ADOPTING SPECIAL NEEDS CATS
Why It Can Be So Rewarding & Special
The holidays are a time of togetherness, and sometimes loneliness too, and they are a time for giving and receiving love. A time to help others and to spread love and joy. Oftentimes the best gift we can receive is the gift we give to others. Few things feel as good as helping others feel needed and loved, which reflects back to us.
In the spirit of giving I want to propose a special type of cat to adopt. This is a type of cat that is often called “special needs;” meaning they have only 3 legs, or they’re blind, deaf, or have some type of perceived “defect.” Before you say something like, “I don’t want a cat with a problem” please give me a chance and read on.
THEY’RE JUST THEMSELVES Special needs cats don’t see themselves as special needs. They’re just themselves. And they don’t really have any special needs. The truth is that all of these cats, the wobbly cats, the three-legged cats, or the blind or deaf cats are so grateful to be loved that you both forget about any perceived shortcomings, and you realize they don’t have shortcomings at all. It’s one of the things to love about them, their ability to jump up on your sofa with only one rear leg, or the blind cat who navigates your home like a race car driver (Ok, almost like one!). And they’re amazing conversation starters! I promise you every single person who meets your special cat will ask, “So how do they get around with being x, y, or z?” And I also promise your answer will always be, “Just amazingly, thank you!”
Years ago, my husband and I went to adopt a companion for our senior cat after he lost his brother. We were going to do the right and smart thing and adopt an older cat for him. A colleague at the ASPCA where I volunteered at the time knew we were looking and she said, “We have a little blind-from-birth kitten who was found with her siblings in a box by the side of the Pelham Parkway in the Bronx, would you like to look at her?” What was I going to say, “No?” Absolutely not! One look and one plaintive meow from her and the next thing we knew we were bringing her home the day after Christmas and named her “Jenny” after our vet.
This past October she celebrated her thirteenth birthday and our love for her is boundless. She is the smartest cat we have ever had and so good at mapping her world in her head that people often mistake her for sighted. What she has is sight without vision.
When I was doing adoptions at the ASPCA a couple came in and said they wanted a bonded pair of cats. I showed them several pairs and none were quite right. So I said, “I have one more pair I can show you.” As I opened the door to the kennel I explained that both of these cats were blind, that they loved each other, and we didn’t want to split them up.” For twenty minutes I talked about the joy of having a blind cat and all the incredible things Jenny has taught me. And as they started to close the kennel door the wife looked at me with tears in her eyes and she said, “We’ll take them both.”
ASSESSING THE BEHAVIOR
Just recently at the Animal Care Centers of NYC where I work in feline behavior, I was re-assessing a cat named Panama with three legs who came to us fearful and upset. But in the time he spent with us, he had blossomed and I gave him a new assessment – a beginner” cat suitable for first time adopters just as this family walked in to look at him. They had come in looking to adopt a harder-to-adopt cat and I told them that even though he was now great behaviorally, he was still harder to adopt because of the recently amputated leg. They fell in love and took him home the same day.
I watch people walk past the sweetest of cats all the time, passing them by because of one perceived defect or another. Be the person who pauses for a second as you start to walk past that kennel. Turn your head back and look at them quietly looking at you, yearning for a better life. You can change their life and yours for the better, forever. Happy Holidays!
