Progressive Retinal Atrophy

WelshOneEmma

WelshOneEmma

New Member
Hi there, our cats went to the vets yesterday for their boosters, and had a check up at the same time. Lucie, my 9 year old moggie, has progressive retinal atrophy (PRA). We had thought that she had early onset dementia, but luckily it appears that that is not the case. It looks like her night crying was due to her eyesight, as apparently their night vision goes first.

I wanted to see if anyone had any experience of this in cats (apparently it is more common in dogs than cats) and if there was anything they did to help make life easier? I know obviously to not move furniture etc as the eyesight worsens, but just wanted to see if anyone had any tips on this, and what to expect as it worsens? I have been doing research on this, but most of the web seems filled with the same general information, and a list of about 5 things to do/not do (one of which is not changing the furniture round), so I wanted to see if anyone had any personal experiences of PRA and what they experienced with their animal.
 
So sorry for your cat. :( Are cats like dogs where they can get around okay still?
My daughter's Jack Russel is going blind and it can't be stopped...but I don't know if this is the name of what she has. She already had cataract surgery only to find out a few months later that she was still going to go blind.
Her eyes (should be brown) have a whitish look to them.
 
Well, you can move the furniture to punish your cat now.

All joking aside, I do have a friend who has dealt with this with a few cats, I will try to get a hold of them and post whatever I find out. Best of luck, I really hope everything goes well.
 
Thanks Syn, all info is helpful. I can find loads of specific info on the web (what it is, what it does, how there is no cure etc) but nothing that gives you specific tips (apart from don't move the furiture) of what to expect.

Kinyonga, it is the same thing that happens to the dogs (in fact it is very commoon in dogs, but rarer in cats). The reason we took her to the vets 9 months ago was because I noticed her pupils were huge all the time, and they looked cloudy (just a tiny bit, but it was noticeable to me - i have had this cat since she was 6 weeks old, I know everything about her :)) and that her night crying was getting really bad. that's when they said that the fatty deposits were building up. At this recent visit they also said that she had PRA, which will eventually cause blindness. She is not crying anymore at night, so I think she is getting used to it. They do say that a domestic cat's least important sense is sight. I just want to know what to expect having a blind animal in the house. I have already noticed a difference in her personaility, so just want to make it so that she is ok. She's only 9 bless her.
 
My daughter's dog seems to be able to see a bit but only contrasting colors...she can't find a piece of cooked chicken (using her eyes) on the pale floor but she can see a piece of beef, for instance. She has figured out that she can move quite quickly as long as she follows my daughter's other dog too.

She walked off the top cement step as though she was walking on level ground and proceeded to fall down the 4 stairs...then because it was dark outside, she couldn't figure out how to get back out until I called her and she followed my voice.

She definitely uses her other senses to compensate somewhat for her lack of clear vision.

I watched a show on TV one night about what to do to help blind dogs find their way around and they suggested things such as having a different potpourri in each room to let the dog know where it was. They put a bell on their other dog's neck so the blind one could figure out where it was and the people wore something that made noise too so that the dog could find/follow them. I don't know if anything they suggested for the dog would work for the cat or not.

I think your cat will figure out most of the things better than you might think.
 
kinyonga said:
Maybe these will help...
http://www.messybeast.com/disabled.htm#blind
http://www.helium.com/items/1520973-information-on-how-to-care-for-a-blind-cat
http://www.petfoodstory.com/cats/tips-living-blind-cat.htm


Some other ideas...speak to her before you touch her or pick her up.
Put her down in a place that she will recognize when you are done carrying her around.

If you want to read other sites google..."blind cat" AND helping.
Click to expand...

Thank you for these Kinyonga! Really helpful, and it's good to see that I am doing everything right so far! Guess when it gets worse and she loses her sight completely I will really have to make an effort to tidy the house more often! :)

She's never been much of an outdoor cat (was born on a farm and spent the first 6 weeks of her life in an open fronted barn, so once she came in the house she never wanted to leave!) and when she is in the garden, she comes back into the house to use the litter tray! Love it!!

It is hard to see this happening, and I want to make sure that she has the best life, but I suppose we often forget that animals cope with these things much better than we probably would. It's hard knowing that there is nothing I can do to fix it. If I could, I would, no matter what the cost. I suppose it's just a part of life, and Darwinism to a degree.

Thank you though for these sites, and also the pot pourri idea, I think I will try that one as well.
 
Thanks Syn and Kinyonga for those. Have since been doing some research (which one person at my work said "for god's sake, it's only a cat, why bother?" - how rude!). I think I am worrying more than I need to. We are going to start having different smells in each room, whilst she can still see, so that she knows which smell is which room. We are also planning to build some small steps to go at the bottom of the bed, so she can climb those to get on the bed. All the others things (talking to them, having toys that make a sound etc) we do anyway, as well as keep the food and litter trays in the same place, so hopefully we will be ok.

Thank you again for taking the time to help. :)
 
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