Sometimes I wonder what animals are thinking. Once I was so puzzled by the antics of a scared senior cat I was fostering that I called an animal communicator. The cat was "talkative" and somewhat affectionate as long as I was lying down, but as soon as I stood up, he ran in fear. There were other things this traumatized tabby cat did too that made me realize I didn't have a clue how to help him. I have to admit his behavior was slowly driving me crazy. The animal communicator talked to the 14 year old cat and told me he said he wasn't like this with his owner of 13 years who had died. He had been in three trial homes before he came to me. He told the animal communicator that he was always a nervous cat, and he didn't like change. He didn't like it when I moved furniture around in my apartment. I was pretty surprised to hear about his dislike of things moving because that is exactly what I had been doing- rearranging furniture. I stopped moving furniture. He became less skittish. He also said he wasn't around many people in his original home. He didn't want to talk about his former owner who he loved very much. He was such a sad kitty. When I first saw him he would not look at me, he would not move. He kept his back side to me the whole ride to my house. From my experiences with this cat, I saw how animals are in some ways just like people in that they have preferences and go towards what is pleasurable and move away from what is not. They react to stress and trauma. They can respond to abandonment and loss by becoming fearful and depressed. And they show trust and affection when acceptance comes their way. I learned a lot from this senior cat.
I've been thinking about Betty the cat wondering what life is like for her with one eye. She is such a loving cat. I hope someone will give her a chance. I asked cat lovers on a kitten forum I found while googling one eyed cats about one eyed cats and if they owned one or knew someone who did and here is what one person wrote:
A friend of mine had a wonderful one-eyed cat named, of course, Pirate. He'd found Pirate as a 6-month kitten with a bad eye infection. The vet was able to save one eye but not the other. Pirate didn't let his status upset him one bit because he was too busy playing, catching any bug that dared enter his domain, and purring the moment one of his many devoted fans made eye contact, let alone petted him. The only way that you could tell from his behavior that he had that missing eye was that he sometimes jumped a bit if somebody approached him from that side while he was paying attention to something else. It certainly didn't make him more aggressive (except when he was Vanquishing his toys and sometimes calling to his humans to admire his Mad Skills) or less friendly to strange humans. We don't know whether he ever even aware of his missing eye, but if he was, he faced the loss with an "oh, well, life's still wonderful fun!" that any human could envy. He died at 16 from a completely unrelated kidney infection. Nobody could tell whether he knew that he was a special little rescue or not, but given the love he lavished on his owner and anybody else who gave him a treat or a petting, I wouldn't doubt it for a minute.
One other person wrote she has two one-eyed kitties who she loves dearly. She lets them roam her 13 acres but keeps them in at night. We need a cat opthalmologist here to explain about how the loss of an eye can affect a cat's night vision.
It is hard to know if Betty knows she has one eye. I don't know what happened to her, but like Pirate she has adapted.Please give this beauty a chance.
And Casey, the handsome dog who is crazy for belly rubs, how can he be so cheerful in the shelter where his life might be on the line?
Here is a link to one animal communicator's website.
http://www.petcommunicator.com/Questions.html
UPDATE NOVEMBER 27
UPDATE NOV 29 Louie the Himalayan was rescued!
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