Cats & cataracts

[silknsox]

Can anyone tell me a little bit cats & cataracts please?

I have a lady who's cat has obvious cataracts. I know that in humans we have to wait until the cataracts are ripe & then only when they're ready to be lasered away. And, additionally,only one eye can be treated at a time..?

Is the process the same with cats?

She didn't exactly plan on having a cat- she moved into her new flat & found her new lodger waiting on the doorstep every evening It would seem the last tenants left him to fend for himself. Humans can be shameful cruel.......

I must say for a cat who's virtually blind, he has an amazing ability to find his way around his own little kingdom~jumping from window sill & on to his radiator cat bed...no problem locating his litter trays or negotiating his way around the entire house for that matter. I know alot is attributed to his sense of smell, hearing & balance. He's only 4 yrs old. This is the first time anyone has ever asked me about cataracts-I've dealt with blind cats & all manner of other problems & challenges..But never cataracts. No appetite problems,oozing with confidence & he is SOOO friendly.He hardly seems phased at all. He's a Big fat tabby cat (Yes, I fell in love immediately- of course I am green with envy :o)

Nevertheless, Clearly they need attending to.Does anyone have any personal experience that may help this young lady's cat, "Frazer". I'm sure she would appreciate the advice the group has to offer, especially with making his life a little easier during this transitional period

Many thanks in advance.

[MaryL]

"silknsox" wrote in message
news:8122e792-bd25-4700...@googlegroups.com...

~~~~~~~~~~~~
My cat, Duffy, is blind and can do almost anything that a sighted cat can
do. I have not had any experience with cataracts in cats, but I thought you
might want to look at these articles:
http://pets.webmd.com/cats/cataracts-cats-types-treatment-options
http://www.petwave.com/Cats/Health/Ear-Eye/Cataracts/Treatment.aspx

Are you sure the cat has cataracts? You said the cat "has obvious
cataracts," but you did not say this was diagnosed by a veterinarian. I
hope this is not something the owner has simply decided for herself. If
that is the case, please ask her to have an examination for her cat ASAP.
Has the cat's blood pressure been checked? High blood pressure can cause
blindness in cats. It must be treated *immediately* to avoid blindness.

Incidentally, it is no longer true that humans have to wait until the
cataracts are "ripe" and has not been true for many years. My grandmother
had cataracts removed a great many years ago. Just as you said, she had to
wait for them to be ripe. In fact, she was nearly blind before the
procedure could be done. By contrast, my parents and eventually myself also
had cataracts removed. We did not have to wait for that stage--the surgery
was performed when we felt it would be helpful. I had no cut/no stitch
laser surgery, but I am sure that would not be available for cats. I did
wait about two weeks between having the surgery on my left and right eyes.
It was completely painless and done on an outpatient basis. Quite a change
from my grandmother's era!

MaryL

[MaryL]

"silknsox" wrote in message
news:8122e792-bd25-4700...@googlegroups.com...

[Bill Graham]

I just had my cataracks removed in both eyes. (one at a time) They donlt use
lasers. They replace the whole lens of the eye with a plastic replacement,
and they stitch it in place to the muscles that control it. You remain awake
throughout the whole operation, which takes less than an hour. the doctor
asks you to look down, up, left, and right during the operation, so I donlt
know how they would do it with a cat, which would have to be put to sleep,
and couldn't assist during the operation at all. It is a painless proceedure
that most eye doctors can do un their own facilities and donlt need a
hospital for. I recommende you have it done if your lenses are cloudy and
have little or no contrast. Your vision will be much improved, and if you
are normally near sighted, the new lenses will give you more normal, "far
sighted" vision, so you will need reading glasses instead of driving
glasses, although you may need some astigmatic correction after the
operation has healed for a couple of weeks. I spent my whole life near
sighted aqnd now I only need glasses for reading, but I do use them for
driving also, because of the new lenses being not perfect and I have some
astigmatism in the right eye. My mother had this opoeration and my wife had
it both by the same doctor I used. And I have a friend who also had it done
by another doctor. The contrast and colors are much improved by the
operation, but needing glasses for reading after doint without them for that
all of my life is really kind of a pain.....

[Mack A. Damia]

On Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:20:02 -0700, "Bill Graham" <we...@comcast.net>
wrote:

What can I say, Bill? All that work, and you're still blind.

You voted Republican, right?

--

[Bill Graham]

Yes. My brain works a lot better than my eyes......

[chaniarts]

i have a friend that has a cat that was born blind. it's now 3, and gets
around the house and lives alongside 4 dogs just fine. if you didn't
know, you wouldn't be able to tell the cat was blind.

[Bill Graham]

If a cat, or any animal, is born blind, it learns from birth to get along
with what its got, and nefer suffers from its disability. but our Junie went
blind when she was about 16 years old, and havd a very hord time adjusting
to it. She became very dependent on my wife qnd myself, which was not her
normal nature. She was the mowt independent of all of our cates for the five
or six years we had her. (we got her from the next door neighbor when her
mother died, because her husband was allergic to cats) Junie ruled the roost
for most of her time with us, and was not able to handle blindness well.

[rjschw...@wi.rr.com]

On Sunday, March 24, 2013 5:01:59 PM UTC-5, silknsox wrote:
> Can anyone tell me a little bit cats & cataracts please?

I agree with Mary--has this cat been actually diagnosed with cataracts, or is this a guess/assumption?

Our Benny (12) regularly sees an animal opthamologist (sp). This doctor says that cats having cataracts is quite rare. However, our doc thinks Benny was born with cataracts in both eyes. The right eye has a tiny cataract in the middle, which has not changed. The left eye, his bad eye, has a cataract that has matured and "reabsorbed" into the eye, taking the lens with it. Therefore, he can't focus with that eye and his sight is nearly non-existent there. He unfortunately has glaucoma in that eye, so we give two different kinds of drops in that eye to manage the pressure.

Removing the cataracts in cats is tricky and not always possible. In Benny's case, it is not an option (according to the specialist). The only option, if we had to resort to it, would be to remove the eye. Eye problems in cats are uncommon, and in all the years I've been to this specialist (2x a year for 10 years), I have NEVER seen another cat in that office, only dogs.

Why do you think they need attention? Is there oozing, excessive watering, or other symptoms? Has a vet looked at them and made a diagnosis? If there are no related health problems, there is no reason this cat can't live a full and happy life with limited sight. Benny has done just fine.

Rene