27 April 2008

Ulisse



Today somthing different than usual: I want to introduce you to Ulisse, my parents' cat. He is a big, totally white cat (no pedigree, a common street cat) and as often happens with white cats, totally deaf. It is so funny: to call him, it is normal to say "Uliiii???" ... and then I remember that he is deaf (this by the way makes him nice to play with for my children because he doesn't hear when they arrive to get him!)

You can read more about white cats and deafness here and here too!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a tragedy this is for the cat. Cats have very sensitive ears and I would imagine it puts him at a distinct disadvantage in life. But, maybe he has adapted.

I visited my neighbor lady who has a little toy fox terrier who is 14 years old and a sister to our dog now deceased. Their dog, Cuddles, is totally blind. Both eyes just dried up. She loves it when I visit and loves to play. So I sit on the floor and talk to her and play with her. Sometimes though she gets confused as to where she is and will try to get me to bite me and run into a chair or sofa instead. We always have a ball playing together.

So she adapted and gets along quite well, at her age and being blind.

I had no idea that white cats are normally blind.

Kitty said...

how odd that white cats have this tendency?
He looks great!

Tanya Breese said...

Hello Patrizia! What a sweet kittie. I had forgotten that about white cats. My best friend had one growing up, his name was Tommy. I can't remember if he was deaf though.

vero said...

Un grosso salutone ad Ulisse, รจ veramente un bel gatto!

USelaine said...

The expression on his face is adorable. He looks like a wonderful companion.

USelaine said...

Adding to my previous comment, here is a Wikipedia article that briefly mentions the tendency of white animals toward deafness:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalmatian#Health

Chuck Pefley said...

My tabby cat Sebastian did not tolerate children ever. He usually ended up under a bed and most often left several wet fur balls behind. For some reason whenever my grandchildren came to visit the poor guy got sick. Cats are interesting creatures. I'm sure your cat's deafness is a distinct advantage for your children though.

I agree about saving for that rainy day. Good thing to teach your kids.

ciao, Chuck

Ann (MobayDP) said...

Yes they are usually quite deaf.

I had a white cat named Sebastian. I feared he would be deaf but thankfully was not. I think it has something to do with the genes and how they are ordered.

They, like us, usually do adapt quite well.