[Blindtlk] Quick introduction and a question for pet owners

[Judy Jones]

Our daughter stayed with us for a time while looking for work; she had a 
cat, and we used the bell and collar to know where she was.  She was the 
perfect house guest, no trouble at all, no issues.

Judy


-----Original Message----- 
From: Serena Nickell via blindtlk
Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2014 1:17 PM
To: Lucy Sirianni ; Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Quick introduction and a question for pet owners

I am the owner of two cats, one who thinks she's a little escape artist at 
times.  She only tries to get out if the door is held open too long and even 
then if the door gets shut she makes a lot of noise in protest to come back 
in.  I used to have collars with bells on them so I could tell them apart 
until my Nightlight got caught in the blinds and almost hung herself.  I 
guess that's rare but it freaked me out so I took both their collars off.  I 
have hard wood floors so I'm able to hear most of what they're doing.  My 
Tiggerous, the escape artist, is extremely vocal so as long as I'm paying 
attention I can usually tell what they need.
Good luck with the shelter.  I hope this helps.
Serena


Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 11, 2014, at 11:07 AM, Lucy Sirianni via blindtlk 
> <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
>     I'm Lucy, a doctoral student and graduate student instructor in the 
> English department at the University of California, Berkeley, and a new 
> member of this list.  I wanted to reach out to this group to ask for 
> suggestions regarding a situation I'm currently attempting to resolve. 
> Over the weekend, I contacted a local animal shelter who had indicated a 
> need for foster homes for its animals, thinking this would be something 
> I'd enjoy doing and knowing I met all of the specified qualifications. 
> The staff member I talked to initially expressed a lot of interest and 
> immediately matched me with a cat who seemed like a great fit with me and 
> who was going to be euthanized in a matter of days if no one stepped 
> forward to take her (unlikely, I was told, since she's on the older side). 
> I was eager to meet this cat and seriously consider taking her into my 
> home, but when I happened to mention to the staff member in charge that I 
> am blind, she became concerned and is now uncertain of my ability to care 
> for the cat.  Her main concern is that I may not be able to keep the cat 
> from leaving my house, despite the fact that I have explained to her in 
> detail the measures I would take to ensure the cat's safety and assured 
> her that I have countless blind friends who routinely and successfully 
> care for animals.  I've told her that I would plan to have a bell on the 
> cat's collar so I'd consistently know where she was, as well as my name 
> and contact information so that she could be returned if she were ever to 
> get lost; I've also suggested that, before leaving my home, I simply place 
> the cat in a comfortable area from which she wouldn't have access to the 
> entrance to my apartment.  This is all in addition to pointing out the 
> rather obvious fact that vision can't in fact keep a cat indoors and that 
> sighted pet owners have to deal with similar worries.  I would welcome 
> hearing from blind cat owners who may be able to suggest other techniques 
> or allow me to mention their situations in further conversations with the 
> people in charge at the shelter.  I'd hate to see this cat end up dying 
> because of ignorance surrounding blindness.
>
> Thanks, everyone, and I very much look forward to being a part of this 
> group!
>
> Lucy
>
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