My next-door neighbours have got a cat, its not a kitten but its not full grown yet either. I get the impression they’ve had it for some time and its only recently been allowed outdoors. It also spends quite a lot of time in my garden (and trying to get into the house) but as I like cats thats not really a problem.
I do get the impression though that its…well not that bright, definitely not a feline mensa candidate. It has an oddly ‘hooded’ forehead that makes it look like its observing the world with a permenant expression of slight puzzlement and bemusement.
The first time I saw it it was at my front door playing with a patch of grass, it looked up as it heard me approach then went back to enjoying itself, jumping in surprise when I leant down to scratch it behind the ears…ummm, hello Mr/s Cat, I just walked up behind you, remember? What if I’d been intending something a little more unpleasant than a scritch on the ears?
The other day I saw it sitting on the neighbours wall watching disinterestedly and apparently unconcerned as two quite large dogs strained at the leash and barked at it as another neighbour walked them past with obvious trouble keeping them under control.
And then I arrived home tonight and wheeled my car into the drive with said cat having no concerns at all that I just drove past it with my engine revving and front tyres not particularly far from its apparently air-filled little feline head. (I’d saw it when I pulled in, but if conditions had been worse I may not have)
Is my neighbours cat just daft or does it just have no sense of fear? (or self-preservation!). I imagine its used up at least several of its nine-lives by now!
That’s a very good point, it would certainly explain a lot of its odd behaviour (like not being bothered by the barking dogs or the noise of the cars engine) but it still isn’t reacting in a normal manner from the visual threats either.
Are you on good enough terms with your neighbors that you could tell them what you’ve observed, and tactfully suggest this be an indoors-only kitty? It does sound like he may be deaf. I’ve never known any, but I wonder if what you’re calling visual threats have a sound component to a hearing cat. So if this kitty can’t hear the threat, seeing it doesn’t mean anything because he doesn’t realize there is one.
To test its deafness, sneak up behind it (downwind, too), crouch on all fours and scream at the top of your lungs: “HEY PUSSY PUSSY PUSSY!” over and over again.
That does sound like an idea, I get on OK with them. Personally I’m not really keen on indoors cats but for this one I’d make an exception.
I think I understand what you mean, but tonight I drove my car slowly into the yard with the cat sitting about a foot from the front tyres and with no particular reaction at all to several tons of heavy metal passing so close to it!
I’ve tested the above theory and it looks like nonacetone may be right regarding its deafness, it doesn’t seem to respond to noises at all and most damning of all it completely ignores the internationally recognised cat sound ‘psh-psh-psh’, every cat responds to that, even if its only to give you a look telling you to bugger off!
Great, now I feel bad for making fun of a disabled cat.
If kitty hasn’t been much outdoors before these last few weeks, and didn’t have a mom cat or colony from which to learn what out there is dangerous, then kitty will have no reaction to things we think it should. Add deafness into the mix, and kitty simply is not recognizing things that should at least sound threatening. Kitty also seems to trust people implicitly and if outside may not realize some people do stuff like light cats on fire.
I would also have a chat with neighbors and see if they would be amenable with keeping kitty in for safety reasons. Seems like a really sweet cat.
“No Mister* Cat stop! For the love of God what are you doing?!?”
Well said cat is four months older (miraculously) but not much wiser. A couple of days ago I was leaving for work, reversing out of my driveway when I spotted said cat coming out of my neighbours yard, walking along the pavement towards me and…not…stopping…yes, much to my disbelief it casually walked under my car as I was reversing, between the front and rear wheels, and casually trotted on down the road as if it hadn’t just missed being squashed flat by several tons of moving metal! :eek:
Granted, I did stop when I saw it coming but it didn’t even break stride and would have happily marched under my moving vehicle if I hadn’t done so.
This is only one of several death-defying feats I’ve seen it pull off recently, I can’t help but think in the great celestial interchange the powers that be accidently stamped ‘999’ lives on its ticket instead of only ‘9’.
*actually I think its a female but ‘Miss Cat’ doesn’t sound right
That does sound reasonable and luckily this seems to be a cat friendly neighbourhood, I spoke to the neighbours but they run a car-repair business from their house so its hard to keep the doors closed all the time, I think they’ve just decided to let it take its chances as there isn’t much else they can do. Its older, but it doesn’t seem to be much wiser, I guess cats, like people, have some rather daft (though as you say sweet) members of their species.
Well apart from the lack of common sense thing its being looked after fine, its healthy and in good condition.
Unfortunately I can’t take it off their hands, I work irregular hours and can be away from home for lengthy periods, if that wasn’t the case I’d already have a little puddy tat of my very own.
I had a deaf kitty. He acted the same way, he had not one whit of fear for anything.
He was an indoor kitty from the start, but he’d walke under one’s feet without a thought of being stepped on.
I had a very large fish tank that he regularly fell into.
I’m ashamed to say, it made me laugh every time.
My other cat, who I’d had a while longer, sometimes would actually creep up behind him and pushed him in.
They both got squirt-gun punishment for getting near the tank, but, some kitties, like some people, never learn.
The hearing kitty learned, he only got up there to push the deaf guy in. I’d like to think maybe the older guy was trying to teach the deaf one to avoid the tank.
Update on the continuing adventures of my next door neighbours fearless cat.
No longer a callow youth I thought perhaps she* had gained wisdom with age but had been somewhat worried as I hadn’t seen her about in the past couple of weeks. Apparently she was just hiding indoors from the inclement weather we’ve been having as on my having a day off and working around the house in the current spell of sunshine she quickly put in an appearance.
I was checking the level in the oil tank at the rear of my house when I found myself nose to nose with the feline terror, ‘Hai, wot u at?’
Surprisingly she managed to not fall in to the open tank and followed me into the garage as I did some work on the car, content to explore the treasure trove of interesting items I have lying around, (bottle cap? Joy! Old till receipt? Rapture! Dirty piece of cloth? Indescribable bliss!)
At the rear of the garage are a number of old cardboard boxes from various items I’ve bought over the years, including a tall, wide but narrow TV box which has been stacked full of a number of other boxes leaving a conveniently kitty-sized three-foot vertical drop at one end. You can see where this is going.
Said curious cat designed this needed investigating, head-first, and with a surprisingly human ‘ooooffff’ of expelled air she fell into it, managing, from the sounds of it to get thoroughly stuck.
Thinking this was probably a good lesson for her to learn I gave her a chance to get out by herself and after some thumping and scrambling I see a frantically waving tail and then rear end reversing itself out of the box quickly followed by an annoyed cat who turned and gave me a dirty look as if it was all my fault.
Though I suppose it was in a way by leaving such fascinating kitty-magnets lying about all over the place…
*the little sparkly pink collar she now sports seems a pretty good hint gender-wise.
Especially from all your neighbors.
