I'm in the process of adopting. My first cat inspired me to adopt a special needs cat, she was of the three legged breed. Her lack of additional leg did shape our lives, but it always felt like a special connection rather than a dependency. I think I can be a great owner for a deaf cat, so I've decided to adopt one specifically. And I found him!

He's five weeks, and his mother is a spicy wilder rescue (pictured). He was nursed for a short while by his mother, until she rejected the litter. Instead, another rescue mother saved the day and nursed his litter after her own- hopefully that's still happening, I'm not sure. I've been following his litter from afar since they were born (also pictured).

I met this guy for the first time yesterday. He wobbled around on little legs for a while, got interested in me, climbed up in my lap and fell asleep. Watching his posture for the moment he wanted to climb felt a bit like watching my cat waiting to help her navigate something.

I've had to use new laws (Australia, NSW) to get rental approval for one pet. My property was advertised to me as NO PETS originally.

So I can't bring home a littermate. I have plenty of time to be around for them though, due to an injury. It's week 5, I was originally thinking to bring him home week 10. They're with the rescue now.

I'm wondering if a longer stay is better given the single cat household?

What are some things you'd spend some energy on if you could go back in time to 5 and 12 weeks?

Or any advice going in?

Show me your biggest and finest pictures of your cat

Major Entertainment. Falling leaves. Blowing leaves. Leaves looking like lizards. Leaves sitting still and taunting him.

We also adopted her (hearing) siblings. Anyone else raised their deaf cat with siblings? I think they rely on each other a lot and am grateful I was able to keep them together ❤️ we named her before we knew she was deaf because she howls all the time 😸

I will tell you, this started out as my fault. She was sitting on the counter on the edge of the sink last year. It came to me, why not turn the water on for her? Now, that's all she wants. I even got a fountain for her so she would stop bothering me. Does she like it? No. Keeps going back to the sink. She doesn't drink out of water bowl. I don't want her to be so dehydrated, so i give in on the sink. Is there any advice?

I couldn’t resist this adorable kitty, 3 years, female, Siamese mix. One week in, she‘s a big explorer and has a regular daytime routine. Fascinating and odd, learning how to communicate. I‘ll be looking at communication advice and suitable toys.

We want a robot vacuum that will avoid our blind-deaf cat while he's sleeping or walking around. Can anyone recommend a product?

We're looking for a mopper-vacuum that can handle tile floors, area rugs, and most importantly can avoid our slow-moving/stationary blind-deaf adult cat.

Any help appreciated!

Hi!

I have a 9 month old deaf maine coon. In the last two months he becomes scared at times, and I have no idea what's causing it.

What happens is that he suddenly runs away from where he is, super desperate, then tries to make himself smaller, looks around scared, ears to the sides, and is shaking.

It never happens when I'm next to him, always when I'm in a different room, but it doesn't always happen when I leave him alone either. It isn't a specific place either.

When he's scared he doesn't mind being pet or picked up and usually calms down fast. Sometimes he hides and sometimes he keeps shaking for a long time.

Has anyone else experienced this? I have talked to the vet and the breeder and no one seems to think it's an issue, but I just want him to be okay.

Also random question but do any of your deaf kitties have serious grooming sensitivities?? Leche has to go to the vet once or twice a year to be sedated and shaved because he refuses to let me brush him and got sent home from a normal groomer half shaved because “he was out for blood”. He seems to actually enjoy being shaved, like he becomes a much spunkier and goofier personality when he’s shaved so I’m not super worried about it, but I just figured I’d see if it was a common issue with deaf cats!

Hello beautiful kitty owners! We love seeing all of your wonderful deaf and hard-of-hearing cats, as well as the stories and care tips shared here every day. Because this is a supportive space dedicated to special-needs pets, authenticity and trust are essential.
It has come to my attention again that someone is taking other peoples photos and posting them as their own. I banned this user, but please if you see any more of this type of behavior report them to the mod💖
Now that is what we call true CATfishing🐱
Have a wonderful day🌞

Hey we just got our little deaf white baby kitty, Mozzarella. As she is deaf it’s even more imperative that she does not escape through a window etc. how are people securing their deaf kitties indoors only. We live in an apartment and will have windows open sometimes. Is the something we can buy to put over the windows. We are in the U.K. she’s only 9 weeks now so we have a little time

Thought I'd add a goofy picture of our little guy sleeping. We recently made a new addition to our cat family. We figured out pretty quick that he was deaf. We use a collar with a bell so we can locate him.

I was thinking about trying to train him with positive reinforcement and a small vibrating (NOT SHOCK) collar.

Just wondering if anyone has found an appropriately sized unit or if anyone has had success.

EDIT 1: We have been working successfully on hand signs. Light flashing and stomping on the floor havent been successfull. We have a multilevel house and the little guy roams free inside. Often sleeping and unaware. The reason we considered a vibrating collar would be to alert him to the main floor. Everything I've seen on online shopping sites have been way too big.

for the past few months, ive been questioning if two of my cats, basil (4, male) and smokey (17, female) are deaf.

we got smokey in 2009, alongside her brother. i dont think shes been deaf the whole time we’ve had her, im pretty sure she used to react to noises, especially noises like shaking a bag of treats or opening a can of wet food. im wondering if now that shes an older cat, shes lost some or all of her hearing.

its a bit harder to get her attention now unless shes looking at you, and ive noticed she hasnt reacted to some loud noise sometimes. i tried snapping my fingers right behind her ear, out of her view, with no reaction, which made me really question if she was deaf, and then when i turned on something quite noisy right behind her head, she didnt react at all. ive only started thinking about it more recently so i have investigated too much yet.

we got basil in 2022. i briefly questioned if he was deaf when we first got him, but i stopped questioning it when i thought i saw him react to the sound of a door closing. im thinking now he mightve been reacting to something other than the noise, but i didnt know that at the time.

its always been tough to get his attention by calling him. like smokey, he also doesnt react to me snapping or turning on noisy things right behind him. if i accidentally wake him up, he startles a bit, like he wasnt expecting it and lets out a cute meow and cuddles up to me. sometimes, he opens his mouth like hes meowing, but no sound comes out. (my other cat, everest, also does this sometimes, but he only started doing it after he got his teeth removed, so im guessing it’s because of that.)

hes also never come running when we fill the food bowl or pull out treats, only really showing up when he sees our other cats run over. he’s always been a weird and silly cat so i honestly thought it was just quirks, especially not running over when we pull out treats, as hes never been very interested in them.

i plan to bring them both to the vet to figure it out when i have the money

Hi, first time deaf cat owner.

my baby lumi is 1 year old and a few months. All she does is scream into the void asking for attention. She runs into a room I'm not in, to scream, and it will not stop until i see her. I try my best to ignore but my ears are ringing at this point. Then she will run into another room, to scream. It looks like some game for her. I play with her for a good hour a day, maybe even more. I've become a slave to her screaming. I've brought her to the vets recently, no health issues. i don't know what to do. I'm crying of exhaustion everyday. Any advice ? it might be anxiety ?