teaching a deaf cat

Hi everyone,

I work with the SPCA of Northern Virginia. I remember reading
notes from several members of these groups who have deaf cats.
Casperetta is a deaf cat (about 6 months old) that we are
fostering right now and her foster mom is having problems
teaching her what not to do. Casperetta was abandoned at a
vet office. Any advice is appreciated.
Here is an part of her note:

================================================== ==============

I ended up picking Casperetta up from the vet's office on Saturday
afternoon. I am not sure about her. She is sweet and cute but
I think she likes misbehaving? I was actually going to call
Kathleen today and ask for some advice. Casperetta is deaf so
when she is misbehaving I can't scold her to let her know that
what she is doing is not acceptable. I don't know how to go about
letting her know when she has done something wrong. I can't really
remember our family cat being quite so mischievous when she was
just a kitten. She is constantly jumping on the kitchen counters
and I want to let her know that I don't like that. Actually, a
couple of days ago I was cooking something in the stove and
Casperetta decided to jump up on the stove with 2 burners going. I
am worried that she is going to jump up there and knock over a
pot on herself or something. Last night she was hanging with 2
paws from the binds and swinging from side to side It is a
little funny, but I am starting to feel frustrated. The other thing
she does that I want her to not do is use me as a tree. She
climbs up my body using her claws and then sits on my shoulders.
When you foster kittens do they usually get into a lot of trouble around
the house?

================================================== ====================

Anyone have helpful advice? Thanks in advance.

Debbie Berry

"Debra Berry" wrote in message
...

Hi everyone,

I work with the SPCA of Northern Virginia.
Casperetta is a deaf cat (about 6 months old) that we are
fostering right now and her foster mom is having problems
teaching her what not to do.

Here is an part of her note:

================================================== ==============

I ended up picking Casperetta up from the vet's office on Saturday
afternoon. I am not sure about her. She is sweet and cute but
I think she likes misbehaving?
I can't really
remember our family cat being quite so mischievous when she was
just a kitten.
Last night she was hanging with 2
paws from the binds and swinging from side to side It is a
little funny, but I am starting to feel frustrated. The other thing
she does that I want her to not do is use me as a tree.

================================================== ====================

Anyone have helpful advice? Thanks in advance.

Debbie Berry


I have never worked with a deaf cat, but there are others on this group who
will probably respond. However, one thing I noticed is that Casparetta
seems to need a lot of exercise. Part of this is her age (very young), but
part of the difficulty is that she may not have enough play areas that her
foster mother considers "appropriate." I would suggest a good selection of
toys that provide exercise. Best of all, I think she would benefit from a
cat tree. Cat trees provide fun for the cat and an area to be as active as
the cat/kitten wants without getting into any "trouble."

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
...

"Debra Berry" wrote in message
...

Hi everyone,

I work with the SPCA of Northern Virginia.
Casperetta is a deaf cat (about 6 months old) that we are
fostering right now and her foster mom is having problems
teaching her what not to do.

Here is an part of her note:

================================================== ==============

I ended up picking Casperetta up from the vet's office on Saturday
afternoon. I am not sure about her. She is sweet and cute but
I think she likes misbehaving?
I can't really
remember our family cat being quite so mischievous when she was
just a kitten.
Last night she was hanging with 2
paws from the binds and swinging from side to side It is a
little funny, but I am starting to feel frustrated. The other thing
she does that I want her to not do is use me as a tree.

================================================== ====================

Anyone have helpful advice? Thanks in advance.

Debbie Berry


I have never worked with a deaf cat, but there are others on this group
who
will probably respond. However, one thing I noticed is that Casparetta
seems to need a lot of exercise. Part of this is her age (very young),
but
part of the difficulty is that she may not have enough play areas that her
foster mother considers "appropriate." I would suggest a good selection
of
toys that provide exercise. Best of all, I think she would benefit from a
cat tree. Cat trees provide fun for the cat and an area to be as active
as
the cat/kitten wants without getting into any "trouble."

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")


I agree. Seems to me, if everytime she got on counters or into mischief she
was put on a sturdy cat tree, she would learn THAT is the place to run
around. Cats are pretty smart.

Karen

On Tue, 24 Feb 2004 12:28:42 -0500, Debra Berry
wrote:


Hi everyone,

I work with the SPCA of Northern Virginia. I remember reading
notes from several members of these groups who have deaf cats.
Casperetta is a deaf cat (about 6 months old) that we are
fostering right now and her foster mom is having problems
teaching her what not to do. Casperetta was abandoned at a
vet office. Any advice is appreciated.
Here is an part of her note:

================================================= ===============

I ended up picking Casperetta up from the vet's office on Saturday
afternoon. I am not sure about her. She is sweet and cute but
I think she likes misbehaving? I was actually going to call
Kathleen today and ask for some advice. Casperetta is deaf so
when she is misbehaving I can't scold her to let her know that
what she is doing is not acceptable. I don't know how to go about
letting her know when she has done something wrong. I can't really
remember our family cat being quite so mischievous when she was
just a kitten. She is constantly jumping on the kitchen counters
and I want to let her know that I don't like that. Actually, a
couple of days ago I was cooking something in the stove and
Casperetta decided to jump up on the stove with 2 burners going. I
am worried that she is going to jump up there and knock over a
pot on herself or something. Last night she was hanging with 2
paws from the binds and swinging from side to side It is a
little funny, but I am starting to feel frustrated. The other thing
she does that I want her to not do is use me as a tree. She
climbs up my body using her claws and then sits on my shoulders.
When you foster kittens do they usually get into a lot of trouble around
the house?

================================================= =====================

Anyone have helpful advice? Thanks in advance.

Debbie Berry


First off, thanks to you and the foster meowmie for taking care of
Casperetta.

As for advice, a lot of it sounds like a kitten being a kitten. I
imagine the old standby of a spray bottle of water. It'll undoubtedly
take longer with the deaf Cas, since she won't hear the pumping
action, but hopefully she isn't one of those cats who don't mind
getting squirted (my Rocky couldn't care less, he'll sit in the middle
of the lawn when it's raining).

As for getting on the stove, like you said this could be have tragic
consequences. My Sammy used to worry me, since she was always trying
to supervise any kitchen activity. I used to have to lock her in the
bedroom when cooking, but she's learned that whenever I turn on the
light over the stove she isn't allowed on counters. Took quite a
while, about six months, for her to make the connection between the
light being on and staying off the counter, but whenever she started
to jump up I'd give her a stern NO, and if she jumped anyway it was
straight into bedroom lockup. She still supervises, but now does it
from the top of the fridge.
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky

[remove Junk for email]
Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html
Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html

My friend, who has a deaf cat, uses the water squirter, hand signals,
scruffing, and gentle taps on the nose to get her point across.

However, keep in mind that deaf cats are still cats, and are stubborn and
ingeneous creatures at the best of times.

Yowie

"Debra Berry" wrote in message
...

Hi everyone,

I work with the SPCA of Northern Virginia. I remember reading
notes from several members of these groups who have deaf cats.
Casperetta is a deaf cat (about 6 months old) that we are
fostering right now and her foster mom is having problems
teaching her what not to do. Casperetta was abandoned at a
vet office. Any advice is appreciated.
Here is an part of her note:

Debbie Berry


This site has some basic information on caring for a deaf cat:
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/brini/whtdeaf/advice.htm

HTH,
MaryL

Thank you all for your replies. I've forwarded the URL
that MaryL gave and the other information to Petrina,
Casperetta's foster mom. Additional info and advice
about how to help Casperetta is welcome.

Debbie



Debra Berry wrote:

Hi everyone,

I work with the SPCA of Northern Virginia. I remember reading
notes from several members of these groups who have deaf cats.
Casperetta is a deaf cat (about 6 months old) that we are
fostering right now and her foster mom is having problems
teaching her what not to do. Casperetta was abandoned at a
vet office. Any advice is appreciated.
Here is an part of her note:

================================================== ==============

I ended up picking Casperetta up from the vet's office on Saturday
afternoon. I am not sure about her. She is sweet and cute but
I think she likes misbehaving? I was actually going to call
Kathleen today and ask for some advice. Casperetta is deaf so
when she is misbehaving I can't scold her to let her know that
what she is doing is not acceptable. I don't know how to go about
letting her know when she has done something wrong. I can't really
remember our family cat being quite so mischievous when she was
just a kitten. She is constantly jumping on the kitchen counters
and I want to let her know that I don't like that. Actually, a
couple of days ago I was cooking something in the stove and
Casperetta decided to jump up on the stove with 2 burners going. I
am worried that she is going to jump up there and knock over a
pot on herself or something. Last night she was hanging with 2
paws from the binds and swinging from side to side It is a
little funny, but I am starting to feel frustrated. The other thing
she does that I want her to not do is use me as a tree. She
climbs up my body using her claws and then sits on my shoulders.
When you foster kittens do they usually get into a lot of trouble around
the house?

================================================== ====================

Anyone have helpful advice? Thanks in advance.

Debbie Berry