my odd eyed half blind cat lucy....

[Snoodle Poodle]

1st i would like to know does any one else own an odd eyed cat? My cats name is Lucy. She is an orential type and has pure white fur. The only problem is she is half blind. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/frown.gif Some how the vet found out that she was blind in her blue eye. Anyone know how this is possible?!

[Karen]

Actually not only possible, but fairly common. For some reason white cat (and some breeds of white dogs, like white boxers) are more apt to be blind than other colors of the same breed. But don't worry, many many half-blind cats and dogs live long, healthy happy lives and don't consider themselves handicapped at all!

[wolflady]

Do you know if your cat is deaf in the ear on the blue eye side? This is also typical with blue eyed white cats. Often, they will be deaf, in the case of an odd-eye, they will only be deaf on that side. But, no need to worry. Karen's right, your kitty will live a good life regardless! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

[Maresche]

Snoodle, I have a nearly all white, odd-eyed kitty (her tail is tipped with grey). She isn't blind in her blue eye, but she is deaf on that side. It was my understand that about 90% of pure white cats with blue eyes were deaf, but yours is the first I've heard about that was blind. Has she always been blind on that side or is this a recent development?

[Snoodle Poodle]

I dont know if she is deaf at all but she hears the can opener just fine. She gave birth to 3 kittens and the vet said that Peace the pure white one was 50% deaf. So sad and she is always the last one to get to the kichen when the other 7 cats hear the can opener. (the can opener means FOOD)! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

[thelmalu99]

Hi Snoodle,
My first kitty, Sydney was all white with one blue eye and one green. Sydney was completely deaf. I was really upset when I found out, but as Karen and Wolflady pointed out, with lots of love they can live very happy, healthy lives. The only thing I made sure of was that he never went outdoors. We lived on a very busy street, and without his hearing, we didn't think he should go out. Now I know that it's better for them to be indoors, anyway.
Cats are very resourceful creatures and Sydney's handicap never slowed him down! On the contrary, he was very playful and very vocal, especially when it was time for me to feed him. He might have been deaf, but there was certainly nothing wrong with his tummy-clock!! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/wink.gif

[Snoodle Poodle]

Well im not so sure she is so healthy. She is very skinny and she looks like she does not eat much i dont see her half of the time because im at school.I always think she is starving herself because she does not look naturally skinny.

[4 feline house]

Snoodle-

You mention she has had kittens but did not say it she was now spayed. If she is not that alone could be the cause of her malnourished look. At any rate, being deaf or blind should not affect her appetite, so she may need a visit to the vet.

My brother had a cat who, like many cats, developed kidney disease as she got older. What they didn't realize was that the disease had caused her to go slowly blind. She adapted so well, though, that they never knew it until she was totally blind and bumped into a chair that had been rearranged. She had been going outside and everything, and no one knew she was totally blind! She lived a couple more years like that before finally going to the rainbow bridge!

[Snoodle Poodle]

She is spayed. I asked my mom and she said that Lucy spends most of the day outside. About the kidney disease, my dads cat samantha died of that http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/frown.gif I went out with my mom for one hour and we came back and she had died. All for the rest of the night my dad cried. That was his special little kitty and he had already lost his dog. Samantha was about 12 yrs old. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/frown.gif

[Snoodle Poodle]

Spencer it is good that you foster cats even if they require a larger kitty flap! My largest cat is about 20 pounds but the door is opened for him when he wants to go out.

I didnt really foster a cat but we took one in that was a stray. Her name is Mina, she is a calico cat, she had 5 kittens and is now about 6 years old and doing just fine. My parents both recieved their pets from the pound. I believe that more should go to the pound to get animals. This saves the lives of many pets who would of been put to sleep if they were not adopted.

[CareyCats]

I have a van calico that is also odd-eyed. She is unusual in that her blue eye is on the side of her face that is tortie and her gold eye is on the side of her face that is white. Blue eyes are associated with the white-spotting factor and normally would be seen within the white area.

I also have six solid white cats: one blue eyed, two odd eyed (mirror images of each other), one green eyed, and two yellow/gold eyed. None of them are deaf. All of them are related. (They were rescues/strays from my neighborhood and all are spayed/neutered now.)

In most cases, you can distinguish at birth whether or not a white cat will be deaf. IF the cat has a black spot on top of its head(called a "cap"), then it will not be deaf. If there is no cap, then there is a possibility the cat will be deaf, though that isn't always the case.

My white cats all look very much alike and people are always asking me how I tell them apart. Most of the time, I can just tell by their body language. Sometimes they manage to fool me though and I have to look in their eyes. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/wink.gif