Lillian’s gone deaf as a post. I took her to the vet on Saturday, and they said, “Yep, deaf as a post—that’ll be 70 dollars.” They cleaned out a little earwax, and shined a light in one ear and out the other; said there were no tumors and her eardrums looked fine: “Probably just old age.” I suspect she just doesn’t need her ears anymore, now that her evil sister, Dorothy, isn’t around sneaking up on her.
Anyone else have a deaf pet? Poor thing keeps meowing and meowing and can’t figure out why I don’t answer her. And when I get home and she’s asleep, I drop something on the floor to wake her up–if I just go over and pet her, she jumps about two feet in the air.
A friend of mind had a deaf cat named Deaf-O when I was a kid. He did just fine for himself. We used to go up behind him and yell, “Deaf-O, Deaf-O!” just to make sure he was still deaf. I was an evil child.
It’ll take some adjustment for Lillian, but I’m sure once she gets used to it, she’ll be fine too.
Look on the bright side–no more winding in your legs and nearly killing you every time she hears the can opener.
A friend of mine had a dog that went deaf in her later years. Once she’d adjusted, she was the same old dumb dog she’d always been (with the notable exception of no longer coming when she was called, of course). Give Lillian some time. It’s entirely possible she’s meowing and meowing because she’s wondering why it sounds different inside her head.
Had I known how much they would hate each other, I’d have named them Joan and Olivia . . .
Lillian seems to be adjusting well; she’s still her same fat, dumb, happy self. Mostly, she meows louder and more insistently: “I said, ‘MEOW’—aren’t you listening? Hey! You! The one with the food!”
(By the way, I love the name Deaf-O. Did they name the cat that when it was born, and its affliction was just a huge coincidence?)
That made me laugh–the cat thinks the problem is your hearing!
Even if you tried to tell Lillian she was deaf, she wouldn’t listen…
None of my ferrets are deaf, but it is relatively common in ferrets, especially those with a white streak on their heads (part of that syndrome that people can have, too).
Sometimes there are certain ranges the pet can hear–for example, sometimes a squeaky toy can be heard. Otherwise one goes with vibrations, especially those toys that vibrate. (other things that vibrate, not going there)
I love to think about Lillian looking around, thinking, awfully quiet in here all of a sudden.
An XBF of mine had a white, blue-eyed cat that was deaf (and fat, and stupid… hmmm). To “call” him or get his attention you stomped your foot on the floor, and he had a “sign language name” that he knew (point your hand down at the floor at cat level, wiggle all fingers) and would “come when called” as well as any cat ever does. He was certainly happy enough.
The biggest problem was he meowed REALLY loud when the mood struck him, usually late at night.
I only just realized she’s Lillian Hellman. Knowing Eve’s books, I thought she was Lillian Russell, and I couldn’t figure out which old-time movie star Dorothy was.
I once dated a girl who had a beautiful white, blue-eyed deaf cat. The cat was usually very skittish and afraid of movements and vibrations, but I would hunker down on the floor and slowly stretch and roll like a big cat, and I finally got him to come over and give me velvety head-butts in greeting.
The only advice I can think of probably won’t apply, but just in case. If she’s in the habit of climbing on things that can generate heat, you might want to unplug them before you leave home. My aunt’s neighbor had a deaf cat that adored sitting on the vacuum cleaner even when it was on and moving (since she was deaf she wasn’t afraid, you see) and because it had been left plugged in, the cat managed to turn it on. The vacuum got hot, set the rug on fire and the interior of the home was burned almost completely.
The vacuum thing is a long shot, but who knows what crazy trouble a cat can get into?
You know, new parents go through lots of stressful moments, especially when the kids are twins, born prematurely, and come home hooked to breathing monitors.
At one point, my poor wife, who was probably operating on only about an hour’s worth of sleep, had convinced herself that our little sleeping son might be deaf, and she started to panic and cry.
I leaned over, yelled “Hey” in a sharp voice, and watched his reassuring little panicked twitch.
My wife was relieved, surely. But I don’t think she ever entirely forgave me for that.
Well, I’ll be! That does make much more sense, relating to you, than Hellman & Parker.
Matt, Dorothy Parker made Lillian Hellman the executor of her will. That’s why I thought they were the namesakes of the cats. I didn’t know L. Gish had a sister named Dorothy.
Speaking of Parker’s making Hellman her executor, I thought they didn’t like each other? Or rather, they were once friends but became estranged in later years? I must be confusing Parker with someone else.
OUR DOG’S GONE DEEF AS A POST-- Er, our dog’s gone deaf. She’s actually better at obeying hand signals than she was at obeying voice commands, interestingly. Probably because in order to give her a hand signal, she has to be paying attention AND close enough to make out what it is. (She doesn’t see too good, either.)
