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Description

Alternate Title: Who Blinks First Loses

Jo. Pic taken some time in late 1999, which would make Jo almost 3 years old. Female ♀

We call this "Jo's Listening Look".

The pupils of her eyes are fully dilated, even in bright daylight, as she's blind. The vet said there is no damage to the eyeballs, it's probably a problem with the nerve endings or the part of her brain that deals with sight. Guess that means the 'images' are not being transmitted to the brain.

She appeared in front of our home one day, about 8 or 9 months old, clean and well-fed and used to humans. We fed her and waited for a long time for somebody to come looking for her. We are almost certain she was abandoned. We were in the midst of moving and everything was topsy-turvy, so we made the decision to bring her in to the vet's to be spayed and left there for the two weeks while she healed from the surgery. She contracted an infection whilst there, and it must have spread to her brain and affected her eyesight.

One strange change in her behaviour after she lost her sight - she refuses to bend her head to eat from her feeding plate! We couldn't figure out why and we tried all ways we could think of to get her to eat. We failed. So, to this day (and she's 14+ now), we still hold her plate up to her mouth at feed times (or hand-feed her, depending on the nature of the food).

In answer too 's query "And she manages ok aorund the house just fine?" ...

"Surprising, she manages very well ... she can even climb staircases, goes outdoors to enjoy the sunshine, etc. And even when the human forgets and leaves a 'new' object in her path, she somehow manages to avoid it ... we think she must be using some other senses to help her sense the presence of things in her environment! The only times she actually runs into things are when there's a sudden loud noise somewhere near when she's out in the garden ... then, in her panic dash into the house and safety, she would sometimes run into things.

We try to keep her room a safe and 'unchanging' place for her so that she can feel secure in it ... every piece of furniture and object, including toilet tray and water bowls, have a designated spot; after each cleaning session, every piece is put back in its designated spot."

For more of Jo's story, see 'Glowing Eyes' ...
... and "You Called?" ...

Hey, and now Jo has her very own stamp ... ... made specially for her by her fan

Update
Died: 27 March 2013. Age: about 16 years.

Description

Alternate Title: Who Blinks First Loses

Jo. Pic taken some time in late 1999, which would make Jo almost 3 years old. Female ♀

We call this "Jo's Listening Look".

The pupils of her eyes are fully dilated, even in bright daylight, as she's blind. The vet said there is no damage to the eyeballs, it's probably a problem with the nerve endings or the part of her brain that deals with sight. Guess that means the 'images' are not being transmitted to the brain.

She appeared in front of our home one day, about 8 or 9 months old, clean and well-fed and used to humans. We fed her and waited for a long time for somebody to come looking for her. We are almost certain she was abandoned. We were in the midst of moving and everything was topsy-turvy, so we made the decision to bring her in to the vet's to be spayed and left there for the two weeks while she healed from the surgery. She contracted an infection whilst there, and it must have spread to her brain and affected her eyesight.

One strange change in her behaviour after she lost her sight - she refuses to bend her head to eat from her feeding plate! We couldn't figure out why and we tried all ways we could think of to get her to eat. We failed. So, to this day (and she's 14+ now), we still hold her plate up to her mouth at feed times (or hand-feed her, depending on the nature of the food).

In answer too 's query "And she manages ok aorund the house just fine?" ...

"Surprising, she manages very well ... she can even climb staircases, goes outdoors to enjoy the sunshine, etc. And even when the human forgets and leaves a 'new' object in her path, she somehow manages to avoid it ... we think she must be using some other senses to help her sense the presence of things in her environment! The only times she actually runs into things are when there's a sudden loud noise somewhere near when she's out in the garden ... then, in her panic dash into the house and safety, she would sometimes run into things.

We try to keep her room a safe and 'unchanging' place for her so that she can feel secure in it ... every piece of furniture and object, including toilet tray and water bowls, have a designated spot; after each cleaning session, every piece is put back in its designated spot."

For more of Jo's story, see 'Glowing Eyes' ...
... and "You Called?" ...

Hey, and now Jo has her very own stamp ... ... made specially for her by her fan

Update
Died: 27 March 2013. Age: about 16 years.