Start with how capable these cats actually are
Blind cats navigate familiar homes by whiskers, scent, hearing, and memory, often so confidently that visitors do not realize. Cats on three legs typically run, play, and use a litter tray with minor adjustments, especially when the missing leg is a back one. Adopting from pity undersells them and can leave you unprepared for the real work, which is not compensating for helplessness but arranging your home and routines so their capability is not undermined. Ask the rescue to show you how she moves, plays, eats, and finds her tray today, because her current confidence level is your best preview.
For a blind cat, consistency is the accommodation
A blind cat builds a mental map, and your job is to stop redrawing it. Keep furniture, litter trays, food, and water in fixed places, warn her vocally before picking her up, and use sound and scent to help her: a mat with a distinct texture under her bowls, your voice as you enter a room, toys that rattle or crinkle. Block genuine hazards she cannot map, such as open upstairs windows, uncovered stairwell drops, and access to balconies. Changes, when they must happen, should arrive one at a time so she can relearn the room in an afternoon rather than losing the whole map at once.
For a three-legged cat, protect the limbs she has
The long-term priority for a tripod cat is the health of her remaining legs and spine. Keep her lean, because extra weight loads every joint she still owns, and ask your vet about joint-friendly exercise and whether ramps or steps to the sofa and bed suit her better than jumping. Choose a litter tray with one low entry side, put scratching options at comfortable heights, and watch as she ages for stiffness that suggests she would benefit from earlier vet input. Flooring matters too: rugs on slippery hallways give her the grip that four-legged cats take for granted.
Ask hard questions about health and lifetime costs
Special needs on the label may be the whole story or only the visible part. Ask whether blindness came from birth, injury, or an eye condition, and whether the remaining eye or eye area needs monitoring. Ask whether the amputation was recent or long healed, and whether any other conditions travel with it. Get an honest picture of likely vet visits, any ongoing checks, and insurance implications before you commit, and ask the rescue what follow-up support they offer for medical questions specific to her condition. Planning for known needs is straightforward; surprises are what strain adoptions.
Keep her records as carefully as your home layout
A special-needs cat may see vets, sitters, and family helpers who each need the same precise picture: what her condition is, what she manages independently, what help she actually needs, and what her vet has advised. Scattered paperwork invites well-meaning mistakes, like a sitter rearranging her room or a new vet missing her eye history. KinsLe Pet Passport holds her records in one portable packet, ready for vet visits, boarding, and handoffs, so every person caring for her works from her real requirements rather than assumptions about what a blind or three-legged cat can do.