Danger Zones

Cammie continues to learn about life as a blind cat, and I learn about her learning. She explores almost fearlessly now, her principal problem coming from meeting other cats. Since she can’t see that they retreat when they encounter her, the princess’s dudgeon remains high long after it needs to.

But she often treks out to the sitting room to sit on the couch, to lie on the carpetted ledge by the screen door to the ditch, or even, as I saw here, to play a little. She was gently wrestling with a ball in this picture, though she is obscuring the ball itself. She won’t play when I offer toys to her because she can’t see them, and feeling them thrust upon her is more an intrusion than an invitation. But on her own terms, she can still have a bit of fun.

One exploit had me worried, however. She found her way to the top of the tallest cat-tree. She undoubtedly knew where she was, from smell and the fact that there were so many levels. She also knew when she had reached the top. The difficulty then arose of getting down. Feeling one’s way sightless from a great height is a scary business, and it took Cammie twenty minutes to decide to descend just one level – after which she returned to the top. I was frightened that she would make a misstep and fall, and I could not stay to supervise her efforts for as long as she might want to make them. It could have been hours. So I reluctantly intervened.

The sounds and threats she made when I picked her up were unpleasant to hear, and she was not in a forgiving mood even when she reached the floor. I disliked doing this and on another occasion, when I could remain and watch her, I would not have done it. But neither she nor I are yet confident enough in her blind abilities to let her attempt such a descent.

 

Soon, though, she recovered, and was relaxing on the couch. She condescended to let the matter drop and we were friends again. I much prefer her scaling such heights as a comfy cushion on a chair.

Someday, probably soon, she will be able to do almost everything she could when her eyes worked, but not just yet. For now, her world has a few more danger zones than it once did.