Duchess!

Yesterday, I woke up at 6 am as usual to go to work; whilst heading towards the bathroom, bleary eyed, I noticed our cat Duchess, acting strangely. She was bumping into things and seemed to have a complete lack of co-ordination. Concerned, I picked her up to take a closer look and to my horror, I noticed both her eyes had a cloud like film across their surface, obscuring her vision. She looked rather dazed and confused and was extremely anxious, naturally I was shocked. The day before, she was fine and her usual feisty self, Saturday she was a completely different cat!

I immediately woke up my Aunt and explained the situation; she like me was rather bemused by the whole thing and didn't understand what had happened during the night to cause such a terrible change in Duchess, including what seems to be a complete loss of sight.

While I was at work, Duchess was taken to the vets. After googling her symptoms on the internet, it was clear we had to get her assessed as soon as possible, time was important.

From what I can gather, the vet was as perplexed as we were, not knowing what had happened, but began by carrying out a series of tests to try and establish the cause.

All we know for certain, is she doesn't have Cat AIDS or Felv, that was ruled out within ten minutes of her arriving. In the interim she is being treated for an infection, which is all they can do over the weekend. She has been given a cause of antibiotics and we have to monitor her carefully, in case she becomes even more unwell than she is already. So far, she seems in relatively good spirits and is still eating and drinking as normal, although her eyes are getting more and more cloudy by the hour; all of us are at a loss as to what is really going on!

This morning I have been speaking to specialists on line, chatting in forums and searching the symptoms that Duchess is currently suffering from. I always do this, though it really does no good and just causes more anxiety. I have become aware that white cats are more susceptible to sight and hearing problems, reading about similar cases where cats have gone blind over night. I also understand cats can live long healthy lives without sight but am mindful of any worst case scenario, including a tumour and other forms of cancer. For now we have to wait and keep our fingers crossed. She is a fighter and will do her best to get through this situation, whatever the eventual outcome I'm sure!