Blind cat has nightmares! Anything I can do to help?

CamillaRhodes

My young cat, who I found as a tiny stray kitten and rescued from the street, has nightmares all the time so strong that she bolts awake, claws out, flying from whatever spot she's in and usually crashing into the nearest wall / lamp, whatever. Added trouble is that she is blind - she was born without eyes, most likely a congenital defect (acc. to the vet). I guess she was traumatised during the time she was a stray on the street (probably wasn't longer than a day or two since she got lost from her mom, though, since i don't know how she could have survived).

My question I guess is whether anyone else has experienced this with their pet, and whether there is anything I can do to help her? It breaks my heart that (more or less) every time she goes to sleep, she has nightmares so bad that she wakes like this. If she's sitting on my lap, if I keep a hand placed on top of her, she'll usually wake with a jump but not go flying in fear, but I can't keep a hand on her every time she's asleep!!!

I've tried to do everything I can to make her home life happy and comfortable, and when she's awake she's a very happy, confident little cat. Our house is blind-cat-proof (as much as can be), she has a feline friend who she gets on fine with (who was also a street-rescue, but isn't blind and doesn't have such troubles)... I really don't know what I can do to ease my little one's sleep. Can a cat get psychotherapy?!?!

(BTW, I have another issue with the same cat, which I'm posting here as well, though I don't think the two are related!!!)

doolin101

try getting some felifriend/feliway spray. These are pheremonal based sprays which reassure your pet. Get from Vet

Lauragoesmad

I don't know if this would work but maybe give it a try.
Next time you are letting the cat sleep on your lap and she feels happy and reassured, put on the radio or some sort of noise that you can replicate. Do this as much as possible, say for a week or so. Then if you have to leave her in a room where you know you cant be with her, pop on the same music or sound and it might reaasure her as soon as she is woken up.
Unfortunately, I don't have a solution to her nightmares in general though.:(

comongethappy

you may want to try Bioforce animal health flower essences http://www.healthstore.uk.com/p354723/BIOFORCE-Animal-Essence-Highly-Strung-30ml.html .

It sounds like the highly strung essence would best fit your cat's nightmare issues. I used the seperation essence with my male cat when we were away on holiday. Normally he would always develop a stress urinary infection. Came back after two weeks (our longest holiday ever), and not a problem. My friend said he seemed a lot happier when she came to cuddle and feed them as well.

Most health shops here I think carry these, it was €5.50 in the health shop in wicklow for mine. I gave him the 7 drops mixed into his food twice a day. You could start your cat off on the same and try to gradually wean her down and see if it helps.

CamillaRhodes

Hi all, thanks very much for the replies. Had never heard of felifriend/feliway or Bioforce so will definitely check them out - they may not be available where I live (outside Ireland), by any chance could you recommend a website which would ship them internationally?

Laura, thanks for the advice but quite often when she'd be sitting on my lap is when I'm watching tv in the evenings, and I just can't keep the tv on all the time. Furthermore, there'd be times when she's asleep in the living room, while the tv is on anyway, and she still gets the nightmares.

And having said all the above, while i've been sitting here this morning web-surfing, she's been asleep lying in my chest. Five minutes ago, MASSIVE freak out as she woke up, hissing and spitting, claws went out and took a massive chunk out of my arm, so I guess I should abandon my theory that she doesn't get nightmares so much when sleeping on me!

animalcrazy

My cat had these when she went through a traumatic experience of having her nails pulled out and being thrown around, they aren't nightmares but seizures that are trigured by going through a traumatic experience. The vet put her on Phenobarbitone, to stop the seizures but hers were so severe that she had to be PTS, if you go to your vet he can decide if that's what she needs, if so she will probably be on them for the rest of her life.

It is important if she is having seizures to get her on the medication ASAP because prolonged seizures can cause brain damage or death.

CamillaRhodes

Hi animalcrazy, I'm so sorry to hear about the suffering your cat went through.

Can I ask you, though, did the seizures only happen when she was asleep (as is the case with my little one)?

And can I also ask, what is Phenobarbitone? I assume it can only be prescribed by a vet?

I'm realising more and more how useless my vet has been here (I'm in a country without very high regard for non-working animals) and when I'd told him about the nightmares he'd just laughed and said not to worry. I'm starting to wonder what sort of qualifications this guy has at all. I'm hoping to move country relatively soon, if I can manage to do so the first thing I'll do is bring my cat to a 'proper' vet.

Sorry one more thing, was it the same with your cat that sometimes she'd only have a 'little' jerk awake rather than a full on freak-out? e.g. as I said above, often when my cat is asleep on my lap and I have my hand on her to reassure her, when she wakes like this she just gives a little jump and doesn't freak out like she does when she's asleep alone or I don't have a reassuring hand on her?

I suppose I'm just grasping at straws here, hoping that it is only nightmares and not seizures, but really it is very noticeable most of the time the difference between when she's got adequate 'reassurance' (e.g. the other morning she was asleep next to my feet under the duvet where it was nice and warm - I know, I know, she's spoiled - but when she woke she just gave a little jump, not a freak out, cos I guess it was nice and reassuring under there, with the weight and warmth of the duvet on her, and being next to my legs...) I'm really hoping this might indicate it's psychological rather than physical... :-/

animalcrazy

Phenobarbitone is a drug to control epilepsy, which is what the seizures are. You have to buy it in a human chemist with a perscription from your vet. My cats seizures were very severe and I know they all aren't as severe and I was unlucky that my cats seizures couldn't be controlled with drugs. She would get them alot when she was sleepy/asleep or if something gave her a fright. She would go crashing into the walls and yowl and lose control of her bladder and pee, my cat though would also pass out for anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. Like I said though, she had a very severe case and the symptoms and prognosis isn't the same for every cat.

If your kitty does have it it doesn't sound as severe as my cat had it, my cat was totally miserable and hardly slept at all, I would try and get a good vet though and make sure it isn't this.