Adopting a blind kitten

[danniwhit]

My husband and I adopted a blind kitten today...and this website has been so informative! We got the kitten this morning and have been letting him walk around our living room (with a baby gate separating the rooms). He is getting used to it, and we are like nervous parents when he climbs things. He loves it though, and has only fallen once from the back of the couch, and was fine. He has run into a couple things but walks very lightly/slowly and feels around with each step.
We have tried to test his degree of blindness, and he seems a little reactive to light. In bright light, it seems he can see shadows. We are planning a vet appt for this week to get him checked out. He is about 11 weeks old, and the person who had him did not have the money to take care of him, and planned on taking him to a shelter if no one wanted him.
We are a little worried about introducing him to our other cats, which is how I found this website...I was looking for information about it. SO far our other kitten who is about 13 weeks old has sniffed around a little and Billy (blind kitten) gets very distressed, hissing and crying. Joey (other kitten) gets very confused and scared. We have other adult cats too that are kind of staying away. We are hoping the two kittens eventually get along, as Billys previous caretaker said he played very well with his siblings before they were adopted. Joey loves to play and has tried with Billy but I think it is just too soon.
Does anyone have advice for how long to wait until we introduce, or any stories of their own?
Also, we are having a very sad moment...we are setting up Billy's safe room in our living room, as it is the room he is most used to, and can be closed off easily. My husband wants him to sleep in the bed with us, as we did when we adopted Joey when Joey was 6 weeks old. I have read the information on here about leaving a blind kitten in a safe room overnight, and my husband understands the reasoning ( we have other cats that like to sleep on the bed at times, and I worry about them scaring Billy so I convinced him the safe room is best)....we are just feeling very bad for Billy that he has had such a big day with moving homes and meeting other cats...and he is going to be alone all night. He has spent a lot of the day sleeping on my husbands chest and loves cuddling.
If anyone has any tips about blind kittens and things they have done, please let me know. We are nervous for him but love this little guy already and want to take the best care of him as possible.

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

What a BEAUTIFUL BABY! Cats do a lot better than dogs at adapting. They have more grey cells, they tell me

The safe room allows the comfort zone to build. A blind cat in the wild is a dead cat in the wild. The best defense is a good offense & ad nauseum. The comfort zone is the most important thing to a blind animal.

No outdoors, visit the stickie for blind ni this forum, you'll see tips that will help you, ie, water bowl, texturizng floor, teaching stairs & the like! Your baby will dazzle you with his ability and agility and THE WONDER OF GETTING ON WITH LIFE!

They don't sit around moaning, oh, lord, why me? They get on with the busines of life, which is love and ability. sound is very imprtant and we were just discussing sound & smell toys for blindcats. Jinglebells you p/u at craft center and tie to string or toy, tuna juice on a tennis ball, you get the idea. Your own creativeness will explode as you are introduced to the world of the blindpet. And you WILL be humbled. Honestly. He will blow you away! YAY ON YOU!

I rescue blind dogs and for the most part they are deaf as well. It isn't really a handicap in my house ::)

[Christine]

Welcome!!! Billy sounds absolutely adorable. Bless you and your for rescuing him. Here is another brand new member who just adopted a blind kitten.
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=14748

You two can share notes.

Can't wait to hear more about Billy...glad you are here!

[critters]

Concatulations!!! I'd be willing to be that Joey and Billy will soon be best buds, but it probably won't be an instant thing. The fact that they're of similar age and the same sex helps; in my experience, boys tend to be wilder. The baby fartling (sighted) that crawled out of the storm sewer in front of me last Fall now has 3 best buds--all boys. They all like to bite him, but it took awhile to get there. Ace was his first bitey bud, and the rest were won over from there. If Billy cries about being alone, I'd bring him out and let them sort it out; I can't stand a crying baby.

[danniwhit]

Thanks everyone! My husband and I are quite taken with little Billy...we worried about a little stress on Joeys part, bc he has been the baby since we got him about 8 weeks ago...but we are making sure to still give Joey the love we normally do, while Billy gets it too. I work from home, and usually Joey is climbing all over me in the morning, but we had to use my work room as Billy's safe room...so I am trying to balance giving love. The rest of our cats are older, and are staying away for the most part, which is what they did when Joey arrived, for about a week.
Billy is spending a lot of time sleeping, but we have already tried to get he and Joey in the same room for awhile. Last night we introduced them and they both hissed and growled and Joey ran away. Today, I brought Joey into Billy's room...its a big enough room they can get around without getting too close...so Joey played while Billy walked around exploring. They were about a foot awhile for awhile sniffing the air...Joey, bless his kitten heart, just wants to play and tried to bat at Billy to play...and Billy stood his own and tried to bat right back! I think Joey can tell there is something wrong with Billy, because Joey stepped back instead of his typical move which would be to jump right on him. Billy didnt even hiss he just put his paw up like he was searching for joey, in a playfulbatting way.
So they are both kinda working it out in their own way....and I am sure soon they will get along well! I read something about introducing a blind cat to the other cats scents by using a towel that we have rubbed the cat with, and i love the idea. We have 5 other cats, other than Joey and Billy, so I want to introduce them slowly, I don't want him to feel threatened.
OH and we HATE making him sleep alone downstairs...Hubby woke up around 2am and came down to give him love, and when we woke for the day at 430, as soon as we walked into the room, Billy walked over to us crying for love. He just melts my heart! We are taking him to the vet tomorrow for a general checkup just to make sure he is otherwise healthy!

[Christine]

The baby fartling

...she said "fartling". Critters, you just kill me!