Loving a deaf cat might sound challenging, but you will soon quickly learn that animals are highly adaptive, particularly when they don't know they may be different.
Things You'll Need
- A deaf cat
- 1 big heart
- A little patience now and then
Instructions
Deaf cats may not be able to hear, but their sense of feel is extraordinary. They will feel vibrations from other pets walking on the floor, even toilets flushing. Sometimes you may question whether or not the kitty is truly deaf.
Because deaf cats cannot control the volume of their voices, they usually fall into one of two categories with respect to vocalization: 1) They meow rarely, or not at all; 2) Their mews and screams are inappropriate. For example, a hearing kitty would know to quietly sneak up on a bird at the window. The deaf kitty might go running and let out a loud squeal, not realizing her squeal warned the bird. Or a deaf kitty might let out a big scream that sounds like her tail is caught in the door, but you discover she's just having fun with her toy mouse.
With other cats, you've likely noticed that their ears flicker and move when they hear noises. Your deaf cat's ears will flicker and move as well, but these are communications to you, or other family members and pets. Over time, you may be able to understand what certain ear flickers mean.
Deaf cats are easily startled. If you are walking up on a deaf cat, stomp your feet heavily on the floor to let her know you're coming.
All cats have a need to be high in the air, but deaf cats have more extreme needs for high places. Make sure you give her places where she can be high - a top shelf in a closet, perhaps. Or you can easily build a shelf out of scrap wood and attach it a few inches from the ceiling.
She may turn her back on you to ignore you, knowing she's getting ready to jump on something not allowed. To get her attention, stomp your foot on the floor a few times. She will feel it, although she may still choose to ignore you.
Learning some basic sign language is a great learning experience for you and your cat. Mouthing the words at the same time reinforces what you want to communicate. Of course, your own body language and facial expressions will go a long way in telling her yes or no.
I have also made up my own hand signals on the fly. For example, when a hummingbird would visit the window feeder, I flapped my fingers in a bird motion and said, in singsong, "Hummingbird, hummingbird." She quickly learned what it meant and could look to the window for the bird. Saying the word not only added a method of communication with her, it also let my hearing cat know we had a visitor.
If kitty will stand for it, you can put your mouth against her head, tummy or back and say words. I use the phrase "pretty girl," while overemphasizing the "p" sound and blowing onto the top of her head or her back. She may not know it means she's pretty, but she does know it means I'm crazy about her and she immediately gets cuddly and purrs.
Don't be surprised if your other cats don't seem to realize she's deaf. They may call for her.