The blind cat

Crystal was the nicest little cat you could ever want. I selected her the day she was born and brought her home at six weeks. She was the only cat that never caused me any trouble.  When I moved and all three cats ran away, Chrissie was the one that came back the very next day. The others never did.

Chrissie became my shadow following me everywhere and hopping into my lap at every chance. She especially loved the bedtime routine when Johnny and I would lie in bed and read. She curled up on Johnny’s chest, just high enough that he would have to lift the book up to see the pages. One night when she was about 14 years old, Johnny noted something concerning: “Andrea, this cat’s pupils are so large that I can’t even see her irises. Something is wrong with her.” I brushed it off… “It’s nine o’clock at night and dark. Her eyes are just responding normally.” But Johnny insisted, so I rolled over and called the 24 hour emergency line for our vet. I was told that when a cat’s pupils are that enlarged it is a sign she is totally blind. And in case I had any reason to doubt the vet’s words, as I listened, Chrissie proceeded to walk off the edge of the bed. I caught her just before she tumbled to the floor.

Early the next morning, a Saturday, Crystal, Johnny and I were at the vet’s office for an examination of her eyes. The conclusion: yep. the cat is blind. Both her retinas had detached completely from the back of her eye. She could see nothing other than light and dark. But why? Further examination revealed nothing but some elevated blood pressure. Of course by that time, all of our blood pressures were elevated, but Crystal’s was the only one that mattered. She was prescribed some medications to control it, hopefully preventing damage to other organs, and it was suggested that we could bring her to the Animal Eye Care Center (aka The Experts) in neighboring Cary. But we were warned, while in some cases controlling the blood pressure can return some eyesight to the animal, it would not be likely to occur in a case as severe as hers.

We hit the road bound for Cary. Different vet, same diagnosis and same expectation. Let’s control the BP so she doesn't have other traumatic health effects, but don't expect her to ever see again. Crystal stayed the night at the clinic so they could continue to monitor the BP and make sure she had the right dose of medication.

Now I could no longer question the diagnosis of blindness, but now I also understood the reason why… and what needed to be corrected. I tuned into my sweet kitty and visualized her little retinas smoothing out and lying flat onto the back of the eye. I continued to do this a few times over the next two days.

We picked her up Sunday morning and took her home. I watched her carefully to see how a newly blind cat would navigate. She explored our entire house, following the edges of the walls until she came to  a new room. She would venture into the center of the room and sit quietly, just getting the essence of it. After a few minutes she would find her way back to the wall and proceed into another room.

On Monday morning I brought her back to our usual vet clinic for one more BP check. This time we saw our favorite vet, Kady. Kady solemnly examined Crystal’s eyes yet again, with the same pronouncement: this cat is blind and and will not regain her sight. Her retinas are just too far gone. That was three for three vets with this grim prediction.

Meanwhile Crystal was adjusting very nicely to her sightless state. What was particularly surprising, and endearing, was how amenable she was to having pills shoved down her throat twice a day. This had been a concern of mine. How do you enforce the pill routine? If a cat doesn't like something that is going on, they can just disappear. I was recalling the time we adopted a new dog that had frightened her. Crystal lived inside a couch for three weeks and we never saw her until she was confident enough to come out. But now… this little kitty knew we were doing this for her own good. Every morning and every evening at pill time, she would find us and wait patiently for us to remember to dose her. She was like clockwork.

Just a few days after we had learned of her blindness I made a major goof. Crystal was taking two medications for her blood pressure control. One morning I mixed up the dosages with the result of a very hypotensive cat. She was breathing and she was alive, but boy was she limp! She survived and shortly after she revived I watched her navigate across a floor with several chair and table legs in her way. She never touched any of them. Curious, I grabbed a few cat treats and and rolled one at a time across the floor. Each time she followed it… as long as it was moving. Once it stopped she couldn't locate it. But she was doing a pretty good job at tracking it. Was she following the sound or was she actually seeing some movement? After a few more tries I grabbed my phone and videoed her chasing the treats. Then I sent the recording to my vet.

My phone rang a little while later. Kady said, “I showed your video to the other vets in the office. it looks to us like… she is actually seeing something. Bring her in and let me check her again.” Once in her office Kady peered into Crystal’s eyes with the otoscope.  She leaned back stunned. “This cat’s retinas have uncurled and laid back onto the surface of the eye. I’ve never seen anything like this!” Was it the healing that I had sent or the huge drop in blood pressure that allowed her retinas to restore to a healthy shape? We also noted that Crystal’s pupils no longer consumed her entire eye. And over time they became the perfect little diamond shape the would be expected of a cat without vision problems. Crystal lived several more years and never lost her eyesight again.