I wasn't able to watch the video because of a slow dial-up connection, but I would take in a blind cat under the same conditions as any other cat; how healthy is it, and how well it will get along with my other cats. The blindness would not be an issue. A blind cat can function quite well indoors. Those whiskers act like a white cane. They match the width of the cat's body, and if the whiskers fit through somewhere, the rest of the cat will too. The whiskers will also pick up vibrations in the air currents. Between the whiskers and hearing and smell, a blind cat can navigate quite well. I have met cats I wasn't aware were blind.
Sure blind cats don't have a problem to navigate. I don't know for sure how it work. My guess is that unlike us humans, cat's sense of smell can tell them they are approaching an object, while we'd have our heads bumped on something. Every object has a unique smell, right? Correct me if I am wrong on this.
I have heard that blind cats actually make better pets. Maybe it is their blindness making them more sociable.
Not just smell, but more likely air currents and subtle vibrations. Hearing plays big part. Air currents and echos can tell the cat how big a room they've entered, and where furniture is disrupting the currents and sounds.
People CAN learn these skills. We might not have the sensative whiskers, but we have a lot more bare skin to feel vibrations and air currents. Our problem is that we are SO far removed from having to survive in the wild like our ancient ancestors, that our brains forget how to use these methods of processing info. Even animals that are not blind take in more of their information through sound and smell than by sight. Humans have become dependent on sight almost to the exclusion of everything else. We identify each other by sight. Dogs have to come up and smell you to know who you are. For dogs and cats, eyes are for tracking movement. Most everything else comes in through the nose and ears. Just watch your pet some time.
I agree people can learn to increase these abilities, but I don't know how someone blind can accurately pick up a toy like the blind kitty in the video. Nor be able to avoid a stationary object without the help of a stick. Maybe someone can, but I don't think I am able to.
That video just broke my heart and also made me smile because he's just so adorable. Congratulations to the owner for taking care of a blind cat.
If I had the space and we didn't have two cats already, I would take it upon myself to look after a blind cat because I'd know not many people want to look after such a responsibility.
My initial reaction when I saw your question was to answer NO. When I played the video and first saw the kitten, I still said no, because it made me very sad to look at his disfigured eyes. When I watched how he played with no trouble at all, and was just as cute as any other kitten scampering about, I thought, well, maybe....
What a wonderful video. I'm glad I took the time to watch it!
Well, I don't really know but I had once taken home a stray kitten without knowing that it was blind. I found out about its blindness when I fed it. When it smelled the food, it would turn round in circles looking for it. After that I put it right into the food dish which was quite big so that the food was literally right under its feet.
I think that happened because it was still disorientated when it arrived in my home. After some time, it could go straight to the food without turning in circles. As it grew up, it played just like any other kitten. Only difference was that it played with things which were within its reach unless other kittens which may see something far away and go after it.
It could even go outside to do its business and come back in without any problem. Except the last time. It just went out and never came back. I searched everywhere but I couldn't find it. I really hope that someone had taken it and given it a good home.
I would defintly adopt a blind cat as long as I had the time and ability to properly take care of it. I have a soft spot for animals with disabilities. I remember as a child spoiling a friends blind dog that they had adopted and at the stables where I took horseriding lessons there was a gentle, friendly one eyed horse that was mostly blind. It's one eye it had left was also affected.
I imagine I would be really protective over a blind cat. I wouldn't let it outside unaccompanied that's for sure.
07-17-2012, 12:08 PM, (This post was last modified: 07-17-2012, 12:08 PM by neverforget98.)
I would definitely adopt a blind cat. I didn't even have to think about it, my heart immediately said yes.
I can't think of any reason not to. As long as I had plenty of time to spend with the cat and was able to afford to take care of it, sure.
The blindness is sad but only to humans, the cat isn't sad about it. He just wants to play and he's used to this. Animals adjust to being handicapped. Humans are the ones who get upset about it. That kitten looks happy to me.
