silknsox wrote:
Can anyone tell me a little bit cats & cataracts please?

I have a lady who's cat has obvious cataracts. I know that in humans
we have to wait until the cataracts are ripe & then only when they're
ready to be lasered away. And, additionally,only one eye can be
treated at a time..?

Is the process the same with cats?

She didn't exactly plan on having a cat- she moved into her new flat
& found her new lodger waiting on the doorstep every evening It would
seem the last tenants left him to fend for himself. Humans can be
shameful cruel.......

I must say for a cat who's virtually blind, he has an amazing ability
to find his way around his own little kingdom~jumping from window
sill & on to his radiator cat bed...no problem locating his litter
trays or negotiating his way around the entire house for that matter.
I know alot is attributed to his sense of smell, hearing & balance.
He's only 4 yrs old. This is the first time anyone has ever asked me
about cataracts-I've dealt with blind cats & all manner of other
problems & challenges..But never cataracts. No appetite
problems,oozing with confidence & he is SOOO friendly.He hardly seems
phased at all. He's a Big fat tabby cat (Yes, I fell in love
immediately- of course I am green with envy )

Nevertheless, Clearly they need attending to.Does anyone have any
personal experience that may help this young lady's cat, "Frazer".
I'm sure she would appreciate the advice the group has to offer,
especially with making his life a little easier during this
transitional period

Many thanks in advance.

I just had my cataracks removed in both eyes. (one at a time) They donlt use
lasers. They replace the whole lens of the eye with a plastic replacement,
and they stitch it in place to the muscles that control it. You remain awake
throughout the whole operation, which takes less than an hour. the doctor
asks you to look down, up, left, and right during the operation, so I donlt
know how they would do it with a cat, which would have to be put to sleep,
and couldn't assist during the operation at all. It is a painless proceedure
that most eye doctors can do un their own facilities and donlt need a
hospital for. I recommende you have it done if your lenses are cloudy and
have little or no contrast. Your vision will be much improved, and if you
are normally near sighted, the new lenses will give you more normal, "far
sighted" vision, so you will need reading glasses instead of driving
glasses, although you may need some astigmatic correction after the
operation has healed for a couple of weeks. I spent my whole life near
sighted aqnd now I only need glasses for reading, but I do use them for
driving also, because of the new lenses being not perfect and I have some
astigmatism in the right eye. My mother had this opoeration and my wife had
it both by the same doctor I used. And I have a friend who also had it done
by another doctor. The contrast and colors are much improved by the
operation, but needing glasses for reading after doint without them for that
all of my life is really kind of a pain.....