The Pibble Hill kitten room hosted two blind tuxedo kittens over the summer, and it’s been so much fun watching Humphrey Bogart and Fred Astaire get healthy, grow up, and get adopted!

The blind kittens were brought in with their two sighted littermates in June from a hoarding situation. All of the kittens were emaciated, dehydrated, and suffering from upper respiratory infections. Humphrey’s left eye was bulging out of its socket and later ruptured, as did Fred’s right eye some weeks later. It is likely these eye ailments were caused by feline herpesvirus, a common infection that can become acute when the cat or kitten is stressed. Both tuxedo kittens had dry, brittle, grayish “fever coats” – indicating their mother was likely sick with a high fever while she was pregnant. The gray, brittle coats later shed into the glossy, beautiful black and white tuxedo outfits.

I wasn’t sure if the two blind boys would even make it through the first night – you could feel every bone in their tiny bodies, and they were so weak they were practically limp. Morgan, who now lives in the tiny house at Pibble Hill, was once the medical manager for a neonatal kitten rescue. She knew what to do, and flew into action, rehydrating and syringe feeding these tiny kittens, and giving them appropriate medications and supplements to try to save their lives.

Happily, all four kittens recovered, and the two sighted ones were adopted as soon as they were old enough. However, the blind boys needed to weigh three pounds to be strong enough for combined enucleation (eye removal) and neuter surgeries. After some fundraising and big thanks to a donation from Old Dogs Go to Helen, they went in for surgery. Fred was able to keep one eye, but both of Humphrey’s were scarred and painful, so they were removed.

As they began to heal, they became engaged in the world around them.

When people watched these kittens race around my house, it was hard to believe they were blind. These agile young felines managed to get into everything; up on furniture and counters, and Fred, who likely had a little vision in his remaining eye, casually strolled around the catwalk above my living room a couple of times, much to my terror. These bold tuxedo boys learned the click of the door opening and tried to dash outside at every chance, and they loved basking in the catio, listening to the sounds of the farm and playing together. They could even catch flies with ears and whiskers alone!

Because these kittens had never known clear vision, they learned to navigate their world with their other senses. They were recently adopted together, by someone who had just lost her blind cat to old age.

Look at the joy! Two cats and one human make a family!

What are some things you can advise adopters to do to support a blind cat, if you are adopting one out from your shelter?

1. Use their other senses!

Bring in toys that have tactile and auditory qualities, not just visual ones A favorite around here is the wand toy with a jingle bell attached, but the tuxedo boys are also addicted to the cat dancer I keep in one drawer, hanging low enough to brush their head as they walk by, which turns into a frenzy of batting it around. They also really like jingle and crinkle toys. And of course, they’ll attempt to catch any flies silly enough to come into the house. The kittens were too young to respond to catnip at first, but I gave them silvervine sticks to chew on. And of course they had scratchers, climbing, and perching places.

2. Keep things consistent!

Although it’s hard to just look at my kittens before their eye surgeries and know they’re blind, a lot of their confidence came from the fact that I don’t move my furniture very often. When I brought in a foster puppy and had to install an ex pen in the living room, the blind cats did run into it a few times before they added this to their mental map of the house. The kittens always seemed to feel safer resting up high, on the backs of couches and chairs, but I made sure there were easy routes on and off of their favorite perching and napping places.

You can also use tactile and scent cues to help a newly-blind cat find their way around. A drop of scent at the top and bottom of stairs can help warn about a change in surface, and runner rugs can be put down to help cats “feel their way” around a larger house than mine.

It is important to keep food, water, and litter boxes in consistent places so your blind cat knows where the essentials are, and with an older blind cat it’s not a bad idea to have stations on each floor of your house.

Shortly after surgery, Fred wears a donut to prevent him from injuring himself.

3. Keep them safe!

My brave blind foster kittens loved being up high, and really wanted to be outdoors, so some cat-proofing needed to be done. I blocked off routes to the catwalk (about 10 feet off the floor) and I put them in the kitten room if I’m going to be opening and closing the front door a lot, like during morning and evening animal care, and when bringing in groceries. I also tried hard to pick up clutter around the house, and not to leave things in their way.

Of course, blind cats need indoor-only homes; they have no way to avoid the hazards of the outdoors. My blind fosters loved soaking up sun and sounds outside, and purred all the way to the catio as I carried them across the yard. I suspect feeling the sun on their fur may also help maintain circadian rhythms, and the exercise they get out there probably also helps them sleep through the night.

Part of keeping your blind cat safe means keeping them mentally secure as well. Talk to your cat so they know where they are, don’t suddenly startle them awake, and have consistent cues that mean you’re about to pet or pick them up. You might also consider putting a jingle bell on the *other* animals in the house, so your blind cat always knows where they are.

What about older cats who go blind?

Any sudden loss of sight requires an immediate vet check, as there are a number of illnesses that can cause blindness, and you’ll want to ensure they are treated.

If your cat goes blind later in life, after knowing what it’s like to see clearly, you can expect a period of adjustment as he tries to figure out why the world is suddenly so dark. Animals tend to adjust really well to changes in physical abilities though, and if we are patient and keep things safe and consistent, most blind cats learn to navigate through their environments just as well as my kittens who were blind since birth.

All cats are individuals, though, so if your cat is having a harder time adjusting to a loss of sight, please consult with your veterinarian, or a feline behavior consultant familiar with working with blind cats.

Living with a blind cat

She didn’t deserve to die