look at her and said "Wow...cataracts.".  She determined that
Laveau was completely blind in one eye and had less severe cataracts in the 
other eye.  However, she did not rule out disease as the cause for this.  
She is still going to do some tests, even though Laveau seems very healthy and
active.  
	One thing the vet said is very consistent with a lot of the 
suggestions I've been getting from this notes file.  She said that when 
kittens contract cataracts so quickly, sometimes the body rejects them and
they will go away.  When it happens the eye will be inflamed and there will 
be discharge and we will have to give her medication to keep the swelling down.
	She said that cataract surgury was possible but she had never done it
on a cat (she said that she does do "a poodle a day" ).  She is one of only
two veterinary opthamologists in the city of Atlanta.
	We are going to bring Laveau back in 2 weeks to see if there is any
change.  In the meantime we are keeping our fingers crossed.
	Thanks a lot for all the advice.  I found much more information in 
this notes file than I did in any of my cat care books.  It was so reassuring
to get so many replies!  I will keep you all posted.

					Thank you,
						Roseanne