New Year's Eve discovery/confirmation

This post is dedicated to our “Little Girl” Sansa.

 

When we adopted the Kittens of Mass Destruction in June of 2012, we often noticed that Sansa didn’t seem to hear or did not process the sounds she hears.  It is more than selective hearing or ignoring people when she doesn’t want to do what her humans say, she simply does not hear.

 

This was beyond evident on New Year’s eve, when the fireworks started popping and crackling overhead, the boys ran for their lives and Sansa jumped onto the couch to snuggle with me.  The quieter (or more distant) pops and bangs did not phase her at all, she slept through most of it; while the loud or sharper ones, she would pick her head up, look around the room and since the boys weren’t out to clue her in that this was bad or frightening, she put her head back down.

With midnight approaching, even our old Maine Coon female was no longer amused by the sounds and got off her couch to take cover.  It was only then that Sansa freaked out.  Still not entirely sure that she actually heard anything more than watched the “Big Kitty” react negatively to the loud sounds outside.  Had Wubbie simply gotten down off the couch in an unhurried manner or with her regular posture, I don’t think Sansa would have reacted at all!  But since Wubbie jumped down after a particularly loud bang and Sansa saw her jump down, and Wubbie’s posture was the “I am frightened”: tail down, belly almost to the ground, small quick steps to the bedroom to hide under the bed; only then did Sansa decide that the noises were somehow bad.

 

So, now I am trying to devise a sign language for her.  While she KNOWS what the squirty water bottle means and if you get her attention and she SEES the squirt bottle, she will cease and desist whatever behavior that brought out the squirt bottle.  She also knows what it means when you wag your finger at her in the “no no” gesture.  Those are the only two gestures she KNOWS and responds to appropriately.  Once she knows you are interacting with her, she is a very sweet kitty.  

 

Now that we know for certain she is either hearing impaired or somehow sensory  impaired; it is kind of a relief.  It is frustrating when I can call her name until I’m blue in the face and if she does not see me, she does not even acknowledge I exist.  She does hear some things and know what some sounds mean.  The little bell on her favorite toy will bring her running from the other side of the house.  Joe’s big booming bass voice she hears “occasionally” depending on how deep or loud he gets.  She rarely hears me.  If I meow in a certain pitch she becomes distressed and will run to me, but I don’t know what I am “saying” so I don’t usually meow at her.  It is also frustrating when you try to explain to other people what is happening with her and they say, “she is ignoring you”.  We know for certain there is something going on with her, we will proceed with this newfound knowledge.

She is a year and a half old and SO tiny next to Minion: