Final answer:
Suturing a cat's eye for an extended period is likely to result in irreversible cortical blindness in the affected eye due to the critical period of neural development where deprivation can have permanent effects. Option A is the most likely outcome.
Step-by-step explanation:
If one was to suture the eye of a cat that was a year old for an extended period of time, such as 2 years and 2 months, based on research conducted on kittens, we can expect that it would cause irreversible cortical blindness in the sutured eye. This phenomenon is related to the critical period of neural development in kittens, where sensory deprivation can lead to neural connections being repurposed for other uses or lost entirely if they are not used. This results because during the critical period, the brain's plasticity allows neural circuits to be profoundly influenced by sensory experience or the lack thereof.
Regarding the specific answer choices presented in the question, A. It would cause irreversible cortical blindness in the sutured eye is the most likely outcome, especially considering the cat is beyond the age where neural plasticity is at its peak for visual development. After the period of sensory deprivation, it is unlikely for activation levels of the affected eye to be the same as in a normal cat and even less likely for the number of activated cells to increase with further testing in the following months as suggested in option D.
Animal research, particularly experiments like suturing an eye closed, must always be considered within the context of ethical standards and the potential for medical progress that could help treat or prevent human and animal disease and disabilities. However, the importance of animal welfare and ethical guidelines cannot be overstressed in these cases.