Sunday, June 16, 2019

Adapting Me, Adapting You, Uh-huh


Cammie is adapting to her sightlessness. She doesn’t stay hiding in the bedroom but explores quite a bit. She goes searching for food or water but much of her peregrinations seem to be simply to learn the lie of her newly benighted land. I don’t know if this is true, but the princess appears to wander about more now than when she could see, and I can’t think of any other reason for it.


She sits at windows to sniff the air. If she has any vision at all, it must be very limited, perhaps to vague shapes and movement. She doesn’t use the saddle at the top of the taller bedroom cat-tree anymore. That was where she would view the world most often. Now, her preferred spots are the bed or the towel that serves as a blanket on the floor in a corner of the bedroom.


Since she is most often there, I wanted to provide her with easier access to water. She has climbed up on to the ledge that runs under the bedroom windows, where there has always been a bowl, but that’s a bit of an ordeal for a blind cat. So I have given her a small bowl in the little shelf (intended originally for a vertical computer) of my desk. She resorts to that bowl often, so I feel that she is maintaining her water-consumption adequately. She also still drinks from the larger bowls by the bedroom door and in the corridor.


I think my princess is most unnerved by the other cats. She doesn’t appear to be overly annoyed at constantly bumping her head against walls or the edges of doors; the fact that she does so now more than immediately after her stroke makes me wonder if her sight’s damage increased, or perhaps ‘consolidated’, over the last three weeks. Her movements are slow and deliberate, and she is learning as she goes. But she never liked proximity to the other beasts, and the fact that she can come upon them without warning angers her. Of particular trouble is Raleigh, who is not shy about inserting himself into another’s food. (He is not aggressive about it; he acts as if he thinks the other cat would gladly share. How he survived any time in the wild is beyond me.) However, I am still confining Cammie to the bedroom during my work-days, so she has ample and unshared access to her food, water and litter-box.


I intend to find another set of steps for the bed. Cammie uses the set at the bed’s foot, especially for descending, but she just as frequently leaves by the sides, especially if other cats are on the bed, and this represents a bit of a scary drop for her, executed without grace. If she knows that there is an smoother method of leaving the bed, she will undoubtedly use it.


So we are adapting, she and I. Cammie of course has the more difficult task; mine is to make hers less so. She deserves to have a contented, normal life, even if its normality is somewhat different than what it once was.


17 comments:

  1. Oh, dear Cammie! Your human will take care of you, you can be sure of that!
    Happy Cat Daddy's Day!

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  2. She is such a sweetie and she really is adapting so well.

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  3. John you are making it all better for your sweet Cammie, and she seems to be doing well with what you have done. Her own special place you made for her looks for nice. Hugs and nose kisses for you and her from Chancy and me.

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  4. Cats are so much better at adapting than people are, but you are doing everything possible to make it smooth for her. She trusts you and knows you will keep her safe.

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  5. It's good to hear Cammie is adjusting so well, but with your love and care, that comes as no surprise. I think you'll find that she will learn to use her other senses more and more to compensate.

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  6. She is a good girl learning her way around - I am impressed at her ability to cope so quickly.

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  7. I love her new accommodations now. The just for her water bowl that she knows is there..the one where the computer tower used to go. Her day time secure and another set of steps to come. Raleigh darling...think first...insert yourself later. When Cammie isn't there eating. XXX to you and Cammie, Raleigh.

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  8. Sounds like you are taking good care of her. Cats are amazingly adaptive, humans could learn a thing or two!

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  9. It's amazing how pussy~cats and animals in general
    seem to cope and adjust quite quickly, within their
    own surroundings, it's even better..! :)
    Flossie, l mentioned yesterday, lost her left eye,
    earlier in the year, it became infected and had to
    have it removed, Flossie is a very 'laid~back' pussy~
    cat..nothing bothers her, she struts about as if she
    owns the place..HeHe! Actually..she does! Loss of
    one eye, does'nt seem to bother her...! :).

    And..over the years l've seen blind dogs, being
    lead by another dog when out and about, l remember
    seeing a blind Labrador being lead by a Jack Russell
    Terrier..Amazing!

    Lovely to see pussy~cats led out on top of a bed, with
    the sunshine pouring through the window..Heaven! :).

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  10. Cammie is doing a wonderful job of adapting to her new normal and you are helping her with all of adaptations!

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  11. if you can't locate steps; I've heard that "ramps" help as well, and it need not be anything fancy; just sturdy. I think cammie may be more unnerved by her housemates because she can't really see their "intentions"....if this makes sense ~~ ♥♥♥☺☺☺

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    1. I agree about Cammie and the other beasts. As far as she can tell, they are suddenly there, almost upon her. Since she and they have never been friends, she can’t determine what they are going to do. Her blindness may be a turning point in their relationships.

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  12. I've no doubt that you'll do whatever needs done to make Cammie's days good. I imagine it must be scary to come upon another cat and not know what they intend.

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  13. I only had to deal with deaf cats, never with a blind one. But I think they are very clever and learn what they can do or not. It's sad to see them bumping into things, but she is learning. My friend had a blind cat, and I didn't even know that she was blind, she behaved like a normal cat. But only in her space, she had learned where the obstacles were. If she eats well and has no other health problems it's good.

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  14. I'm amazed and impressed, too, at how well she's adapted, thanks in good measure to your efforts and care.

    I hope you all have a peaceful, content weekend!

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  15. It really is remarkable how cats adapt. I suppose, they feel they just have to. I think they still find joy and interest through their well developed other senses. Please give Cammie a pat from me.

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  16. She is a survivor and seems to have done as well as she can and we hope she starts to relax in her new state in time.

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