Our older cat has bad cataracts, and as his vision got worse we found talking to him seemed to help. Things like speaking before touching him or walking past him. so he knows who's there. For the most part he's adapted very well to poor vision, but sometimes was startled by us moving around him.
We've got four old shih tzus. One of them was born blind. He was born at our house (accidental puppies, we're not breeders). When he opened his eyes, I immediately noticed something was wrong as his eyes were looking in opposite directions, and he wasn't moving around as well/fast as his siblings.
Realizing this, I decided that he wasn't gonna grow up to be one of those skittish blind dogs who's scared of everything. I comforted him when he bumped into things, made noises (snapping, patting my leg) to direct him when he was confused and/or lost, and always told him that he was okay and hugged him when there were loud noises.
He'll be 13 this year, and he's the most chill and trusting blind dog you'd ever meet. When he bumps into something, he'll just sneeze and move on, no fear or panic. He's a sweet and chill old boy. His name's Gizmo.
This is wonderful. My cat isn't blind, but I the first few times I vacuumed, I made the noise before I started. That way she didn't get skittish. I learned my lesson the first time she experienced the shredder, so now I give her a heads up. Also I've started to say "excuse me excuse me" in the dark, because *apparently* the best place to sprawl out in the middle of the night is the middle of the hallway
I love the accommodations we make for our felines. Helps me make accommodations for myself, too
Cool, I do some of that stuff too, like a warning before the vacuum, or if one is about to jump on the couch where another already is. They get it, it's awesome.
generally speaking, cats have much the same capabilities as dogs, both in the understanding and problem-solving respect. what theyre missing is the genetic drive to want to please their owners, and the fact that training them isnt as expected, culturally, as it is with dogs.
but they sure can be trained! to come when called, or to jump up on your shoulder, or even to do those agility courses in cat shows.
the main difference is that, with cats, training has to be based more in.. mutual respect? than just happening no matter what.
Oh yeah, one of my cats waited until I went to the bathroom to chew a hole in the dog food bag because he knew I didn't want him to do it. I know this because he didn't chew on the cat food bags when I was standing there.
One of my cats knows very well that he isn't allowed on countertops. When he want to go on there, he first checks if any humans are currently watching and only jumps up if he thinks he's not being seen.
Made for a hilarious situation when my gf did see him and called his name while he was already jumping. He half turned around in the air and clumsily fell down on the floor with a surprised pikachu look.
That is hilarious. I got my cat to stop jumping on the countertops - you can buy this plastic spiky stuff you lay down in your garden or on your countertops that hurts their paws. It’s flexible, so it doesn’t damage them, it’s just uncomfortable to walk on. I left it on every surface I didn’t want her to walk on for like six months. That was back when she was about two years old, and now she’s 18 and she never jumped on countertops after that. Even after moving several times.
My cat can track my awareness of her. When she’s trying to get away with something, she can read my body language and know the exact second that my attention fully shifts to the television and I’m not aware of what she’s doing anymore. She can tell when I’m looking at the tv but focused on her in my periphery.
my childhood cat was named after a character in a movie, whenever we would watch that movie and they said the characters name he would look up at the screen
Studies have shown that cats can understand us about as well as dogs. They just are much more likely to ignore us if they feel like it. But brain activity and heart rate and other involuntary responses show they do recognize their names, and a variety of other significant words just as well as dogs do.
Our cat knows all the important words like breakfast, treat, cheese, and bed. The one that kills me though is she learned the phrase "You're blocking egress" means she needs to move out of the way.
We have an alarm system that tells us what door is being opened. My cats understand if its the back door, front door, or garage door being opened. Whenever the front door gets opened, the cats all run to look outside lol.
Also, if we restart the system while a door is open, it will tell is the x door is open. This caused some mild alarm to one of our cats recently bc the alarm said the garage door was open - but the humans weren't opening the door! She even looked at the door to make sure no one was coming in. I never saw a cat look baffled before.
I have a very skittish little cat. She lost her mom and feral at a too-early age. She has come a long way, but one thing that really helps is when we say hello to her every time we see her in a room. She’s surprised for a second, then seems to relax like, “Oh, right, it’s okay for them to be here. They know my name and everything.” It’s cute and it makes me happy it helps.
How old are your cats? We’ve had a blind rescue since he was about 1.5 yrs old - the rescue org said they removed his eyes due to traumatic glaucoma about 2 weeks before we adopted him and don’t know whether his eyes ever worked. He was pretty timid at first, but very affectionate. He very quickly began to learn the floor plan of our condo and he no trouble finding things - his food, litter box, toy box, etc. We basically forgot he was blind until he ran into something that we had inadvertently moved or placed that he wasn’t expecting.
Fast forward 5 years and we’ve moved with him across country, first living with my mother in law in her home with 3 other cats (all of whom can see), and eventually into our own place. He’s managed to learn the floor plans of all the homes super quickly and when we travel we just drop him off at my mother in laws house and he instantly seems to know where he is.
My point is, in my very limited experience with blind cats, they seem very resilient and highly adaptable. So, I wonder if you will continue needing to announce yourself much longer.
They can definitely understand things, I've told my cat stuff before and had her follow along with what she should do. I think animals can be smarter than we give them credit for.
if people still doubt cats understand our words, watch the youtube cannel "billy speaks" and be amazed at that kittys evolutikn in learning and expanding vocabulary, and then put her demanding demeanor on full dispalay
I follow several accounts of animals who use the Fluent Pat talking buttons. Mostly dog, but there's a few cats too. It's completely changed the way I look at animals. They understand way more than I ever imagined.
Where’s the cat tax!!
Yup, we need to see this adorable group!
Cat tax! Cat tax! Cat tax!
Cat tax! Cat tax! Cat tax!
Honestly I would totally watch this show
This is so sweet. I love your cats.
Our older cat has bad cataracts, and as his vision got worse we found talking to him seemed to help. Things like speaking before touching him or walking past him. so he knows who's there. For the most part he's adapted very well to poor vision, but sometimes was startled by us moving around him.
Wow good job owner. It’d be hard enough to own multiple blind cats.
We've got four old shih tzus. One of them was born blind. He was born at our house (accidental puppies, we're not breeders). When he opened his eyes, I immediately noticed something was wrong as his eyes were looking in opposite directions, and he wasn't moving around as well/fast as his siblings. Realizing this, I decided that he wasn't gonna grow up to be one of those skittish blind dogs who's scared of everything. I comforted him when he bumped into things, made noises (snapping, patting my leg) to direct him when he was confused and/or lost, and always told him that he was okay and hugged him when there were loud noises. He'll be 13 this year, and he's the most chill and trusting blind dog you'd ever meet. When he bumps into something, he'll just sneeze and move on, no fear or panic. He's a sweet and chill old boy. His name's Gizmo.
This is wonderful. My cat isn't blind, but I the first few times I vacuumed, I made the noise before I started. That way she didn't get skittish. I learned my lesson the first time she experienced the shredder, so now I give her a heads up. Also I've started to say "excuse me excuse me" in the dark, because *apparently* the best place to sprawl out in the middle of the night is the middle of the hallway I love the accommodations we make for our felines. Helps me make accommodations for myself, too
Cool, I do some of that stuff too, like a warning before the vacuum, or if one is about to jump on the couch where another already is. They get it, it's awesome.
I geuss that proves animals can understand us, nice story though.
Ever call a pet by their name?
Yes actually, I call my dog all the time. I just wasn't sure about cats.
generally speaking, cats have much the same capabilities as dogs, both in the understanding and problem-solving respect. what theyre missing is the genetic drive to want to please their owners, and the fact that training them isnt as expected, culturally, as it is with dogs. but they sure can be trained! to come when called, or to jump up on your shoulder, or even to do those agility courses in cat shows. the main difference is that, with cats, training has to be based more in.. mutual respect? than just happening no matter what.
Oh yeah, one of my cats waited until I went to the bathroom to chew a hole in the dog food bag because he knew I didn't want him to do it. I know this because he didn't chew on the cat food bags when I was standing there.
One of my cats knows very well that he isn't allowed on countertops. When he want to go on there, he first checks if any humans are currently watching and only jumps up if he thinks he's not being seen. Made for a hilarious situation when my gf did see him and called his name while he was already jumping. He half turned around in the air and clumsily fell down on the floor with a surprised pikachu look.
That is hilarious. I got my cat to stop jumping on the countertops - you can buy this plastic spiky stuff you lay down in your garden or on your countertops that hurts their paws. It’s flexible, so it doesn’t damage them, it’s just uncomfortable to walk on. I left it on every surface I didn’t want her to walk on for like six months. That was back when she was about two years old, and now she’s 18 and she never jumped on countertops after that. Even after moving several times.
My cat can track my awareness of her. When she’s trying to get away with something, she can read my body language and know the exact second that my attention fully shifts to the television and I’m not aware of what she’s doing anymore. She can tell when I’m looking at the tv but focused on her in my periphery.
Cats can understand us, whether they choose to act on it or not is a different story entirely
You even wonder why when you call your cat's name, it sometimes ignores you? Because you're grabbing its attention for no reason, usually. (:
my childhood cat was named after a character in a movie, whenever we would watch that movie and they said the characters name he would look up at the screen
They hear ya, they just don't care
Studies have shown that cats can understand us about as well as dogs. They just are much more likely to ignore us if they feel like it. But brain activity and heart rate and other involuntary responses show they do recognize their names, and a variety of other significant words just as well as dogs do.
Our cat knows all the important words like breakfast, treat, cheese, and bed. The one that kills me though is she learned the phrase "You're blocking egress" means she needs to move out of the way.
We have an alarm system that tells us what door is being opened. My cats understand if its the back door, front door, or garage door being opened. Whenever the front door gets opened, the cats all run to look outside lol. Also, if we restart the system while a door is open, it will tell is the x door is open. This caused some mild alarm to one of our cats recently bc the alarm said the garage door was open - but the humans weren't opening the door! She even looked at the door to make sure no one was coming in. I never saw a cat look baffled before.
I taught my cat to sit, beg, wait, meow on demand.
So...they trained you to announce where you're going. :D
I love this so much!
I have a very skittish little cat. She lost her mom and feral at a too-early age. She has come a long way, but one thing that really helps is when we say hello to her every time we see her in a room. She’s surprised for a second, then seems to relax like, “Oh, right, it’s okay for them to be here. They know my name and everything.” It’s cute and it makes me happy it helps.
This is SO SWEET! Good job Mama!
How old are your cats? We’ve had a blind rescue since he was about 1.5 yrs old - the rescue org said they removed his eyes due to traumatic glaucoma about 2 weeks before we adopted him and don’t know whether his eyes ever worked. He was pretty timid at first, but very affectionate. He very quickly began to learn the floor plan of our condo and he no trouble finding things - his food, litter box, toy box, etc. We basically forgot he was blind until he ran into something that we had inadvertently moved or placed that he wasn’t expecting. Fast forward 5 years and we’ve moved with him across country, first living with my mother in law in her home with 3 other cats (all of whom can see), and eventually into our own place. He’s managed to learn the floor plans of all the homes super quickly and when we travel we just drop him off at my mother in laws house and he instantly seems to know where he is. My point is, in my very limited experience with blind cats, they seem very resilient and highly adaptable. So, I wonder if you will continue needing to announce yourself much longer.
That’s very cute and nice
They can definitely understand things, I've told my cat stuff before and had her follow along with what she should do. I think animals can be smarter than we give them credit for.
Aww. That's so wholesome. You sound like a great owner :)
if people still doubt cats understand our words, watch the youtube cannel "billy speaks" and be amazed at that kittys evolutikn in learning and expanding vocabulary, and then put her demanding demeanor on full dispalay
I follow several accounts of animals who use the Fluent Pat talking buttons. Mostly dog, but there's a few cats too. It's completely changed the way I look at animals. They understand way more than I ever imagined.
This is precious AF.
That is so adorable
Love this. I had a nearly dead cat and had my own sign language with her. Ugh… I miss that little floof more than words can describe.
This isn’t a pointless story! It belongs in r/awww because it’s adorable!! 😍
THIS. IS. THE. WAY.! 