About Dear Tabbi Expertise My expertise is in helping people understand their cat (or cats) and their behavior. Questions are welcome even if you don't have a cat....just a question about them. Hopefully my experience, suggestions, and comments will be of help to you...and your cat (or cats). Looking through my past responses to questions will give you additional information and/or answers too.
Domestic Cats = cats (no matter what breed) who are tame or not wild, or abandoned cats who were pets that became wild, but can be tamed again.
Ferals = cats who are born with one or more parents who were wild stray cats. They usually have had no interactions with people. They have an inbred distrust of humans and are difficult to socialize. They are skittish, hide, and are afraid of people. They take a lot of time and patience to work with them. A lot of kittens from shelters had a feral parent.
Experience Since I was a child, over 45 years, I have been owned by a LOT of cats and kittens of almost every temperament, behavior, and personality. I have had experience with neurotic, disabled (including blind), stray, and 'problem child' cats and kittens. (A few normal cats too!) Plus all the things a lifetime of owning cats and research has taught me. I also have experience in feral cat behavior (which is different from domestic cats), and some experience with feral colonies that includes colony feeding and feral cat TNR (trap/neuter/release).
Education/Credentials ***********
Awards and Honors * One of the top 50 Experts Of 2008 *
Question So, we have this 1 month kitten, Isis, who was born with/contracted Herpes through her mother's milk (we bottle feed her now with L-Lycene mixed in). She is totally blind, and so I have some questions on how to go about potty training her.
Sorry if there was another question like this, it's about one thirty in the morning and all I could find were articles about feral kittens and older cats. >>
-Kat
Answer Kat,
I have a blind cat also (now about 2 years old, and blind almost since birth), and my cat's sister is also going blind slowly from Herpes of the eye. Later on you may want to have the eyes taken out because they can cause a lot of pain. My blind cat had one eye removed already.
Blind cats get a picture in their mind where things are so just put her in the litter box to let her know where it is a few times and she will learn. Put her in there about 5 minutes after she eats or, if you catch her going somewhere else, quickly put her in the litterbox. Use clay litter though until she is older because kittens have a tendency to eat litter and clumping litter will clog her intestines if it swells inside her. Keep it in the same place so she can find it too.
Mine can run and go up steps and never miss. Just remember if they climb up something that they can't judge where the ground is to jump down and can smash their face trying. And remember when you move something that you have a blind cat! They also don't like to be carried because it mixes them up on where they are. The only time mine runs into things is when she gets scared from something. Then she bangs into everything if she panics. Otherwise she acts pretty normal. She "fetches' and brings her toys back to me. I get toys that make noise so she can follow them to play. Petsmart has little balls with feathers on them that rattle and she loves them. She likes to chase shoe strings too. I drag my fingernail on the ground when I am pulling it so she can follow the string by sound.
I hope this helps and if you have additional questions feel free to send a followup anytime.
