How does a vet misdiagnose a cat as blind?

Question

I am fostering a young cat probably around 1 yr old. I was told he is blind, or partially blind but honestly I don't think he has any trouble at all seeing. I held up my hand and waved it back and forth and he follows it no problem. I took a toy and he followed it and caught with ease. He hasn't run into anything, and jumps up on the bed, he seems to recognize people and everything.. The rescue told me the vet told them the cat was blind.. is it possible that you can mistake something like that? I mean what kind of vet can't tell a cat isn't blind??

He was found as a stray at a campground and possibly suffered some head trauma.. but I can't see him being blind and then it just going away? Seriously how can you mistake something like that???

Answer 1

It might be in one eye only.  If you want, try another vet that the rescue has approved (if any) and see what they think.

At the cat's next vet appointment ask them how they could tell that he was blind and if they could maybe repeat the test with you there.

Finally another foster!  I also foster cats and had to lose an 11 week old kitten today.  He went to his new home.  I know it's for the better, but I still loved him like one of my own!  :-(

Thank you for fostering and good luck with your kitty!!!

Answer 2

you know I have a rescue cat that was partially blind when I got her and her eyesight has improved immensely since then (a year ago). I wondered if it was a temporary blindness caused by sun exposure and starvation. maybe she had just started to go blind when we got her and the situation corrected itself when she had all of the high quality food she could eat, and water. she had been declawed and then thrown outside to fend for herself. she weighed around 2 pounds, and had not eaten in about a week and her head and eyes were so swollen that she had little slits for eyes. when the swelling went down, her pupils were dilated all of the time. we kept her in a semi dark room (my bedroom) for a long time before her pupils started working again. so maybe it is a temporary thing, could have even had an eye injury that healed?

Answer 3

Depending on how young the cat was when the vet originally checked the cat and the manner used to diagnose the cat its possible that the kittens pupils didn't respond to light when he shined it in its eyes.

Only the vet can really tell you for sure.  I know when I worked for our vet the main method of determining if an animal could see would be how the animal responded when the small light was shined in his eyes.

It could be that this kitten was too young to give the vet a definitive result and considering that the cat had suffered head trama he may have said that it would be "possible" for the cat to suffer from some visual loss.  You'd be surprised though how well animals can adjust to blindness.  Especially if they are blind from birth or at an early age.

They use all their other senses to get them around which become even more keen and sensitive.

I'd just continue to keep an eye on this little guy.  He's in an environment where he's comfortable and familiar and who knows, vets aren't always right, and in this case it would be a blessing if he was wrong.

But I wouldn't hold it against the vet because you may not know all the details as to how he came to his diagnosis.