Retinal detachment with a happy ending

Hi all – I wanted to share a little PSA/good news story with you all. My kitty is 17F and has been in renal failure for a few years.  I'm not sure what stage she would technically be in, but earlier this year we progressed to subcutaneous fluids 2 - 3x a week, so we are definitely in it.

Two weeks ago her she became extremely lethargic and antisocial, and when she did emerge from her favorite hidey-holes, she was wobbling, running into things, not walking in a straight line, etc. I presumed she had experienced a stroke or the like and made plans to take her in to our vet and say goodbye. I made a little clay imprint of her paw. I sobbed like a baby on the way to the vet.

My vet, however, determined that Kitty’s retinas were in the process of detaching due to extremely high blood pressure. Her eyes were permanently dilated, causing the sudden blindness. She prescribed 1.25 mg of Amlodipine daily, and I elected to wait two weeks to see if it improved quality of life enough to warrant keeping kitty with me.

Two weeks later and she’s doing GREAT!!  Her blindness has completely resolved and she’s far more energetic than she was previously, she’s eating, more vocal, this week she even jumped up onto the counter to sneak a bite of food. Very naughty, but I cried with joy to see her that active and aware of her surroundings again.

So that’s the PSA – if kitty experiences sudden blindness, consider asking about blood pressure/retinal detachment. I understand taking her in quickly is likely what allowed her to make such great progress, so I wanted to pass it along and perhaps give another kitty a better chance at recovery.