 Barney. Arrival Date: June 15, 2019
Barney arrived here at Pets Niagara with his step-sister, Frankie. After full vetting and a period of adjustment from their previous home, both of them were expected to make wonderful adopted pets for a lucky family. Barney, is a gorgeous large Himalayan or Ragdoll male. Aside from a few minor medical issues both appeared to be in quite good health. They both need to trim down quite a few excess pounds and both are in need of large, frequent doses of love and grooming. Barney with his very long luxurious fur arrived with a 50% matted coat from his midsection extending down to his tail and down his back legs.
On Sunday, the second day of their arrival, here, after he had been able to just relax and just let me hold him, I noticed that Barney was showing the symptoms of Nystagmus. I waited until Monday to recheck his eyes and, yes, he definitely has Nystagmus. Nystagmus is often found in Siamese and other colour-pointed breeds - and after having had some quality time with Barney I'm thinking he's a Ragdoll rather than Himalayan as he has the characteristic pink nose and colouring and is a tall, long feline. The Nystagmus does affect his vision but only in the manner of trying to catch a moving toy - he misses it. He can see it perfectly. He just can't aim for it only because his eyes are moving rapidly back and forth, not because he can't see the toy. He's not bumping into furniture. Barney's Nystagmus appears to be of the 'pendular' variety and not the 'jerk' variety. I have been attempting to film a video of his eye movement to add with this story. So far, I have not managed a long enough video to clearly show the condition.
For those of you who don't know what Nystagmus is, it is the constant movement, or oscillation, of the irises and pupils and can be caused by something as simple as hypothyroidism, thiamine deficiency, or infection but can be caused by something as serious as head injury or brain tumor or exposure to heavy metals, such as lead, or other highly toxic chemicals. I have determined that Barney was showing no signs of Nystagmus when his previous owner last had him in her care, which was over a year ago. Since that time, though, he had been in the care and control of second individual and ultimately a third individual who was known to be somewhat abusive. We will never know if Barney and Frankie were ill-treated by their last individual but as head trauma is one cause of Nystagmus, and their previous owner's information that Barney's eyes were normal, it is certainly a possibility.
Regardless of cause, Nystagmus is a serious enough condition that needs to be fully medically investigated. Barney is going to require some extensive testing. Barney has shown no signs of vomiting, head tilt or loss of balance so we can probably rule out any serious neurological problems. If anything, Barney is showing us that is he a very normal and very loveable kitty.
Barney is very happy, very safe and is going to remain in our care. Frankie is also very, very happy, very safe and is also going to remain in our care. Her little front paws are so happy that she kneads the air while I'm petting or brushing Barney. They are so bonded that they sleep all cuddled up with each other. The absolute last thing I would do is break up a bonded pair. That will never happen here! I have experience with bonded pairs handled by the local humane society and with local rescues. Breaking up bonded pairs never works out well for the pets!
They are eating well, scratching on their scratching posts, loving their happy socks and today enjoyed the fresh air from open windows and talked to birds and squirrels that passed by. They are now calming down from their frantic-ness and are much more relaxed. I've been able to start brushing both of them and even started to get Barney's mats removed and Frankie's nails trimmed. It's a slow process at the moment. Nothing unusual in that.
Barney truly is a beautiful little soul. Fun-loving. Happy and peaceful and such a very good fellow.
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