“Meow! Meow!”
“What’s that, fluffy? Timmy’s fallen down the old well? I’ll go get farmer Jones, you go for help!”
{Cat trots off}
Esprix
We are actually on the waiting list for a Hearing Dog - I made this clear to the shelter. The good news? We’ll probobly get two cats now. The one I originally wanted has a heart murmur and they weren’t sure we’d still want him. But another kitten (called Jack) became available and we’ll probably take him as well as the one with the heart murmur (my mother and I agree that we’d like to give him a happy home as long as he lives).
two hours later
“Where’s Fluffy, Daddy?”
“I’m sure she’s getting help right now, Timmy! Hang on!”
cut to Fluffy, who is sitting in front of a fireplace, lapping milk and watching the X-Files episode “Teso Dos Bichos” on TV
Gah. Fookin’ dumbass animal shelter people.
Make 'em feel like ijits tomorrow.
“Yeah, and next week we’re going after this organization that actually gives dogs to blind people. Can you believe it!!??!”
Sue the bastards. I don’t often advocate it, but sue the bastards.
There’s a old cartoon I once saw entitiled “If Lassie were a Cat”
Picture a cat, sitting atop a well, saying “Well, I guess this is goodbye, Timmy…”
People are bizarre to the deaf. I’ve never understood it, myself, but god knows I’ve witnessed it. In one of my tech theatre classes, we had a deaf student. He had a really cool interpreter guy who was totally into the class and I talked to him a fair amount. The stories he would tell… sigh For the most part, the class was decent to the deaf guy. I didn’t notice anyone being weird. It was a small class though, and it could have just been luck.
I remember when I was dancing, there was a deaf man who came in once a month or so. He always got dances from me and was really nice. He and I would talk by writing on napkins, which was actually a little easier than talking to the ‘regular’ customers, as it was so loud you could barely hear in there anyway. I will never know, however, if he got dances from me because he liked me, or because I was one of the few dancers who would actually go sit with him. I remember the girls would actually talk in the dressing room that he creeped them out, or ask how he could possibly like the place when he couldn’t hear the music (my god you can feel the music outside the building, fercryinoutloud! Use your brains!!)
I hope you and your parents make the shelter worker feel like shit. I really do.
They’re blatantly breaking British law. The law is clear: all businesses, charities, public sector organisations, and voluntary organisations, if they provide a service to the public, they cannot discriminate against disabled people or refuse them services because of their disability. (Cite - Disability Rights Commission). I’m not terribly surprised by their actions, since few organisations - even in the public sector - seem to realise the extent of the law.
This kind of thing get my goat, but for different reasons than the others here. No doubt the idiocy of the clerk there not wanting to deal with your parents is full fledged, but you have to do a freakin interview to get a frickin cat? Puleease. What a complete waste of time for all involved. As much as I love cats and animals in general I will never adopt a cat from a place wants to interview me first. I mean, whats the alternative? Kill the cat when it reaches a certain age or length of stay anyway? How assasinine.
BM (god, that’s not very flattering, is it?), shelters interview people to weed out the psychos who will abuse/torture the animals they adopt, as well as the people who don’t understand the level of responsibility they’re taking on. Better for the animal to be treated well for a short time and euthanized humanely than to suffer for years.
This whole thing about deaf people not understanding you is perfectly ridiculous. Our local shelters always send plenty of paperwork home with the animal, outlining your rights and responsibilties under the adoption contract, so I can’t imagine how much would need to be added.
Your mom and you are frickin’ awesome!
We adopted a kitten from the pound- he has been the light of our lives. I hope you have as much joy with your kittens as we do with our’s. Funny thing is, when I went to pick him up the next day (I has reserved him on a Sunday and got him on Monday) there was a deaf girl playing with the cats trying to pick one out herself. However, the SPCA folks were treating her well (I remember because she liked Spike too- so she obviously had fine taste in cats!) Small world I guess.
The little kitten had gone by the time we arrived today, so we now have Enzo the cat with the heart murmur at home with us. He’s very shy right now but he’s adorable and I think he likes me (he keeps headbutting me).
The staff at the shelter were actually much more helpful today. I don’t know who it was yesterday, but she certainly wasn’t there today. A happy ending all round.
In the past year and 1/2, I’ve become good friends with a woman who is HOH. I’ve seen this a few times when we’ve been out to eat. Being fairly new to the Deaf Community, I’ve always struggled with how to handle this. What do I say? (I usually look at her and say ‘Do you know what you want?’ Then she tells the guy.) The waiter’s the idiot, but I feel like one, too. I’m sure I do stupid hearing people stuff myself - but I’m working on it!
This is a great tip. I’d love to hear more if you have them.
BTW, glad you got the kitty thing straightened out. My friend has 4 kitties and she’s a great cat-mom.
As an RN I deal with the public on a daily basis and more people are hearing impaired than you realize. The really bizarre thing is that no one wants to talk to them about it. It’s like the elephant in the room.
I figure they already know they are deaf; I’m not going to upset them by asking about how best to communicate with them. I always look them in the face and start by saying. “I understand you are deaf/hearing impaired. Do you read lips?” If they indicate they do, I’ll say “What would be the best way for me to communicate with you?” and provide paper, etc. Finally I end the conversation with “Do you have any questions?”
Most of the time that is all that needs to be done. I figure a person knows if they need an interpreter and will let you know that as well.
The people I dread working with are the ones who say “I lost my hearing aids and don’t want to bother getting new ones” while asking you to repeat yourself over and over again. Worse still are the ones who just flat out deny they have a problem even though their family has to scream at them.
Bongmaster
What’s the alternative? Oh… having animal control officers bring the animals back in two months later when they pick them up on a cruelty call. Having someone from the neighborhood call you to come pick them up because the people who just love cats and animals in general took them home and basically dumped them in the yard…
Just wanted to share this consecutive thread title moment:
130 Cats??? 130 Cats.
Deaf people don’t understand how to adopt cats
Shut the fuck up about your fucking cats! I don’t give a fuck!
Enzo report day two? Come on don’t keep us waiting!
Well, since you asked 
He’s doing very well indeed. In the twenty four hours since he’s been home he’s gone from hiding behind the sofa and being very timid to stomping all over over me, demanding strokes and headbutting me and trying to eat my cheese sandwich. He likes cheese a LOT. He seems to like the sound of my voice, hasn’t even stepped into the funky basket I gave him, and hasn’t caught on to the scratching post yet. But he’s very cool with the litter tray and his food and water.
I introduced him to my bedroom today and I’m going to leave my bedroom door open so that he can come and have a chat during the night if he gets lonely.
My parents luff him and we’re currently a happy kitten household.
Sounds like he’s on his way to growing up to be a fine cat, Francesca.
I suggest taking him over to the scratching post and rubbing his little paws up and down a few times so he’ll get the idea, then praise him whenever you see him using the post instead of say…your couch.
Headbutting is a way of showing affection for kitties. They do this constantly with those they like the best. And cats can be attracted to a wide number of odd foods that aren’t always good for them. One of my cats, Butters, adores strawberry yogurt for some reason and my other cat Rumpleteazer likes bologna. Go figure!
Good luck with Enzo! Sounds like despite the yahooligans at the pound, he found a very, very good home.
MetalMaven