A lot of people think that if you have or are getting a blind cat that they need to be treated differently to a ‘normal’ cat. They think that we might need to be played with differently or have special toys. This isn’t really true though. My mummy and daddy thought this at first as well but I have shown them that I don’t consider myself to be different so they shouldn’t either. People think that we need toys that have bells or rattly things in them so we can follow the sounds more easily, that’s not true either. I have such good hearing that sometimes the noisy bells are just too loud for me, some of my most favourite toys are actually quiet. My bestest toy nosey which is one of mummy’s old charity red pirate nose, only makes a gentle sound, it doesn’t quite roll straight so it fun to try to catch, it’s also soft enough so I can grab it with my teeth and take back so mummy or daddy can throw it again, the like to play fetch with me so I humour them and play along. If they tap it on the floor I can hear the noise right across the room even if the tv is on. I know it’s nosey as it makes a unique noise which I can tell apart from all the other toys.
I also like a small rubber bouncy ball and a rubber bouncy dice, I can hear them rolling along the floor and can follow the noise easily. My hearing is so good though I can play with some really quiet toys too such as a woollen ball and a fabric Brussels sprout, I can still chase them and I know where they are by their smell so I can still play with them. Mummy says that she has no idea how it can chase these toys as she can’t hear them roll across the floor but I can and I can smell where they are too. Each toy smells different (much like I guess they look different) so I know which is which.
Mummy and daddy find it funny that when I’m playing with Peppar I crouch behind things to be able to jump out at him. I also hide behind the coffee table and jump out on my toys. It goes something like this…
- Hear the prey (toy).
- Find your cover (Hide behind something).
- Listen to the prey and learn its movements.
- Pinpoint it’s weak spot.
- Wiggle bottom (to warm up the muscles).
- Pounce and kill.
- Claim victory to your humans, this sometimes involves leaving them a present.
I have everywhere I’ve been and explored mapped out in my head and I follow scent trails like you would follow a path or a road. If you put a box down somewhere or move a chair it’s ok as my whiskers will find them. I might bump into them a couple of times whilst I remember where they are but that’s ok, I’ll figure it out. It’s actually quite nice to have some variation, especially as I spend most of my time indoors. It means I get to explore something new or figure out a new route somewhere which provides challenges that I love trying to figure out, it keeps my brain active and keeps me challenged and occupied and stops me getting bored.
I know it seems odd that a blind cat hides behind things but these are instincts that just come as part of being a cat. They’re handed down from generation to generation and my cat mummy taught them to me, she was taught them by her mummy and her mummy was taught them by her mummy and so on. As a kitten I had sight to start with, I wasn’t born blind although I don’t remember what it’s like to see. I watched my mummy hunt and stalk prey to help feed herself and the clowder but I was very young then. Once I lost my sight I could still learn from my mummy and the clowder by sound, touch and smell instead, cat communication isn’t all about seeing we have many more ways of teaching and learning. The hunting instinct is in all of us anyway, it’s just unlocked and honed by teaching and by play as well. On the streets we can still do all of this and there I could still hunt and stalk things (and catch them), it’s an instinct that doesn’t leave me just because I have lost one of my senses.
If I wasn’t able to do all of the things that make me a cat then what would I do, who and what would I be?
I also do some things that a lot of ‘normal’ cats don’t do, as you all know I go for walks on a lead, this is something that many cats don’t do but I do and I love it. Maybe being able to see when trying something new is actually something the hinders learning as you can for example, see how far you might fall if you climb the big tree – I can’t and so I just have to trust myself and know that if I got up I must be able to get back down again – simples!
My point is, don’t just assume that blind cats need to be treated differently, we don’t see ourselves as being different so you humans shouldn’t either. I can do everything a ‘normal’ cat can do, sometimes it takes me a little longer to do them or I might do them differently but I will do them nonetheless in my own time and in my own unique way.
Jenny’s Story 