Notes: 1. I am not an expert on blindness, but I have put a lot of time into researching it. Feel free to correct any research-based mistakes! 2. I realised about half way through typing this out my keyboard was not in English. I tried my best to catch any odd symbols or mistakes, but I might have missed some. 3. This will not be extremely formal or organised. This is a dump of research, not a research paper, so it will probably include grammar, spelling, and general organisation issues. My apologies in advance. Overview: Blindness can be caused by many different medical issues but in Riverrunner's case, it was caused by severe puncture wounds to both eyes. The right eye was already "blinded" with minimal vision. Now, left are near totally blind with any vision still possible being very blurred. The right eye is still worse than the left with having no vision at all. How did this happen? Well, what a wonderful question that I will let you explore on your own through this thread: https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/34696794/comments/#comments-324169962 How will this affect Riverrunner? Well, it won't be able to rely on any visual inputs from its surroundings, leading to it mainly relying on its other senses (sound, smell, touch, etc). Since it already has some knowledge of its surroundings, specifically in common places in IceClan, it will be able to continue its duties inside camp. That said, it will be more cautious and distant from others, constantly trying to focus on taking notes of its surroundings. It will rely on smell and sounds for hunting, which will take a while for it to learn. Veer will be less than friendly in the next couple moons as it adjusts to its lack of vision, so yeah. A few methods commonly seen in blind cats to take note of their surroundings are head-tilting and pawing at the ground. Riverrunner will use both of these, often crouching to use its paws and whiskers to sense any movements and head-tilting and ear movements to pick up on any sounds. It will be jumpy and cautious of /everything/. It will spend a lot of time in its nest and be very distant with other cats. Additionally, Riverrunner is a system with amnesia between alters. Emotions can be passed, but not memories. It will be a struggle for the system as a whole to adapt and Veer will definitely be fronting more. The other alters will be hesitant to front and Veer most likely won't let them front either. This means that if River or Wonder were to front, they would have no knowledge about being blind due to not being present when Veer decided to get his butt kicked. Listen, you would panic too if you woke up two moons later suddenly not being able to see, okay? Sources: 1. https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/sudden-blindness 2. https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/feline-vision-problems-host-possible-causes 3. https://www.perkins.org/what-blindness-really-looks-like/ 4. https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/health/disabled-cats/blind-cats 5. https://coape.org/navigating-lifes-spectrum-understanding-the-behavioural-nuances-of-sharing-your-life-a-blind-cat/ 6. https://www.shelterbehaviorhub.com/blog/living-with-a-blind-cat
