She can be found curled up in one of the cat beds spread over the platform provided by the tops of the cages, or popping her head out of the large, shallow wooden box on top of a shelving unit one step down from the cage-top.
She appears to be peeking out of the box, surveying her surroundings, but if you look closely as she turns her attention to different things around her, she's focusing with her nose, not with her eyes.
The only notice she paid my camera flash was the sound it made...
The article on Living with a Blind Cat from Know Your Cat describes how blind cats relay on "scent, memory and spatial orientation to navigate. As long as the environment is constant they have little problem with that, but changes to their known environment confuses and upsets them."
Hence Isabelle's relatively limited area of operation. She always knows where to find her big comfortable box, a soft cat bed, food, water, litter box.
She's a sweet cat and likes to be softed. A slow approach giving her time for a good sniff of fingers, a gentle stroke and she's soon leaning into the hand and purring.
An article on Living with a Disabled Cat by Sarah Hartwell notes that "Interestingly, other cats are often more tolerant of blind cats (which may collide with them) than they are of sighted cats." This seems to be the case for Isabelle, who in turn takes it with good grace when another cat climbs in her box snuggles up close out of the conviction that what she really needs at that moment is a good old cat huddle.
Update July 22, 2010: We're all very sad to have lost Isabelle today. As Phaedra wrote on Facebook, "Don't think it was possible to love Isabelle more than her kitty friends but I sure tried, she will be missed by many and loved always. ♥"
And here is the link to a wonderful video she posted of Isabelle and one of her friends.
And here is a photographic tribute which has been posted near Isabelle's usual sleeping spot:
Posts
Awww I didn't know about her. I don't get into the single wide much. There are so many amazing kitties and so little time to get to know them all.
ReplyDeleteIsabelle is not so limited at all.
ReplyDeleteEvery Monday morning she comes down to ground level then wanders about the front of the single, some days she even makes it out onto the porch.
She's actually quite independant as well as a sweetheart. ;)
She's actually quite independant and not very limited at all.
ReplyDeleteEvery Monday she comes down to ground in the single and hangs out with me.
Usually in the front but occasionally on a nice day she'll wander out onto the porch as well.
Isabelle is brave and beautiful. <3
Phaedie
As far as the porch? I'm glad. When I'm there in the evenings, she's always somewhere up on top of the cages.
ReplyDeleteAnd now she's gone :(
ReplyDeleteAnn J