Meet Daisy a totally deaf teenage kitty! We don’t normally get kitties this young. However, Daisy is a special needs girl that wandered into the yard at the Catnip Casa foster home. She didn’t have a microchip, an ear tip, or a collar. This pretty girl was in a real pickle because she couldn’t hear anything going on around her to help her stay safe.
Luckily, she is not feral. Daisy came right to me. It didn’t take long to discover that she was deaf. She didn’t react to someone coming into her room while she was asleep or even vacuuming while she was napping. To be sure, we also tested her while the vet was here to confirm it. Can you imagine how much danger she was in out on the street?
Daisy is a brown (looks gray to me, except on her tannish belly) tabby. She is very petite at less than eight pounds, and she’s less than a year old–probably six to nine months old, maximum. So we always wonder how a friendly kitty like Daisy ended up in this predicament. Our best guess is she got put outside when she went into heat for the first time. The yowling that ensues from a female in heat and males outside can be extremely annoying. Her person may not have known she was deaf or didn’t care at that point. However, that is the worst thing that can happen. This tiny girl will be attacked by any intact male cat in the area, and her scent will draw predators. She is lucky to be alive.
All cats go into a period of isolation until they get FeLV and FIV tested and have a thorough veterinary exam. Daisy passed that part with flying colors.
However, when Daisy went for her TNR surgery, she was pregnant already. A kitty her age and size often doesn’t survive pregnancy, and it’s likely her kittens wouldn’t either. She is terrified of other cats now too, but she didn’t have any other injuries. We are gradually acclimating her to the other cats and the resident dog. She appears to have a hernia that may still need another surgery. So any discussion of adoption is pending for now. She needs to get x-rays and evaluate the distension on her tummy and gain some weight. Daisy is likely to start growing again too, now that she’s safe.