Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Sounds in Silence

I discovered something interesting about Minuet last week.

She and I were on the couch in the library watching a movie – well, I was watching it, she was ruminating about important things – and I coughed. It was one of those abrupt coughs that catch you by surprise, so it comes out as more of a bark than a cough. Minuet immediately looked up. I had not moved much, not enough to jiggle the couch and alarm her with sudden action; it was entirely the sound.

Then, later, a character in the film dropped a coffee cup which smashed on the floor. Min reacted to that sound, too. It was a light, tinkling sound, but the frequency of it must have penetrated my very-oldster’s silent world and alerted her to something.

Minuet is unquestionably deaf. I can move litter-boxes, sweep and even vacuum a couple of feet away from her, and she won’t realise it. And yet, now and then, some sound, due to its harshness, or pitch, will filter through what very little remains of her hearing.

I wonder what she thinks of these noises, if anything. Out of a great screen of blankness, sound comes to her, very rarely and without warning. Does the very fact that she hears it startle her, or is she pleased that she can perceive it? Does it matter to her at all?

In any case, I communicate with her through touch and gestures, sight and smell. We have come to understand each other in a number of ways, and that is what matters. She is deaf and, if I were deaf, I would still feel her purr, and that happens all the time.

17 comments:

  1. Such a sweet heart. She may feel the vibrations from the frequency of the noises too.

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  2. 2 of my cats are now deaf too. Drake does seem to hear high pitch sounds.

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  3. Sweet Madame.
    Our Sweetie appears to have hearing issues, which may be why she's more vocal than ever before.

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  4. Aww, sweet Min. I bet she can feel the vibrations of certain sounds. Our angel Graphite could not hear later in life, but sometimes, certain abrubt signs would get his attention.

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  5. As humans age, they may lose hearing in only some frequencies. (High frequency hearing loss is more common than low frequency hearing loss.) I wonder if that's true for cats. Min might be deaf in only certain frequencies, or as Brian said, she might be reacting to vibrations.

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  6. I wonder too as the others, that maybe the sounds were so abrupt that they generated a vibration, which she could feel, hence she looked up.

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  7. She is a sweet girl. If only we knew their thoughts on things that happen in their lives.

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  8. Maybe she is so used to the quiet of her world the these sounds give her paws for thought.

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  9. Bless the little lady...! She's lovely..!x

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  10. Perhaps she is not profoundly deaf...hard to ever know..Roberta may be right there about certain frequencies...

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  11. It's certainly possible that she still can hear something at certain frequencies. Regardless, she seems content in her new life, even without her hearing. I suspect non-humans adjust far more easily than humans to changes in their abilities.

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    1. It reminds me of how quickly Cammie was able to adjust after she went blind.

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  12. I am always amazed at how well cats adapt. Minuet is a wonder considering every thing she has gone through, but now she is safely tucked away in a stable environment and I think Madame did well for herself!

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  13. She's such a darling girl. And lucky too, having a loving home.

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