This afternoon I was walking past the cats' outdoor enclosure when I heard this very loud "meow-meow- meow!" It was the kind of insistent meow that's designed to get your attention. I looked over and saw blind Cinder happily perched inside the cat condo. It's like she wanted me to notice her in there. I hurried back to the house to get the camera.
Cinder, who lost her sight from progressive retinal atrophy, is the most fearless blind animal we have -- and we have 50 blind animals at the ranch, so that's saying something! For example, she climbs up on the wall shelves in the cat house without any hesitation, and then leaps down to the floor 5 feet below with a carefree "bombs away!" attitude. You can tell by the way her feet hit the floor she doesn't really know where the surface is before she goes airborne, but land on all four feet she does. She will go anywhere and explore anything.
Because Cinder doesn't look blind -- see how bright her eyes are! -- visitors don't realize anything's wrong with her. They'll come into the cat house, see this beautiful black cat 5 feet up on a wall shelf meowing at them, and they'll reach over to pet her ... only to have Cinder suddenly startle when their hand touches her head because she didn't see it coming.
When the weather started warming up in recent days, we began leaving the cat house window open that provides access to the outdoor enclosure. Of course, being blind Cinder didn't know what the window opened onto, but she realized some of the other cats were going through it ... and in her typical fashion, Cinder decided to discover for herself. Now she spends a good part of every day outdoors, exploring the enclosure or just hanging out in the condo.
(Click on photo for larger image.)
How cool!
I love her attitude of "So what if I can't see squat!". ;-D
Posted by: Nikita | May 14, 2008 at 02:32 PM
What a beautiful and courageous cat enjoying life at the ranch! Her gymnastics sound quite entertaining!
Posted by: Nina | March 21, 2007 at 05:31 PM
I LOVE the photo of blind Cinder sitting in her cat tree. She's a special adventure-loving girl.
Posted by: Roz | March 21, 2007 at 05:06 PM
Thank you so much for posting about Cinder!! Cats like Cinder are so amazing~their ability to adjust to different circumstances and to thoroughly enjoy life, no matter what comes their way, just astounds me. I look forward to reading more about Cinder and the rest of the cat gang in the future!
Posted by: Mariko | March 21, 2007 at 02:36 PM
It looks like Cinder is in a bird house from the photo! What a clown Cinder is! It's amazing how fearless she is although she is sightless. I can only imagine what my posture would be if I couldn't see where I was walking, much less jump. Glad she's "living out loud." What's the story on her kittens?
Big hugs,
ginger & Tobias
Posted by: ginger & Tobias (the greythound) | March 21, 2007 at 12:39 PM
What a cute shot of Cinder! I like knowing she's a daredevil; now I can picture her jumping and climbing around looking for new adventures to tackle! That a'girl!
Posted by: Leilani | March 21, 2007 at 09:29 AM