the failing health of my cat of 17 years

several days ago, i noticed that niao mi (pronounced "knee-owww me") had trouble seeing. don't know whether he's completely blind or nearly blind. whatever the case, he's moving around by familiarity and scent.

another problem is that he's been throwing up yellow at least once every 24 hours, except yesterday. looks like he regurgitated food yesterday.

a friend, te norman, came over yesterday late afternoon. she has cats and she has had cats in the past. she's a very observant, astute, and keen individual when it comes to cats and dogs. i was feeling really sad that niao mi couldn't see. more importantly, i wasn't sure whether that bothered him. she looked for signs of responding badly to not being able to see - such as inappropriate purring, sluggishness, etc. he doesn't seem to be exhibiting that. also, he doesn't have any crustiness or puss around his eyes. his eyes do look dialated though, regardless of the amount of light available in any given place. . .

as for throwing up yellow, we looked for other signs of possible kidney failure and spotted none. there's no blood in his urine. he's still drinking water (in fact he drank water while te was over). he's still eating, when he can smell the food.

so, i'm going to closely monitor what's going on with him. for the time being, i'm going to keep him home (he so hates visiting the veterinarian). and, when i'm home, i try to talk to him more. and, whenever i approach him, i vocally let him know, so i won't startle him when i pet him.

like a book that te brought over noted, cats don't know they're not supposed to be blind; so, they won't mourn their loss of sight. they simply adapt or adjust to not being able to see.