? Nystagmus in civvie

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AlphaCat

AlphaCat

Member Since 2017
Does anyone else have a cat with Nystagmus?

I'd love to ask you about your cat's journey.

My civvie cat, Tristan has nystagmus. He's had an eye shake all his life. It happens when he gets excited or tries to focus intently. It doesn't affect his balance or really in any physical way.

I have a video of Tristan's Nystagmus active if you are curious:
https://www.facebook.com/alphacatontop/videos/1372781969503691/

I am concerned about his Nystagmus now (he's 8, and had it all his life) because one of the babies (they are full grown at 5 years old now) seems to attack Tristan due to his eyes not being able to focus. This has gone on since Bandit has been full grown, but I've spent the time doing everything I can to get them to get along. Funny enough, they do get along. They can even share meals... as long as Tristan isn't looking at Bandit. So I thought, if it's something simple, get Tristan's eyes to stop shaking and maybe the attacks stop.

Except, we just came back from the vet and his physical and his Senior Blood panel came back great. So there isn't a simple answer. And this is one of my crystals boys, so moving forward for Nystagmus treatment may cause a greater stress than it's worth, since the eye shake doesn't affect him.

The vet recommended we try both boys on fluoxetine hydrochloride (kitty Prozac) to see if that will help both boys keep calm around each other. She does not expect it to stop the eye shake.

So I'd like to hear other cat mom stories of Nystagmus and how it affected your babies and how it was treated.
 
I don’t have much to add except that my civvie, Zuri, has this. She got her eyes checked due to herpes, and the ophthalmologist happened to mention the wobbly eyes could mean she’s part Siamese (she looks nothing like it lol) and was completely unconcerned. It doesn’t seem to affect her day to day, so I never pursued treatment.
If you’re hesitant about the kitty Prozac, CBD oil may help with the behavioral issues.
 
SpotsMom said:
I don’t have much to add except that my civvie, Zuri, has this. She got her eyes checked due to herpes, and the ophthalmologist happened to mention the wobbly eyes could mean she’s part Siamese (she looks nothing like it lol) and was completely unconcerned. It doesn’t seem to affect her day to day, so I never pursued treatment.
If you’re hesitant about the kitty Prozac, CBD oil may help with the behavioral issues.
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I definitely know my Tristan is a Siamese mix, but I hadnt read about them having Nystagmus without underlying concerns... so off to look that up!!! Thanks for the lead.
I'm not worried about the Prozac. I am well past the point of no return, and I'd currently like to drug them all. Lol.
 
I would not medicate. Don't over think it and cause more problems since there is none really now. They learn to get along. There is always an alpha struggle.
 
been around Siamese all my life, had never heard of this being a Siamese trait, though I'm well acquainted with the strabismus ("cross-eyed") trait -- it's genetic

reminds me of the old joke about a couple of drivers who collided, one of whom was crosseyed -- the conversation went: "why don't you look where you're going?" --- "why don't you go where you're looking?"

Googled it up, apparently it does affect some with Siamese ancestry, but not exclusively -- often a symptom of something malfunctioning in the vestibular system, but I'd say, nothing to fret about if it's been going on all his life -- laughable suggestion, maybe he needs blinders, like some horses ....

would Feliway help?
 
CandyH said:
been around Siamese all my life, had never heard of this being a Siamese trait, though I'm well acquainted with the strabismus ("cross-eyed") trait -- it's genetic

reminds me of the old joke about a couple of drivers who collided, one of whom was crosseyed -- the conversation went: "why don't you look where you're going?" --- "why don't you go where you're looking?"

Googled it up, apparently it does affect some with Siamese ancestry, but not exclusively -- often a symptom of something malfunctioning in the vestibular system, but I'd say, nothing to fret about if it's been going on all his life -- laughable suggestion, maybe he needs blinders, like some horses ....

would Feliway help?
Click to expand...
No unfortunately. Or rather not enough. Bandit is 5 and rescued from a parking lot when he was a baby. He and Tristan used to play (Tristan being 3-4 years his senior.)
So we've tried evertything under the sun over the last 3-4 years once the aggression began. Tristan isn't in line for Alpha, and he's not one of the weaker ones so this particular aggression isn't about status. (Otherwise Bandit would either pick on ones that are in charge, or would beat up on the weaker ones just to be a jerk in his dominance.)

Instead of blinders, maybe he needs dark tinted sunglasses. Then Bandit couldn't see the eye shake! Ahh getting a cat to keep on an accessory, lol.

I got sidetracked on my cat googling today, so I haven't gotten to the Siamese link yet. Tristan certainly isn't full breed. He's got some tabby in there a bit. But his seal point markings can't be denied. The vet tech told me because there is brown coloring mixed in he is a harlequin seal point. Google did not return very good search results on that bit either...
 
back in the day, I used to show, and breed, carefully just for my own pleasure, so I'm pretty well cognizant of cat color genetics

harlequin usually refers to cats with a defining midline, one color on one side, another on the other, more commonly seen in tortoiseshells but I've seen it in black-and-whites too

Siamese types with tabby stripings are usually referred to as lynxpoints -- the Siamese color patterns (genetic) have to do with the temperature of the different parts of the cat's body -- darker where the cat is cooler, lighter where the cat is warmest .. so your seal point has dark-chocolate to near-black on nose, ears, tail, paws, with body color from pale cream to hot-chocolate brown, stripes a brown darker than the body, and if there was some white spotting in the ancestry, it might show up -- tabby markings on face; and the shades of the colors can vary depending on the environment -- and the season (I could go on all day but that's enough)

didn't see your video before, depends on the lighting, on my monitor almost looked like he is more of a bluepoint than a sealpoint, but definitely Siamese mix
 
CandyH said:
back in the day, I used to show, and breed, carefully just for my own pleasure, so I'm pretty well cognizant of cat color genetics

harlequin usually refers to cats with a defining midline, one color on one side, another on the other, more commonly seen in tortoiseshells but I've seen it in black-and-whites too

Siamese types with tabby stripings are usually referred to as lynxpoints -- the Siamese color patterns (genetic) have to do with the temperature of the different parts of the cat's body -- darker where the cat is cooler, lighter where the cat is warmest .. so your seal point has dark-chocolate to near-black on nose, ears, tail, paws, with body color from pale cream to hot-chocolate brown, stripes a brown darker than the body, and if there was some white spotting in the ancestry, it might show up -- tabby markings on face; and the shades of the colors can vary depending on the environment -- and the season (I could go on all day but that's enough)

didn't see your video before, depends on the lighting, on my monitor almost looked like he is more of a bluepoint than a sealpoint, but definitely Siamese mix
Click to expand...
I could send you pictures all day Candy! This is my first Siamese of any coloring. I have a cat who is a calico who the vet said "must have some Siamese in her" but it's nothing I'm familiar with to notice in her. (Different vet.)
We adopted Tristan from the rescue when we lived in Florida. He was all white except for his tabby tail, and maybe tabby markings on his face. He had a cancer spot about his shoulder blades when he was one-ish which they shaved and removed the cancer. Before they shaved him they asked if it was okay because his hair would grow back darker. I'm like, yes please! Just get rid of the cancer! As he grew older he did turn darker spreading upward from his tail. Then we moved to Virginia, and it snows here... so he's gotten quite a bit darker. It's fascinating to have watched. I think you are spot-on on your colorings as he does have dark black, chocolate brown and white. He's my most vocal cat, so we have a lot of communication. In fact, I think some of my other cats have learned to be vocal with me because of him.
Now I have to go google blueprint! Thank you for all the info!
 
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