We recently had a guest at the cats only boarding facility who was missing an eye. In all other respects, he seemed to be a perfectly normal, healthy cat. But it got me thinking. How does an owner work with a visually impaired pet?
In the case of this cat, I was very careful not to startle him. I made sure I approached from the side that could see whenever possible — I didn’t want to frighten or upset him or cause any stress.
With a pet who has no vision at all, an owner would have to think about things like home layout. You can’t just rearrange the furniture at will — your blind pet would have a hard time navigating if the room is always changing. You would also want to keep food and water bowls in the same place all the time. Moving them could make it hard for your pet (though he could probably follow his nose to find food).
You would also have to be extra careful when taking your visually impaired pet into an unfamiliar place, like a park or on vacation. If your blind pet gets separated from you, he may never find his way back! (Making sure he has tags with all your contact information can help.)
I’ve read stories about pets guiding each other when one has a visual impairment. The one without sight can follow the other by sound, touch, and scent. The one with sight can bump the other one to guide him around obstacles or towards a destination — kind of like a herding dog working with cattle.
I’ve seen my parents’ dog Becca bumping my old dog Miko around to get him to go where she wanted him to. It could work the same way for a pet without the best (or any) vision.