Catster

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Blindness won't stop a kitteh like me!

Guess what ma! I don't see so good

I only just realized last week that Little is essentially blind. He can see light if its rather bright like a light bulb. But he can not see your hand in front of his face.

He gets around just dandy by use of his other senses - hearing, smelling and touch. Those whiskers are a clever tool. It's difficult to tell that he can't actually see.

I don't know when I would have discovered it except that I was concerned that Belly's vision might be damaged from an eye scratch. I was comparing her responses and focus with the rest of the cats to get an idea if hers was normal.

But when I put my finger closer and closer to Little's eye - he didn't even know it was there until it touched his whiskers. Since then I have tried other things and observed him closely.

He sometimes walks slowly to find his way around. Close to a wall so he will know when a doorway is coming up. Sometimes he will get stopped by a corner or object but quickly navigates around. He might also bump into another cat. Usually they just go around each other. But once in awhile they feel a little sassy and have a wrestle. That's when I intervene. They don't know that Little didn't do it on purpose. And he doesn't know that they bopped him on the head because they thought he was picking a fight. So I simply lift one of them away from the scene.

Little loves to play - even more than Belly who is his same age. He doesn't let a trifle like blindness stop him. I've attached bells to all his toys that did not have them. As long as he can hear of feel it - he's just as quick as any other cat in catching toys.

Cats are not concerned with designer names or fancy paint. Give Little a plastic wrapping or a balled up piece of paper and he is happy as a lark. Light enough to carry - loud enough to locate. And oh so fascinating.

The litter box has it's own easily located odor - so Little has never had a problem with that. He might scoops some litter over the edges but all the sighted cats do too!