blind cats

Special Needs Pet Feature: Idgie

Posted by Barbara Techel

Just a special reminder to join me and author Mary Shafer, Disabled Pets and the People Who Love Them over at award winning and pet expert Darlene Arden’s Facebook Fan page on the disscussion board as we discuss:  Who’s Savin’ Who? How Rescued Special Needs Pets Rescue Us.

What is your pet’s name?

Idgie, named after the lead character in my favorite movie, “Fried Green Tomatoes,” because she’s a scrappy little fighter, just like Imogene Louise Threadgoode.

How old is your pet?

Almost 9

Where did you get your pet?

We adopted her from a PetSmart store, where she was the last of her litter that had been rescued from the streets of Philly after their mom had been killed.

What is your pet’s physical challenge?

Idgie was born with anophthalmia — no eyes. She is completely blind and has never seen.

What is your pet’s favorite thing to do?

Idgie loves to lay in my lap while I’m working, half on the  keyboard tray, purring.

What is your pet’s favorite thing to eat?

I know I’m gonna have so many people yell at me about this: She absolutely ADORES pizza-flavored Goldfish Crackers from Pepperidge Farm. I don’t give her a lot of them, but I can’t open the bag without her flying into my office from wherever she is in the house.

What do you love most about your pet?

She is just the best little pal I’ve ever had. Perhaps because of her own trials, she’s very sensitive to the emotions of others. But I also love how incredibly intelligent she is. You can almost see her thinking sometimes.

What has your pet most taught you?

That there is always a way. If she wants something bad enough, she figures out a way to make it happen or get it. I don’t think she’s even aware she lacks what so many of us consider a vital sense, so she doesn’t allow it to limit her. That makes me realize I never have any excuse not to try.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I’d like to think Idgie was brought into my life to help me become a better person, more self-sufficient yet sensitive to others, and to be strong. But I must admit that I have no dread like that of the day she will leave me. It’s something I cannot even bear to think about. I hope when that day comes, I prove myself worthy of having been blessed with her love and the gift of her in my life.

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***If you care for a special needs pet and would like your pet featured, please email me through my website contact. Send a photo and I will forward the questionnaire for your pet to be featured in an upcoming post.***

Special Needs Pet Feature(s): Batty & Opi

Posted by Barbara Techel


What is your pets name?

Batty
(named such because she is blind as a bat)

How old is your pet?

8 months (born around June 2010)

Where did you get your pet?

We live on a remote Greek island and Dutch tourists found her at their hotel the day before they were flying back home. The owner didn’t want such an unsightly thing around his hotel and was glad when they left with the kitty in a cardboard box. They showed up with her at our volunteer clinic. Back then she had a fungal infection on her skin and much of her fur coat was missing. We could tell she was not able to see. (My husband Alf and I end up with most of the dumped kitties on our island. There is no animal shelter here. Also no vet. )

What is your pets physical challenge?

The fungus was cleared. She’s blind in both eyes (due to early cat cold)

What is your pets favorite thing to do?

Batty loves chasing a jingle bell on a string back and forth across the kitchen floor and she can do it until my arm hurts. She enjoys sitting on my shoulder/back of my neck when I’m at the computer. She often sleeps that way. She’s very verbal, so I’m aware if she’s awake or not! We have three dogs and 24 cats in our family and Batty has a few kitty friends she can cuddle with on a chair and all the dogs adore her and lick her. Her dog friendships formed immediately, but the cat friendships take a little longer.

What is your pets favorite thing to eat?

Kitty food beef or rabbit.

What do you love most about your pet?

She spends more time near her humans, sitting on our laps or on the back of my neck, than most of our other critters.

What has your pet most taught you?

Patience.

Because my husband’s sister Martina, who is a veterinarian in Germany, has two blind cats I knew before meeting Batty how blind cats navigate a room – walking close to the wall. Before Batty, I’d never been around completely blind animals, so this has been a learning experience for me.

Anything else you’d like to share?

If you’d like to link to my husband’s recent video of Batty playing in our garden and courtyard, you’re welcome to do so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN-tyEe3ocw

We have a few pets (cats and a dog, Opi) with one eye functional, so I’ve been introduced to blindness. I have a great interest in the general subject of disabilities in pets and am proud to be a contributing author to Almost Perfect: Disabled Pets and the People Who Love Them (http://almostperfectbook.com).

Note:  Roberta, Batty and Opi’s Mom, writes for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer if you’d like to read her stories.


To read about Opi, you can visit his story on Best Friends Network.

Thank you for sharing Batty and Opi with us!  So glad they have you, Roberta to take care of them.

***If you care for a special needs pet and would like your pet featured, please email me through my website contact. Send a photo and I will forward the questionnaire for your pet to be featured in an upcoming post.***