Tasha -- A Cat Who Defies The Odds -- Goes Blind Then Regains Her Sight

Tasha’s health continues to diminish. Last Friday morning after I gave her SQ fluids for her kidneys, she jumped off my lap as she normally would, but turned too soon to leave the room, and ended up in a closet instead. When she reached the end of it, she bumped her head against the wall – looking confused as to why she couldn’t go further. When I picked her up I noticed her pupils were fully-dilated – like giant black saucers -- and realized that she had lost her vision. The change was acute -- only the day before she had had no trouble finding her way. But then I remembered that she stayed in her condo the entire previous afternoon and evening – even though her condo door was open. This may have been because she couldn’t see to get out -- and she may have been scared. When a cat first becomes blind, it’s unsettling for them – they don’t have a clue as to what happened.

What caused her sudden blindness? Like many cats with chronic kidney disease, Tasha also has hypertension. We’ve had her on a daily dose of blood pressure medication for several years now – hoping that would control it, and prevent her from becoming blind – one of the negative side effects of hypertension.

Sudden blindness in cats is a medical emergency -- regardless of cause -- so I packed Tasha up and took her in for a blood pressure check and eye exam. On the test, her blood pressure was 170 – high, but not extremely high. Her retinas were detached. We assumed the blindness was blood-pressure related -- although there are other causes -- and that possibly her blood pressure spikes during the day to a level that could cause retinal detachments. To counteract this possibility, we slightly increased her medication and divided it into a morning and afternoon dosage. When we rechecked her blood pressure on Monday morning, it had dropped to 150. Possibly the slight increase in medication was helping. Yea!

Rarely a cat with blindness caused by retinal detachment regains their sight – if it’s caught quickly and if the blood pressure stabilizes. A pet cat of mine did this several years ago, but I didn’t think Tasha would be so lucky – with all the other factors weighing on her health. Yet Tuesday morning when she jumped down after getting fluids, she found her way back to her condo without bumping into anything. And I noticed that her pupils aren’t dilated all the time any more.

At this point, it looks like Tasha’s sight is back – something we’re very relieved about. She’s still a little reclusive – only leaving her condo for a few minutes each day – so possibly she regained only partial vision. But, regardless of how much or how little she sees, Tasha is able to move around without bumping into walls or chairs and that’s what counts. Whether this change is permanent or temporary, only time will tell.