Merlin is a very special little cat because he can't see.
This is Merlin at 12 weeks old. When he first came into us, he was put in an outside pen for a week in quarantine. After he had been blood-tested for Fiv and Felv, and had his 1st vaccination, he was brought indoors and put in a kitten pen, to get used to all the other cats around him. It wasn't until we opened the front of the pen to let him come out and explore, that we noticed there was something wrong. Merlin didn't attempt to come out of the pen, even though the front was wide open, until a week later. He then walked very slowly around the outside of the pen, staying close to the sides. As we watched him during the first week, we knew there was something wrong, but couldn't quite figure out what it was. He didn't play, `chase the string', or `chase the light' with the other kittens. He didn't dash about like kittens normally do. He walked carefully from one place to another. We gradually realised that he couldn't see.
When we took him back to the vets for his second vaccination, we asked if there were any tests that she could do, which she did. Her conclusion was that Merlin definitely can't see close-up, but we think that he may be able to distinguish shapes moving at a distance. He seems to know where a cat is, when it is walking by, but if it is sitting still, he bumps into it. He started to play with various soft toys, but if they go more than about 6" from him, he tries to find them by patting around the floor with his paw.
The pictures above show Merlin at 14 weeks. Three of them show him playing with a toy mouse, which he loves. The fourth picture shows him trying to get off the chair. He does this by walking his paws down the side until he reaches the ground, then his back feet follow. If he manages to climb up on to something that has no sides for him to walk down, he gets in a bit of a panic, and sometimes cries for help.
Above is Merlin, again at 14 weeks, one looking cute, and one having a doze.
Above is Merlin at 15 weeks, showing how he gets down from the top of the cat tree. First feeling his way carefully down the side of the tube, then following with his back feet, but in this case landing upside-down in a heap.
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Merlin with his playmate Dotty Merlin with his friend Leo
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Merlin Relaxing
Merlin at 6 months
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Merlin loves climbing up to high places, in the third picture, you can see how high he is. Unfortunately he finds it much harder to get down than it is to get up, and sometimes just sits and screams until he is rescued, although he is finding it easier as he gets bigger.
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Here is Merlin playing with one of his favourite balls, he likes it because he can pick it up and carry it around. His favourite place to play with it is in the bathroom on the tiled floor, as he can hear it rolling. If anyone flushes the toilet, he loses it, because he can't hear it over the noise.
In the second picture, Merlin has found the food bowl, he is very good at smelling food, especially ours.
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Merlin will be staying with us now, so if you would like to Sponsor this very clever little boy, please call Elaine on 01502 574562, or print and fill in a Sponsor form from our website by clicking here. Many thanks.
We will be updating this page as Merlin grows and progresses.