Sunday, November 25, 2007

An Audist Got Peed on by a Deaf Cat!

UPDATE: ADOPTED!

This was supposed to be posted last October but with the emergency of my dog, it was put on hold. I appreciate the understanding and patience of these people, Lisa, Phillip and Veronica, involved in the rescue of this deaf cat and now he's adopted. Read on...

First, allow me to explain how I ended up knowing about this deaf cat. A deaf woman, Lisa Ramey, from Phoenix, AZ, stumbled upon this 1.5 year old deaf cat on craigslist where this hearing owner was in hurry to get rid of him and contacted Deaf Animal Row. There was never a picture shown of the cat at all. In his own words, his deaf cat won't stop playing when his hearing cat hissed. What's the crime of having a playful cat? He just wants his deaf cat out without the consideration nor sensitivity when it comes to accomodating and training a deaf cat. Interesting how a deaf cat has to be the one to go. Doesn't it sound familiar that being deaf is used as a scapegoat for everything that goes wrong? He has never and do not want to name the deaf cat because he can't hear his own name. Oh, does it mean we, deaf people, ought be nameless as well? Wasn't he aware about name sign that's prevalent in the Deaf community? When one uses the sign name daily to a deaf cat or dog, some deaf cats and dogs will associate that with their name being called.

Love me or love me not...
The goal of Deaf Animal Row is to encourage as many members of the Deaf community in every state across the country to adopt or foster or help get a deaf animal to somewhere safe within that state where the animal is. I asked Lisa to share with people in her group to see if anyone can help. She kept me posted that no one from her group has come forward with interest.

Better view of me and a big cat I am!
The next thing I knew is that the owner said the deaf cat peed on him on the morning of 10/24/07 when he was asleep and he's fed up. He dumped this cat in front of his porch on that morning before he left. He said he is going to take him to the humane society by 2 pm if no one takes him. I was frantic and the quick thinking self remembered that Phillip Mecham from was originally from Arizona even though he is currently on the East coast. I pled him for his assistance as time was running out and he sent an email to his group of people he knew to see if one can foster him.

I'm overwhelmed with toys, toys, toys!!!
Veronica Kozlowski responded to me after reading Phillip's email, offering to foster with an exception that she has no means of transportation to get the deaf cat. I then informed Lisa about what the owner said to her disbelief and asked if she could help transport the deaf cat from him to the foster home. She was happy to do this for the deaf cat's own safety as she has helped rescue 3 deaf cats in the past.

It is funny how the owner said Veronica can't have him if she doesn't have a car and talked about responsibility when I told him I found someone to foster the deaf cat. He would only give the cat to Lisa. To get an idea of owner's arrogance, here it is,
"I don't have the medical records. He's been fixed and is up to date on his shots. I simply won't give anything to someone who can't even deal with the simplicity of owning a car. It's just like owning an animal. You have to take care of it, and feed it regardless of anyone else's feelings. Those are mine."
Veronica was kind enough to offer a safe haven! Lisa and I agreed not to say anything to the guy that the deaf cat would still go to Veronica as a foster mom. I was stratching my head because the owner is the last person to be talking about responsibility when he was about to take him to the humane society, let alone dumping him outside. Lisa arranged with the guy for her to pick up the deaf cat and drive him to Tempe, Arizona -- about 45 minutes away. Upon Lisa's arrival to owner's home, she saw the deaf cat on the front porch and he was all dirty from being thrown out since the morning. No carrier or anything. Lisa was disheartened by this and didn't understand all of this. She told the owner how could he endanger his life and vulnerability by leaving him outside all day. Lisa told me scary stories about how a hawk have snatched a small animal, including dog and cat, in her area. She said the cat was calm and very friendly.
I am all dirty
Lisa drove all the way to Veronica's home to drop off the deaf cat. Veronica had everything set up with litter box, food/water and toys. They chatted in American Sign Language and spent time with the cat before Lisa left for home. The deaf cat is slowly adjusting and gaining trust in Veronica. In her words,
"The deaf cat is doing fiiiine. He's sleeping. I just walked in to check to see if he ate, drank and pooped. All checked on list! Yay. He didn't even feel me when I went in the room. I also flipped the light on and off few times to see if he noticed it thru his closed lids, but he's too out cold sleeping! He needs it! After a crazy day for him yesterday. I'm glad he's all rested. Brave soul that he is and an inspiration to us all to thrive for life."

Wake me up for a picture huh!?!?
So, my take is that this deaf cat sensed how cruel the owner is, mistreated him and not give him attention that the cat needs. According to Veronica, the deaf cat isn't used to being petted or touched, but with time and right owner, he will blossom and flourish. Owner has neglected him to a point that the deaf cat is fed up and peed on him that morning before he went to a foster home :) Payback time!

Veronica has gotten tired of calling him a deaf cat ever since he arrived that she has named him Chase due to the cat's love for shadow chasing. Veronica spent a few weeks getting Chase trained that he never was since kittyhood, obviously, and has done a wonderful job. After Veronica emailed to a group of people in search of a good home for Chase, one of the people she knows has come forward to adopt him. Go to the very end of this blog to view her flyer about Chase. He was adopted around Thanksgiving. I believe the new family will post here at a later time.

Deaf Animal Row wants to thank Lisa, Phillip and Veronica, whom all are deaf, for their extraordinary hear and their effort in saving the deaf cat's life.

I am glad to be in Veronica's home where I feel safe

Surely but slowly, Deaf Animal Row is growing with deaf volunteers. Hope it expands with more volunteers down the road in every state where each deaf animal will have a safe haven to go to.

Flyer reads:

"Deaf Cat seeking a good-natured Deaf home!!!

Name: Chase

Beautiful 1 ½ years old male, white, long-haired cat with green eyes.

Must stay indoors; already litter-trained; fixed; recent vet exam shows great heart and good health, negative for FIV/FELV, 12 lbs.

Energetic, friendly, knows the difference between gentle and rough play, loves chasing shadows and flash lights, can meow and purr; don’t know if he is good with children because I have not seen him around any yet.

Screening preferences:

A financially responsible Deaf home, philosophy of no physical discipline, prefers human and feline companionship, may rebel if left alone too long; someone with patience for him when training since he came from a neglected home; no older cats please but I believe that he will do better with younger or same aged cats.

Goal is to have Chase adopted by end of this month, November, due to a new roommate & his dog moving in my apartment & also, my 2 adult cats are having a hard time with Chase frequently playing with them.

Please contact Veronica Kozlowski, the foster mommy, for more info & pictures and to schedule a visit with Chase.

Hope to hear from you!"

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Aw what a heartbreaking story but with a happy conclusion. Veconica is a good friend of mine and I know she definitely will take wonderful care of cats - she's amazing :).

Hope this cat finds a new home. Fingers crossed!

Veronica said...

great post! thanks. i think i have more pics of chase (still in my camera). I also will have one picture fixed to get it a little brighter (of chase with the new family) and send it to this site to have it post as an post-story/success story.

btw, in regards to the previous comment, which michael it is? I know many Mikes!

Unknown said...

Heeeey! Sorry, this' Boucher :) I would have paged you when I saw this blog but it was lost so :(. Had to say something - I was smiling the whole time because it's something I can see you doing and I was so happy for Chase to be in your hands.

A former housemate of mine had a deaf cat - cute fellow! He sometimes like to climb my leg up my back onto my shoulder. I knew I probably shouldn't let him because it'd not be as cute if he was heavier and larger with those claws ha ha.

Anyway I was wondering - is it typical for deaf cats to be white? I only know of two and both are white.

deafk said...

hi, micheal,

a lot of cats and dogs have white fur, even though there are some colors other than white. do not know why about white.

Veronica said...

i used to have 2 ferrets and one of them was white and deaf...

Veronica said...

i believe it has to do something with pigments and hearings. i read it somewhere years ago. i forgot the details. sorry.

Veronica said...

sorry, i mean skin pigments.

Deaf258 said...

From one class I took over a year ago, it was said that some deaf animals have Waardenburg's Syndrome. The usual symptoms are white hair and bright blue or different eye colors. I don't know much more about this. Maybe someone else with more knowledge in WS would further expand on that subject?

deafanimalrow said...

That's funny, Michael, about the cat climbing your leg up your back onto your shoulder. Not a good thing when it turns into an adult ;-)

Not all deaf people are a result of one kind of reason. There are many genes involved that contribute to deafness. We even have hard of hearing, late deafened, genetically deaf and so forth cats and dogs.

With that in mind, there is a possibility of deaf dogs and cats out there that are not predominately white. The number may be few. In this case if it happens, most of these animals fall into the hands of hearing people who know nothing about detecting one as deaf.

The bottom line is all of them benefit from visual access :)

Carla and Shannon said...

Veronica-
Has Chase been adopted?

deafanimalrow said...

Hi Carla:

I realize I did not get around to giving an update on Chase. He has been adopted shortly after he was posted on here. There will be a deaf cat for you! :-)

Katherine