I’m glad to say that it’s not really due to my new sisters although they are still really annoying, I keep having to tell them who the boss is. This week it’s my big brother Peppar who I’ve been thinking about.

On Monday Peppar went up to the animal doctor hospital, mummy took him up early in the morning and he stayed up there all day. Peppar had been making funny noises with his mouth and had started to eat my pate food rather than his normal Felix pouches. He had said to me that his teeth hurt and so this is why he was at the animal doctor hospital. Being up there is very difficult for him, he’s always been a bit highly strung and gets very scared at having to leave home. The strange smells and sounds at the hospital make him even worse so he hisses and growls and gets very stressed and upset when he’s there. Mummy and daddy try everything to avoid having to take him but sometimes he just has to go, this was one of those times. He came home in the evening but was a bit messy as the animal doctors hadn’t been able to clean him up as he was so grumpy so mummy had to bath him. He was very good with this but was very quiet and a bit dopey for the rest of the evening so I left him alone to recover.

Mummy said he was on some medicine to help ease the pain as he had some of his bad teeth taken out. Mummy and daddy looked after him and gave him his medicine at home to help make him better. Mummy and daddy said he should get better in a few days. As each day passed Peppar didn’t seem to get any better, he didn’t eat and slept and dribbled a lot.

Mummy has got lots of experience with this type of thing and has tried everything she can think of to tempt him into taking even the smallest mouthful. Tuna in his special bowl, pate food, she even tried feeding him off her finger so all he had to do was lick and swallow and not even chew, she even tried liquidising his favourite Felix but none of it helped. Peppar is normally a very greedy boy, waking mummy early at weekends so she gets out of bed to dish out breakfast. This is why mummy and daddy are so worried and why mummy took him back to the animal doctor hospital to see if there was anything else they could give her to try to help him at home. She said that the only other option was for him to stay in the hospital with the animal doctors looking after him but he really wouldn’t like that so we must try everything to try to make him better. The animal doctor gave mummy some more medicine and some food for Peppar that he could just lick and is high in calories to help him. Mummy gives him his medicine and tried getting him to lick up the food but he didn’t want to, maybe it doesn’t smell very nice. Mummy and daddy have now started to put the liquid food into a plastic thing and squirting it into Peppars mouth, he doesn’t like this and not all of it goes in as he squirms and mummy’s aim isn’t very good, they all get a very messy.

I know mummy and daddy have been very worried about Peppar and I have missed his support when trying to get along with Millie and Angelin. He’s normally the one who tells me to behave and not to be scared and tells me everything is going to be ok. This week though I’ve had to tell him that, I’ve been trying to make him feel better and haven’t tried to play with him or jump on him. I’ve also made sure that the little ones don’t go near him either as they’re both very excitable. When Mummy put Peppar on her pillow at night to snuggle with her (this is one of his favourite places) I’ve snuggled at the bottom of the bed to keep an eye on him, I’ve been very quiet about it but he knows I’m there for him.

All week I’ve been trying to be really good for mummy and daddy and taking their minds off things. I’ve been making sure that mummy takes me out for walkies evey day, she can then get some fresh air and exercise and watch me climb the trees and run after the autumn leaves. I’ve been snuggling with them on the bed and getting daddy to put his damp bath towel out so I can lie on it. I’ve been spending time out on the balcony, helping mummy feed the birds 🐦. Anything I can do to help take their minds off worrying about Peppar. I’ve been trying to get along with my new sisters and following Peppars example of how to be a good older sibling.

Millie has been helping too as she also loves to play fetch and has been playing with daddy, she’s very talkative and demanding when playing so keeps daddy very busy throwing her nobbly ball down the corridor over and over and over again. Angelin has been helping in her own little way too, whenever she plays, she’s so quick and mad that it makes mummy and daddy laugh

I’ve been trying really hard this week and I hope that he gets better really soon. I miss snuggling with him and him looking after me.

Most people think that blind cats need or only want to play with toys with bells or that make a noise but that’s not always the case. When I first arrived with mummy and daddy they had all sorts of toys ready for me to play with. Some of these I loved right away and some I have grown to love to play with as I’ve got older. Some had bells or rattle things inside and some were much quieter. The things that make a noise are easy to track around the flat which is great if your running round at speed chasing them. If however you want to practice hunting or stalking prey then something more elusive and quiet is in needed to practice with.

Mummy and daddy also do something that most people think is a bit odd when they play with me with my toys…they rub them on me, mostly around my face and neck. This might seem odd but they’re actually being very clever, the toys pick up a scent off me which, specially for the quieter toys means that I can smell them out if I ever loose track of them. Mummy and daddy are very clever and considerate.

So this week I thought I would do a review of my favourite toys to help, you all out if you ever need to entertain a blind cat.

Crinkle balls – these are good as they make a light crinkling noise which isn’t too loud, they’re lightweight so are also good for kittens too. They’ve got lots of crinkly bits that even small mouths can grab onto and carry around.

Nub toy balls– these are small rubber balls that have lots of bobbly bits on them. The bobbly bits mean that they bounce at funny angles and keep you on your paws when chasing them. They don’t make much noise so they help blind cats to develop their hunting and chasing skills in keeping up with their wobbly wobbly path.

Feather wand – this makes noises like the birdies I hear and stalk outside. You can use it in so many different ways so kitties rarely get fed up playing with it. My mummy waves it about in the air so I can hear the feathers move and the leap to catch it. Daddy uses it to get me climbing the scratching post by wiggling it up the side for me to chase. I also chase it along the floor after mummy, who doesn’t like a good game of chase round the flat? You can do so much with this toy and I love it 😻, it’s one of my top favourite things to play with.

Mousey– mousey is small and hollow so makes a very different noise when it hits the ground, it’s got a tail and so I can carry it by the tail or pick it up and throw it around. As it’s so light and small I can fling it really far and high and then leap about after it, catching it again and again.

homemade toys – these are good too, they smell of home already and mummy and daddy make them really quickly if ever they can’t find a toy I want to play with. Silver foil balls, little bits of paper rolled up, quality street wrappers. These all make great instant toys, they all make slightly different noises for kitties to be able to learn from. They’re all great fun and easy to make, easy to pick up in even the smallest kitty mouth and the best thing is they’re free.

Ping pong balls – these are especially great on wooden or hard floors as they bounce whilst you try to chase them, they make a fun noise that’s easy to follow and the the perfect size for little or big paws to play with. Most people don’t know but cats are great at football ⚽️ and ping pong balls are the perfect size for cat football. I can dribble the ping pong ball from one paw to another whilst running full speed down the hallway, then I score a goal through the doorway coz mummy isn’t quick enough to match my football skills. Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I can’t play sports (and win) against my slow human.

Fluffy balls / soft toys – these are a bit like the feathers, they’re quiet to play with so you have to be able to hone your senses to play with them. Some of them come with catnip in them which makes most cats (me included) want to play with them even more than a normal toy. Daddy and mummy prefer me to play with these quiet toys in the night if I wake up as I can play as much as I want without waking them up. The toys that make a noise are (according to mummy and daddy) ten times as loud in the middle of the night, specially when I bash them around under their bed knocking them against the under bed storage boxes! I found it really fun playing under their bed at night when I was younger but it made mummy and daddy very tired and grumpy 😡 so I stopped doing it. With fluffy balls you can pick them up and carry them around without hurting your teeth and they’re much easier to play fetch with mummy and daddy. I love playing fetch and try to do it as often as possible. Most people think that it’s only dogs that play fetch but that’s not true, cats love it as well. It’s great exercise and you can spend time bonding with your humans in a fun way, my daddy and mummy were amazed the first time I brought a toy back when they threw it and have encouraged me to play ever since.

My most favourite toy of all time though is nosey. Nosey is one of mummy and daddy’s old foam red noses, from Comic Relief – he was once a pirate face. I love nosey and he is the perfect toy. He is quiet but not like the fluffy balls as he is a bit heavier, also he’s not completely round, he’s got a flat part so he doesn’t roll straight. If mummy or daddy pick him up and throw him he bounces and so I can play football with him. He’s soft enough so I can pick him up and play fetch with and he’s quiet enough so I can play with him at night. He’s just perfect. He’s getting a bit worn now and mummy and daddy have bought some similar ones as replacements but they’re just not the same, they don’t feel the same or sound the same so I don’t play with them very much. I love my nosey toy, he’s the one I’m playing with in the video.

The best thing of all to play with though is my big brother Peppar. I love it when he sits in the cardboard box bed (cats lurrve cardboard boxes) and then I can attack him from the outside. I duck down below the box and sneak an attack on him by jumping out on him when he least expects it! SURPRISE! Even though I’m blind I still hide behind things, which mummy and daddy think is just so cute. it’s my hunting instinct kicking in, they’re still pretty good as I practice so much whilst I play with all my various toys.

We also run about the flat, I’m always the one chasing but I can follow his pawsteps and I can move really fast when I want to. I know the layout of the flat like the back of my paw so I can run full speed without fear of bumping into anything. I win our games most of the time but mummy and daddy think it’s just that Peppar is such a good brother he lets me win!

When we’re play fighting surprisingly we’re quite evenly matched even though Peppar’s bigger than me and can see. This is because of an eye infection Peppar had when he was a tiny kitten which means he closes his eyes when he fights! What a pair we are.

All in all my best recommendation is to get a selection of toys, they don’t need to be anything special for a blind cat to play with, the most important thing is that you just play with your furry friend, make them feel loved and bond with them. I know I love 💕 playing with my mummy and daddy but they also get great pleasure laying with me too.

Well this week hasn’t been great, the intruders that are living in my old room haven’t gone away. This this is despite me growling and hissing and yelling at them – they still won’t go away.

After they arrived mummy spent two days at home with us all, I think she was trying to help make me like them but I still don’t really. All the hissing, growling and yeowling is just my way of telling mummy and daddy that I’m scared, I feel threatened and I feel like my home is being invaded.

The bigger one of the two new ones (Milly) is very energetic she comes running towards me, for a blind cat this is very scary as I don’t know what she is going to do coz I can’t se her. For a street cat anything that rushes towards you is something that is going to harm or hurt you and so you need to be ready to defend yourself and warn it off. When she runs towards me all I can sense is the noise, I can’t tell if she’s a little pussycat or a big giant lion coming to get me and she comes with such speed it’s scary, she’s also very noisy, meowing and meowing all the time, also I know there’s two of them and only one of me to protect mummy and daddy and Peppar. Pepper doesn’t seem too bothered with the new little ones so when I got really anxious I went to join him on the sofa for some brotherly support. He gave me a good wash and a cuddle just like a good big brother should, after that I felt much better. He’s such a sweet big brother and I love him loads.

Mummy and daddy only let the little furry intruders out when they’re at home and sometimes they’re not even allowed into the same room as me and Peppar. I can still smell them and hear them but from a distance so I know they can’t get to me. At night when they are safely locked away in my old room and I’ve got the flat back to myself I go and listen outside the door and hear what they’re saying about me and Peppar and listen to what they’re doing. They say that they like their new home and that they’re looking forward to staying here forever and being friends with Peppar and I. I then go a snuggle on mummy and daddy’s bed for comfort during the night, Peppar is normally there as well on mummy’s pillow keeping her head warm and making sure she is safe. Daddy moves around too much for us to snuggle him as close as mummy but we look after him too.

When mummy and daddy let them out into the same room as me and Peppar for the first few days I set up camp on the tallest scratching post, they won’t be able to find me up here. From way up there at the back of the living room where I can listen to them and if they come near me then I can growl to make them go away. They haven’t yet attacked me so my cunning plan must be working.

Gradually though as the week has gone on and as they haven’t attacked me I have managed to drop down a level at a time and even sometimes be on the floor with them. As I walk around where they are we occasionally meet so I give them a growl and a hiss to let them know who’s the boss (just in case you’re in any doubt I am the boss by the way). Sometimes I try to give them a swat with my paw but being blind I’m not very accurate so they should count themselves lucky..

I know mummy and daddy would never let anything hurt me but if I’m scared I need to tell them. Shouting is the only way I can let them know how I feel and I think they’re starting to understand. If I get upset or scared then either mummy or daddy will talk to me to calm me down, they’ll give me a stroke and sometimes if I’m in the mood play with me. Mostly though they jus tell me it’ll be ok and nothing is going to hurt me. As soon as I hear their voice I feel better and know I’m safe. The new little ones haven’t tried to hurt me yet but I’m just not sure what they are yet but bit by bit I’m sure we will get there.

Every day mummy still takes me out for walkies so I have her all to myself, when I go out I run and run and run and I climb the trees and I meet my boyfriend, I can forget all about the intruders in the flat for a while. This week though during walkies I’ve met my doggie friend Boris. Boris is a bit like Millie he is very bouncy bouncy and enthusiastic and he comes rushing up to meet me, woofing at me. When he does this I hunker down, growl and hiss at him just to show him that I’m not to be messed with even if I am just a teeny kitty. I did try to give him a tap on the nose but being blind I didn’t quite hit the mark but he knew what I meant and backed off to lollop off somewhere else – silly doggy! He might be a dog but he’s my friend, he is enthusiastic and bouncy but he would never hurt me plus mummy’s there to protect me and Boris is mummy is there to help him to. I think Boris makes all that noise because he’s embarrassed because his mummy makes him wear a luminous orange onesie whilst he’s out playing 🙀.

After walkies though I have to go back home and then I remember the new kittens that are in there. Over the last week though whilst I have been getting really scared, when I’m on my own and a bit calmer I have been thinking…If mummy and daddy brought these little kittens into the flat then I will try and get along with them. I love my mummy and daddy and know that they would never bring anything into the flat would hurt me so I must try really, really hard to try to not be scared of them

I wonder if this is how Mia felt when Peppar and then later, I came into the family, although she was a bit older when we arrived than I am now. I’m sure everything will be fine, with mummy and daddy’s love 💕- I just need some time to take it all in and adjust to my new family.

Well, I was going to write about something completely different this week but that’ll have to wait now as something happened yesterday that has changed my life again. There are intruders in my house, I don’t know what to do with them and they seem to be living in my room!

On Friday night, whilst daddy was playing his music mummy was sorting out things in the spare bedroom, this was fun coz I could help mummy as I always do. I’m not sure she appreciated my help though as she kept saying, Jenny, get off that box or Jenny mind out, you’re in the way! Mummy didn’t realise that she was just doing it all wrong and that as supervisor she should be listening to me and doing it my way not hers! Still it was good fun helping out and spending time with mummy.

Then, yesterday morning mummy got up really early. This was odd as mummy and daddy never get up early at the weekends (Peppar wasn’t complaining as he got an early breakfast), mummy took some food and water into the spare room, I was wondering why she was doing this as it seems a bit strange. Maybe mummy and daddy are doing something in the house that’s noisy as sometimes when they do noisy stuff they put me and Peppar in a room away from the noise so we don’t get scared. I don’t mind this as we’re together and the spare room is where I first stayed when I arrived at mummy and daddy’s from Cyprus. It’s also where I go to sleep when I want some peace and quiet even though I have the run of the flat the spare room is really. my room! Then mummy shut the door so Peppar and I couldn’t go in, this was a bit odd but maybe the noisy stuff is starting later, I didn’t think anything of it.

A little while later the phone rang and mummy got really excited, she left the flat and then a while later came back in with a big carrier, it smelt of cats and it sounded like cats. She went straight into the spare bedroom, stayed there for a bit and then went back out of the flat again with the big carrier. Whilst she was out Peppar and I had a good listen and sniff at the door. We could definitely smell more than one cat and they both smelt like girls. I recognised the smell on them, it was the same smell that I had when I travelled all the way from Cyprus. Peppar also thought there was more than one from the smell although he didn’t get a good look into what mummy was carrying.

When mummy came back in she told me and Peppar that we now had two new little sisters. Like me they are both from Cyprus, mummy said that there was a little tiny kitten called Angelin who is only 4.5 months old and she is like me, completely blind. There is also an older girl, 16 months old called Millie who is a tripaws 🐾 and missing one of her back legs. Mummy said that as I have so much energy and Peppar is getting older that her and daddy thought I might like a playmate (or two) to chase round the flat and run around with.

Mummy says I need to be a very grown up girl as I am now the queen of the group and have a lot of responsibility. The thing is though is that mummy is my best friend and I don’t want to share her. Peppar is ok as he lets me spend lots of time with her but I’m not sure about the two new kittens, they smell funny and they’re in my room but everyone knows how cute kittens are. Every so often mummy and daddy let them out of my old room to wander around the flat. Peppar seems ok with them but I’m not so sure, maybe they’re here to steal mummy and daddy away from me, maybe they’re going to replace me, I’m worried. I’m not sure about having two more sisters. I know I should think of how I felt when I first arrived as the new kittens will be feeling the same.

I know I like other cats but I normally meet them outside or I was introduced to them when they were already part of a group and I was the newcomer, it’s never been the other way around with them coming into my flat. I’m not really sure what to do our how I should behave. I know I should defend my territory and I also need to make sure they know that I’m the queen and to respect Peppar too so I hiss and growl at them just to make sure they know not to mess with us, they’re still here though. Peppar seems to think they’re ok but he’s been through this before with me joining the family and I think he’s a bit more chilled out than I am, he’s older and been here longer.

I know mummy still loves me as we’ve still been going out for our walkies and climbing trees even though it’s been raining plus her and daddy have still been playing fetch with me and giving me strokes and cuddles to make sure I’m ok. I think I’ll be ok but just need some time to adjust, it’s a lot to take in but I do love other kitties and I really do like the idea of being a big sister, especially to Angelin. She is so young and has so much to learn, mummy says she was much younger than me when she lost her family so needs me to teach her the things a mummy cat would teach. I’m sure I can teach her a lot I just need to get to know her first which will take a bit of time and patience.

Hopefully soon we can be one big happy perfectly imperfect family.

When I wrote the post about my first walkies I said there was a tree that one day I would climb, well, I didn’t lie to you, I did climb that tree. 😺😸🌳

Every time I went out for walkies with mummy I had a good sniff round the tree, I felt up the tree trunk as high as I could with my back paws still on the ground. I found out as much as I could about that tree every time finding out a bit more until one day I told myself ‘why am I just pussy footing around, Jenny, just get up that tree’ so up I went, one big jump, I grabbed on with my claws and started climbing. Mummy was so amazed, she she gasped and said “Jenny, you’ve climbed the tree, that so amazing, well done, you’re such a good girl” I was so proud of myself.

The thing is though that what goes up must come down again, being blind means I can’t just look down and see where the ground is and climb or jump back down and I was so excited about having climbed up that I had forgotten to remember how far I had climbed! Hmm this is going to be more tricky than I had first thought, although I hadn’t really thought about the coming back down bit when I thought about conquering the tree in the first place. I now see there was a fault in my cunning plan…well, I’ll just do the reverse of what I did going up, work my way back down paw by paw and surely I’ll find the bottom so back down I went. Then I had a brainwave, all my paws are busy holding onto the tree but if I stick my tail out behind me in a straight line then I can use it to feel when I get near the bottom of the tree. So I stuck my tail out and as I went backwards down the tree the tip of my tail touched the ground and so I knew I was nearly at the bottom, I kept going and then my back paws 🐾 touched the ground and I was back down again.

That was so much fun, I’m going to do that again and again and again! Over the next few walkies I climbed every tree I found practising going up and down climbing higher and higher. I climbed up into the branches, there’s good smells up there of birdies and maybe one day I’ll catch one sleeping up here.

Sometimes there’s so much going on that I just listen from up in the tree, the noises sound different from up here and I get a different view of the world. There’s different smells up here and so I can take my time smelling them and finding out who else has been in the tree besides me. I don’t smell any other cats up here so maybe I’m the only one who can climb the trees, this is my own secret place that only I go to.

Each time I climb a tree I get better and better, I can climb them fast, whoosh and straight up I go, climbing higher and higher (until mummy stops me from going any further). If I want to climb really high and really, really fast I do a big run up first. I run away from the tree then round in a big arch, getting faster and faster until I’m at top speed then over to the tree base and with a big huge jump up I go. Mummy always wonders how I know where the tree is when I’m running so fast but I can smell it, I can hear it and I know where I’ve been. That’s true most of the time…there’s only been once when I got my aim wrong. I did a fast run up and a big leap to go up the tree and just sailed through the air (very gracefully), claws outstretched and then much to my confusion landed back on the ground. I could hear mummy trying (not very well) not to laugh so I just carried on running around like I meant to do that, then I climbed the tree anyway.

I can also climb trees slowly, you might wonder why I would do this when it’s such fun running up them, well I do this when I think there might be something up there that I might be able to catch. If I went running up the tree at full speed the bird would hear me and fly away. If however, I climb up really slowly, making sure each paw 🐾 is placed exactly where I want it to be before taking the next step up I can climb slowly and carefully. I climb up paw by paw, little by little almost silently creeping vertically towards my little birdie prey…. it sees me, gets scared of my big fearsome hunting face and flys off! Silly birdie, one day I’ll get you when you’re not looking.

I love climbing high into the trees, as I’ve said the going up is much easier than getting back down but mummy is always there to help guide me. She taps the branches below me so I know where to put my paws to get back down. Sometimes if I’m really high up mummy holds up her hands and I step on her hands and she grabs hold of me and plucks me out of the tree to safety. I know that as long as I can reach mummy I’m safe. Sometimes though I do make a mistake or wobble the wrong way but it’s ok as mummy always puts my safety first, my harness and lead act as a safety line so if I loose my footing I won’t fall, I just hang rather undignified from the tree whilst the lead gradually lowers me to the ground. I’m glad there was no-one else around to see me when this happened.

Hopefully now you can see why I love 💕 climbing the trees, it’s exciting, invigorating, amazing fun great exercise, I get to feel like I’m on top of the world, even just for a little while. I feel amazing as I can do something none of the other cats that I smell outdoors can do, I am so proud of myself as I can do something that the sighted cats can’t. Who says being blind is a disability? Mummy and daddy certainly don’t think so.

Just to quote one of daddy’s favourite bands, the weather is changing and so I have to adapt to new sounds, smells and other senses. As the time changes so does the sun, wind, rain and other things that fall from the sky. Mummy says there’s something called snow which I haven’t seen yet but she thinks I’ll enjoy this too.

I love going outside but for a blind cat the extremes of weather can be difficult to cope with.

Recently it has been quite hot 🥵 sometimes when we’ve been out and so mummy and I just chill out on the grass as it’s just too hot to run around and chase critters or hunt. It’s just nice to sit outside and listen to and smell what’s going on.

When it’s a bit cooler in the evening that’s when I chase the insects and birdies and leap and run and frolic. Mummy and I have a really good time out on walkies when there’s lots to chase I make her exercise as well, she tries her best to keep up with me but I’m super fast.

Sometimes when we go for walkies it’s raining, I don’t mind the rain and getting wet but when it’s very heavy rain it’s really loud, a bit like the shower mummy and daddy use in the bathroom. It means that I can’t hear anything else and it hurts my ears, making me disoriented and confused. If it’s very rainy then I also get splatted from the ground up so my tummy gets wet, I don’t like that as I get a cold tummy which isn’t very nice. If it’s raining then mummy takes me a different route for walkies so we go out where there is a hard surface and no grass, if I go out on the grass then I have to walk on my tippy paws so the water doesn’t get on my soft tummy fur. The hard side is still ok as there’s lots to explore as there are big planters I can sniff about in and some trees to climb as well. Occasionally I can hear a noisy dragon coming, it makes a loud roaring noise and then rolls past with a grumble, when I hear this dragon coming I hunker down and make myself small and try to hide, mummy says “Its OK Jenny it’s just a car it won’t hurt you” but she makes sure the lead is short in case I get scared and try to run away.

The lighter rain is fine and I’ll quite happily run about and explore, I don’t mind getting a bit wet and I can always shelter under a bush, mummy though has to stay in the rain – she’s very patient! The rain brings out all different smells from the ground and so it’s exciting exploring all of these to see where they go and what I can hunt. We

Some days when we go out the wind is blowing, when it’s blowing a little then this is really fun as I can hear lots and lots of exciting noises, the wind catches the trees and bushes and makes it sound like there’s lots of things for me to chase, I hear a noise over here…there’s something else over there…then something in the tree. I need to chase them all, every last little noise just in case it’s something that I can catch. Mummy laughs a lot when it’s like this as she says I go completely mad running around, chasing and pouncing on everything that moves, leaves, grass, bushes, everything is sooo exciting that I get wind assisted crazy zoomies!

Sometimes though the wind blows really strong and then I get scared, the noise is so loud and I can’t hear anything else so I don’t know what is going on, I can’t hear if something might come and hurt me so I crouch very still on the ground I make myself as small as I can and look up so my ears can try to tell me what is going on. I fear that maybe the wind will blow me away as it’s so strong and I’m only little. I hope that it is over soon so I can stop being scared, then I hear the familiar sound of mummy’s voice “It Ok Jenny, it’s just the noisy wind, it’s nothing to be scared of” and I remember where I am and that mummy is with me looking out for me and so I will be ok.

Sometimes it’s cold outside but that’s ok, I don’t mind I’ve got a fur coat after all. Daddy and mummy thought that being from Cyprus I wouldn’t like the cold and bought me a furry jacket for when it gets cold, I tried it out once but I didn’t like it, it makes a funny rustling sound and it came down to the top of my legs, which made me feel like hey didn’t work properly, it was just cramping my style and getting in the way of my great outdoor explorations. I’m a street cat not One of these pampered pooches, I can’t be seen in a coat, all my friend and the other pets who see me will laugh at me, what were they thinking?

The absolute best bit of walkies in any of the different conditions but specially if I’m wet is getting a good towel rub down afterwards indoors, fluffy towel, body massage up and down, up and down, it feels soooo good, then quick wash, dinner and snooze in the warm.

The only type of weather that mummy and daddy say that I haven’t seen yet is something that they say only happens when the weather is really cold. They say there is something really special and magical that falls from the sky that is different from rain and makes everything look really pretty and special. Daddy and mummy can’t wait for me to ‘see’ this, last year wasn’t cold enough for it to happen but apparently this thing is called snow. I’m really looking forward to seeing this snow as mummy and daddy have made it sound so special and exciting. I guess if that if it falls from the sky this year it will be a story for another day.

When I go out for walkies with mummy, it’s not all about hunting and catching things but about finding things too. For me finding things is normally whatever is lying around that I come across, little apples, pine cones, occasionally a ball that smells of dog but one day something different happened. I heard a noise from somewhere above me and it was a familiar noise, it was another cat 🐈! I knew there were other cats around where I walk coz I can smell them when I’m walking around but I’ve never spoken to one before. He was very friendly but up high so couldn’t get down to see me and play with me. I could tell he wanted to but said his mummy and daddy didn’t let him out for walkies like I do with mummy. It’s ok though as we had a quick chat to introduce ourselves and then I carried on with my walkies.

Over the weeks I’ve met a few friends, some just sit and watch me from their homes – I think they’re jealous that I’m out for walkies and they’re not. Some of them I’ve met face to face but either way I always say hello and then I carry on exploring if they don’t want to play.

Then there’s Boris mummy’s friend Gigi’s dog who I’ve met face to face in the gardens whilst out walking. He was very noisy and barked at me a lot, as he’s a dog he thinks that barking at me will make me play with him. That’s all he wanted and mummy was there saying hello to him so I knew he wasn’t a mean dog. Now he just watches from the window and keeps very quiet, I think he knows that I can’t play with him like a dog can. Sometimes even my big brother Peppar likes to watch me from our balcony, I think he’s just checking that I’m ok.

There are also my friends that mummy and daddy look after when their parents are away, I know this as mummy sometimes comes home smelling of them after she says she’s off to feed my ‘cousins’. They are Jimmy and Amber and Habsi. I protect Habsi from Kit the neighbour cat who mummy says lives in the flats behind ours, Kit is a big cat and was making Habsi unhappy as Kit was going into his home and he didn’t like it. I thought it was very rude to go into someone else’s home without an invitation. I have met Kit before and he hissed at me big time but I wasn’t scared as I was with mummy and I like other cats. I tried to be friends with him but he didn’t like the fact that wasn’t scared of him and stomped off. Ever since then anytime he has seen me mummy says that he runs away from me, this is why I can help protect my friend Habsi from his home invader. Jenny to the rescue 😺

One day something even more exciting happened, I caught the scent of a cat 🐈, then I heard a chirp and a meow and pawsteps came towards me. I was a bit nervous (even though I was with mummy) as he came right up to me, I gave him a little warning hiss and mummy gave me a little reassuring cuddle, she was talking to me but also to the other cat saying “hello handsome”. We carried on with our walkies but with each few steps we took I could still hear the patter of paws 🐾 around me. I started to feel more relaxed and followed the pawsteps and that’s when I met Dashain. Now whenever I walk past his house and he’s there he comes out to say hello and we play and run about sometimes I follow him and sometime he follows me. Some days I make myself pretty for him by rolling around in the sand before I see him. We now look forward to seeing each other – if he’s in his house when I go past he shouts and shouts and paws at the door and if his mummy’s in she lets him out to see me. I think he’s my boyfriend now. Mummy says his name suits him as he is very dashing! Sometimes he plays hard to get and runs about with me following as best I can, he has invited me into his den under his home but mummy won’t let me follow him in there but I did go and have a look.

As well a furry friends I have also made some little human friends. One day mummy and I were out for walkies and when we were coming back there was lots of noise from one of the gardens which we had to cross to get back home. Each time we tried to cross these little humans would run across In front of us. There were quite a lot of them and for mini humans they made lots of noise; noises I wasn’t familiar with, loud footsteps, shouting, laughing and running so it was a bit scary. Mummy came up with an idea💡 as the little ones all seemed to want to come and say hello to me Mummy talked to the little humans and their parents and told them my story, she explained to them that I couldn’t see and therefore they had to all be very quiet and not run around if they wanted to say hello to me. Mummy made my lead very short and sat on the ground with me next to her. The little people started to come closer and I could hear them asking mummy questions, they asked lots of questions and mummy answered each one.

Why can’t Jenny see? What does Jenny eat? Where does she go to the toilet? Does she eat grass? Why do you take her for a walk? Can I touch her?

Mummy explained to all the little ones that if they wanted to stroke me (or any other pet) they should always ask first, she said that I only liked to be stroked in the direction of my fur and that they shouldn’t touch my head as it affects my hearing which is very sensitive to make up for me not being able to see.

As we sat there I could hear the little ones gathering round closer and closer, then I felt lots of little hands on me, I was scared at first but they were mostly quite gentle, if any were too heavy mummy would say to them “be gentle, she’s only little” and she would give me a stroke to let me know that she was there and I was ok. If they got too loud or excited mummy would just say “shhh you need to be quiet around Jenny or she’ll get scared”. As they stroked me some of the children said “wow, she’s so soft and fluffy”. Mummy told me afterwards that most of the children (as she called them) had never stroked a cat before, some had never seen a cat before and that one little girl had been scared of cats until she had seen me and that because I was being so good she was brave enough to touch me. The whole thing was a bit scary and I was very nervous having so many people around, especially as I had never met them before. They were noisier than I was used to and they all smelt and sounded different. After all the little ones went back to their homes mummy and I also went home with mummy telling me how proud she was of me and how brave I’d been. I was very proud of myself and that I had been able to help educate some of the people new in my life and show them that it’s ok to be a bit different.

Now every time we go out for walkies and any of the little ones see me they shout “Jenny!”, it doesn’t scare me anymore as I know them now and mummy always reminds them to be quiet, not to run after me and to just be calm. Most of them have been down to the gardens and played with me with a leaf or a stick or a feather which I enjoy as I like playing and chasing things. The little female one that was scared of me the first time used to come out to see me every time we walked past their door. Sometimes she would walk with mummy and I round the garden watching me explore and play, one day I heard her say that they would soon be moving, then she said to mummy “I’ll miss Jenny because I love her”. I felt very happy that I had made a difference to even just one little girl, who was scared of me at first but now said that she loved me, I hope she remembers me for ever as I will remember her, she was always very sweet and kind to me.

I have had lots of kindness shown to me by humans during my life so far, now I have been able to pass some of that kindness forward and help to educate some little humans who didn’t know much about cats before, let alone a blind one. They all now understand animals a bit more, how to behave around them and that being blind doesn’t make me less, it just makes me different.

This morning mummy and I were sitting out on the balcony with Peppar enjoying the sun and with Peppar and I playing (I won) whilst mummy was talking about when I first arrived and how far we have all come together as a family, getting through some tough times together. This made me think and so today I thought I would share a story about something that happened not long after I arrived with mummy, daddy, Peppar and Mia. It is a bit of a scary story but there are also some Jenny top tips that we learnt along the way.

A few months after I arrived with mummy and daddy I noticed there was something a bit odd with my face, I felt it when I was washing so I went meowing to mummy and daddy to let them know there was something on my face so the could take it off. It didn’t hurt as I have no nerves or anything around my eyes any more so I thought whatever it was they could just pull it off as washing it didn’t seem to be doing the job. They looked at me and noticed a lump under where my left eye used to be, this seemed to make them very worried so I had to go off to the vet for them to have a look at me. This meant a trip in the carrier again, but that’s ok coz mummy was there with me so I want too scared.

We got to the vet and as always I was a good girl, I know that if I’m naughty (like trying to eat a 🐝) the vet will sting you in the bottom, so I let the vet examine me, he was very gentle and he spoke kindly to mummy, he did smell funny though – he smelt of strong cleaning smell, similar to when mummy cleans the bathroom but stronger. I recognised the smell from when I was a kitten in Cyprus and had my eyes removed. Still they couldn’t do that again so I was feeling ok. I went back in my carrier and we went back home and I got a telling off from Peppar and Mia for smelling funny but I think they were just glad it was me and not them so I forgave them for sniffing at me for smelling funny.

Mummy was talking to daddy and she explained that there was some fluid that was building up from somewhere around where my eyes used to be and that they would have to operate again to find out where it was coming from. As well as that the vet had looked at my other eye and noticed that in the very corner there was a very small gap that hadn’t quite healed fully so they would like to stitch that up as well to make sure nothing got in. They agreed that this needed to be done and so a few days later, early in the morning mummy and I went off to the vet, this time though she left me there!

I don’t like it when I’m left somewhere different on my own. There was lots of strange noises and people coming and going, I could hear and smell that there were other cats around but there were also dogs too, it was a distant smell but they were there somewhere. There were people coming and going and then one came and opened my cage, they took me out but where was I going? What were they going to do to me? Where was my mummy and daddy? I snuggled into the person carrying me and purred loudly to comfort myself, they were very nice to me and spoke to me calmly so I tried not to be scared. Daddy and mummy wouldn’t leave me anywhere where I would get hurt so I gathered all my courage and tried to be a brave girl so mummy and daddy would be proud of me. Strangely they shaved my leg and then I felt a scratch, not again I thought but before I could get worried about what was happening I was drifting off to sleep 💤 💤 .

I started to wake up and felt a bit woozy 🥴, I was back in my cage and was hooked up to a bag with some fluids in, I felt odd so, I know this sounds strange, I closed my eyes (I still have full control of the muscles around my eyes) and went back off to sleep 💤 again. I did this a few times before I was ready to wake up properly but I’m not sure what they had done to me, I didn’t feel any different but then…what’s this thing around my neck? Why can’t I reach my face? I can’t hear properly and all I came feel with my whiskers is something hard. I don’t like it, my senses are all disrupted, I want it off!

There wasn’t too much space in the cage so I sat still and calmed down a bit and waited. The longer I sat there the more I realised what the thing round my neck was doing to me. My hearing is vital to me to try to make sense of the world around me, I can hear an insect at 1000 paces but more importantly I can normally hear everything around me, from all sides, I normally keep an ear on what is happening behind me just in case something tries to sneak up on me. I couldn’t hear any of this and what little I could hear was muffled so I didn’t know what direction it was coming from. It was very confusing and really scary, what’s happened to me? My sense of smell was also not what it normally is, I could only get smells from directly in front of me, nothing from the surrounding air to let me know what was around. That added to my confusion as well as not being able to feel where I was going with my whiskers.

After a while I heard a voice and my cage opened, “Jenny, it’s time to go home” they said, they took the nasty bit out of my leg and put me gently into my carrier. I knew it was mine because it smelt of me, Peppar and Mia as we all share the same one, I was hopeful that I was going home but still frustrated with the thing around my neck. It kept getting stuck on things. Then we were on the move and I could just make mummy’s voice through the carrier and the neck thing. Mummy had come back for me 😻 and so I knew everything would be ok. Mummy had a talk with the vet and then we went home and back to daddy.

When I got home I was so pleased to see daddy and he had made my old room ready for me to recover in quietly by myself. I heard daddy say “Oh no Jenny you’ve got a cone of shame, we’ll have to be careful with that”. Mummy let me out of the carrier in my room and I was so happy to be home that I ran out, still a bit woozy from the operation. Everywhere I went the cone bumped into things, it put me off balance and every step I made was difficult. I tried to jump onto the bed and it got caught, I didn’t understand it and needed to get rid of it, it was horrible and I still couldn’t hear, smell or feel anything very well. I tried everything, I jumped, I ran, I lept, nothing worked so I tried harder, I ran faster, jumped higher, lept further but this just meant I got more and more disorientated and kept crashing into things, this scared me and the more scared I was the more I needed to get it off. Daddy and mummy came rushing into the room to try to calm me down but as soon as the door opened I ran out, I managed to get the cone off from around my neck but somehow it was still attached but now it even worse, it was chasing me.

I was now terrified as it was making a horrible noise as it ran behind me and tried to catch me. What was this thing? Why was it trying to catch me? Why did mummy’s and daddy let it near me? I felt mummy’s hands round me she tried to soothe me and I could hear daddy’s voice as well saying “It’s ok Jenny, it won’t hurt you” but I was so scared by this point that nothing was calming me down. Daddy took over trying to calm me and I heard mummy talking down the corridor, after a short while mummy said that it was ok for daddy to take the cone off. As soon as he did this I felt all my senses come back, I could hear everything again and from the right directions, feel where I was going with my whiskers and smell properly where my routes round the flat were. This made me relax again and realise where I was and that nothing was going to get me.

Mummy and daddy sat with me for a while to keep me calm and I eventually fell into an exhausted sleep, it had been a long and traumatic day.

Mummy explained to me afterwards that the cone was supposed to help me so that I didn’t lick or scratch my eyes where they had done the operation as that could make them infected. I said to mummy that I was a good girl and wouldn’t be naughty like that, besides I can’t feel my eyes so I don’t know that anything different had been done. Mummy said that her and daddy were really sorry about how scared I got, they hadn’t realised that the cone would affect me so much but now understood and that hopefully I wouldn’t have to wear one again.

Now my eyes are all ok, I had stitches in them which (as I was a good girl) all fell out and I didn’t get any infections. I’ve had no problem since then and was back to my old self in no time.

Jenny’s top tip

Seriously consider if a cone of shame is absolutely necessary. It blocks out or changes every sense that a blind cat relies on. If a cone is a necessity then consider if being let free in a room is ok or is it best to have some cage rest instead. Cage rest is not nice but at least the cone can’t chase you around in there!

There are some things that mummy thinks are not safe for me to go too close to or sometimes we might come across a dog 🐶 out for a walk as well. Then of course there’s trees which when I’m really running around, chasing insects I might not always remember where they are.

Walking on a lead with mummy isn’t as easy as it may sounds and definitely not like walking a dog. For mummy it’s what she describes as a contemplative time, It’s all a bit random. I’m not all about just blindly (pun intended) following mummy like a dog, walking or running along next to her, I’m all about exploring, smelling the scents around me, finding out who’s been around, what I can hunt. This means that walkies involves a completely random pattern as I follow one thing and then ooh there’s another good scent to follow, then I hear a bird noise, then a leaf rustles – what’s that noise? I’d better chase it just to make sure that it knows I’m here and ready to defend mummy against whatever is out there! Sometime though I run and jump just because I can (outdoor zoomies). You get the picture.

Mummy and I have had to develop a type of walk etiquette, it’s taken a bit of time to perfect and it’s not only me learning what mummy wants but her learning what I want too. We have to trust each other and that’s ok because I trust mummy completely. She wouldn’t let me hurt myself or anything hurt me and I’d always try to defend mummy specially against the falling leaves which seem to attack more when it’s windy – the wind disguises their attack pattern…anyway back to walkies.

Where we walk sometimes there are the noises of cars and people below. When I first heard these I wondered what this was, were these people living underground or are our gardens in the air? I kept wanting to find out what was underneath us. Mummy explained that there is an underground car park where we live and every so often there are big metal vents coming up to where we walk in the gardens which are covered with what mummy calls grilles. Mummy said that I wasn’t to walk on the vents as they could be dangerous to me as there are holes everywhere and I might get my leg caught. If I’m running towards them and get very close then mummy gives me a quick sharp tug on the lead so I know to stop and change direction. I know that I have an amazing sense of balance and wouldn’t hurt myself as I have cat like reflexes but mummy worries so I let her be in charge around the vents so she can enjoy our walkies as much as I do.

Both mummy and I have had to learn how we both can work together without either of us getting wrapped round a tree. We have done a little bit of trial and error and I now know that if there is a gentle pull from the lead it’s mummy trying to tell me to go in that direction. Sometimes it’s because there’s a tree in the way and sometimes it’s just be because it’s time to head home.

One advantage I have found of being on a lead is that when I go exploring in the bushes, stalking the birds and following the smells of the animals I can sometimes get a bit lost and turned around. When this happens I’ve realised that I don’t need to worry, I’ve realised that the lead pulls ever so slightly on the harness in whichever direction mummy is and so I can follow the direction of that pressure and head back to find mummy.

I said that the learning goes both ways and sometimes I have to teach mummy, she sometimes wants to finish walkies before I’m ready to go home. If I don’t want to go in then the only way I can really tell mummy (and stop her trying to nudge me in) is to just sit down. Then it becomes a battle of wills, I’m happy to sit there all day but then I hear a jangly noise and I need to know what it is so off to explore what it is, it’s coming from mummy’s direction and before I realise I hear the noise of the big door opening and we’re inside. Mummy’s tricked me, I thought I was training mummy but I think she’s training me instead, I’m not sure quite how it happened but I must try hard to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

Outdoors mummy’s the boss but inside, that’s my domain…

There’s only really two things that I think are worth training mummy and daddy to do, playing and taking me walkies. Peppar doesn’t agree, food is his favourite thing so that’s what he worked hard training mummy and daddy to do. He likes to be fed on schedule, I’m not so bothered but when it’s near to dinner time he heads to the kitchen every time mummy or daddy get up and sits in the middle of the floor telling them it’s time for food. Daddy and mummy are amazed and always say to him what an amazing body clock he’s got. Daddy the ins he’s got a Rolex inside him! I’m not sure what that means but I think it’s a complement. He does the same in the mornings when mummy and daddy don’t have to go to work and are still in bed, if telling them doesn’t work or get them out of bed, Peppar runs across the bed and jumps on daddy’s tummy. Daddy says some words that mummy says I shouldn’t remember or repeat and gets up and gets our breakfast sorted.

My tactic of getting mummy and daddy to do what I want is quite simple, I just need to tell them loudly, clearly and over and over again what I want. For walkies I roll around but the front door meowing, then if they don’t listen I walk round the flat telling them, take me out, I want to go out, when are we going walkies? I want to go now, when are we going? when? when? now? Eventually when I’ve shouted enough the cupboard door opens (this is where my harness is) and I know that they have understood what I have been saying. Mummy says “alright then Jenny off we go”.

I love to be the centre of attention and should be all the time. I do whatever I can to have daddy and mummy’s attention but sometimes they don’t understand what I’m trying to tell them and I can hear in their voices that they are getting frustrated. I forget that they don’t speak cat like Peppar and I do so I keep trying to tell them, louder and louder and more and more until eventually they’ll get the idea and play with me, that’s all I really want, for them to play with me all day, every day.

The key to training your human is to make them think everything is their idea. If that doesn’t work then just do something cute and that should do the job too and get you some attention.

Being born and growing up on the streets there are certain sounds that I was familiar with, cars, nature, people, predators etc as they were part of my everyday life from the very beginning. Having become a family cat, when I arrived and started living with my new mummy and daddy there were a lot of noises and smells that I wasn’t familiar with. Even during the first few days being in my own new room I could hear the noises through the door. I could hear footsteps and I could tell the difference between mummy’s shoes and daddy’s shoes and their style of walking, mummy with more footsteps, daddy with less to get down the hallway. There’s other noises too though and I had no idea what these noises were. For mummy and daddy these are normal everyday noises but to me they were unfamiliar, sometimes just unusual and sometimes quite scary.

Jenny’s top tip

When adopting a blind cat or in fact any cat that hasn’t grown up in a loving human home, go about your normal daily things that you humans do. If we cats hear something that is unusual to us we’ll let you know from our body language. Generally as long as we hear your calming reassurance then we will know not to be scared. Take a kettle for example, it an unusual sound but I can tell from the noise it’s a little way away and doesn’t move (unlike the cupboard monster) and if you’re talking to me whilst making you strange hot human drinks then I know that whilst it’s noisy it’s not going to harm me . A couple of times of hearing it and it’s all good. If there’s something that’s very noisy then use it behind closed doors away from direct contact first so we can hear it but know that it won’t catch us.

In homes you have all these strange mechanical things that you use to make your lives easier…there is rain that you can turn on and off when you want, it doesn’t quite sound like any normal rain I’ve heard and then you stand under it and wash! Daddy says that is called a shower. There’s also a big thing that mummy fills with water and gets in, she calls this a bath. She closes the door when the water is running which is really annoying as I like to try to catch it and play with it but mummy says I can’t go in at first as the water is too hot and might hurt me. When it is the right temperature she opens the door and lets me in, she gets in the bath and there are all these soapy bubbles, she sits in there for ages. I like it when she does this as I jump up and sit on the side and keep her company. What strange things humans are, I’m not sure why you don’t just lick 👅 yourselves like I do?

The one good thing about when mummy and daddy wash is that afterwards they wrap themselves up in big fluffy towels and then I can sit on them, wash them again (and me) to get rid of that icky soap smell and then curl up on their lap for a snuggle. Every so often they’ll transfer me, towel and all, to the bed where I can have a proper nap.

Some things though are much noisier and when I first arrived with mummy and daddy they introduced me to carefully to things such as the big noisy cupboard monster. He is very noisy and mummy walks round the flat with him, he sucks up everything from the floor and so I stay out of his way in case he sucks me up too! I have learnt not to be too scared of him (Peppar doesn’t like him either) . I ‘watch’ him from a safe distance following him round the flat so I know exactly where he is. If I sit in my tunnel in the hallway or my perch in the living room then he generally leaves me alone but I know where I am in case I need to escape quickly. When mummy is finished with him (she called him Dyson) he goes back into the cupboard to sleep and Peppar and I have to go back round putting all the cat litter back on the floor where it belongs…mummy and daddy then say “oh Jenny” or “oh Peppar” so I know they must like us helping!

There’s other machines that they use regularly some make noises that aren’t anything to worry about such as the cooker. This means human food and hopefully some left overs for me and Peppar 😸.

Daddy’s alarm clock in the morning, this just lets us all know that they’re waking up and rushing around and then deserting us for the day! I help them get up and make sure they give Peppar and I our breakfast and then give them a proper send off before they leave. I make sure they get lots of meows, purrs and cuddles and make sure they know how much I love them – hopefully they’ll get distracted one day and stay home instead.

In the kitchen, the washing machine whilst it’s noisy it doesn’t move around or follow me, it’s just a bit stupid and goes round and round and round! Silly machine! There is however a loud growling monster that lives under the kitchen sink, it eats all our left over food and growls and snarls when he’s eating. He’s a very scary noisy monster but he doesn’t move around and mummy and daddy only feed him when the kitchen door is closed so he can’t get out from under the sink and his growling won’t scare me as much.

Other things that confuse me (they don’t scare me like the cupboard monster) is when mummy and daddy wear different shoes, they make different noises that I don’t recognise and when mummy and daddy walk around and it means for a few seconds I’m not sure who is there until I hear their familiar voices.

The other odd thing that confuses me is that there is a box on the wall that people seem to live in. They’re quiet when mummy and daddy are not home but when they come back the other people wake up. Sometimes they talk, sometimes they sound like they’re having amazing adventures and sometimes there planes, animals and all sorts of interesting noises that come out of the box. Sometimes I want to go and see the people in the wall box as I like people and want to meet them and say hello. Daddy says the wall box is called a tv and that I’m not allowed to try to reach the people in the tv to say hello like I do with mummy and daddy in the mornings when they leave and the evenings when they come home. It’s something to do with me having sharp little claws and the tv being delicate. I can however get up close to the tv people and and listen to what they have to say.

Every noise that is normal for humans living in a home is something that I have had to get used to. It’s a lot to take in and learn but with some consideration, forward thinking and patience from my mummy and daddy it isn’t difficult to get used to the noises of my new home. Now they are just part of my daily life as were the sounds of Cyprus when I was a kitten which is such a distant memory now.