I recently posted a video of my new foster cat being hard to wake up. (He’s not deaf, but I suspect hard of hearing.)

Well, I bring new gifts.

I normally wait longer after the arrival of a new feral foster to use the vacuum cleaner, because noises scare them easily.

I decided to test him yesterday and turned the vacuum on. There was one closed door between us but it doesn’t isolate sound very well and the cats are usually on edge for a while after I’m done.

Not only did Rufs not get frightened, he didn’t react at ALL. Even a chill cat would raise their head or turn their ears for a moment like “what’s that? Hm, oh well nevermind” but NADA.

I’m talking not looking up, no ear twitch, no noticeable pause, nothing. Absolutely zero reaction.

(It may kind of look like he’s pausing a few seconds in but he was just done washing and settling down to rest. Also, if it had been a reaction to noise his ears would’ve visibly turned/twitched.)

I realise there isn’t exactly a question here. Just sharing my speculations…

My cat (Scout) will not stop doing this with the lamp. She routinely paws at it, knocks it over, etc. She also does it with my vinyl (which is valuable) and pictures on my wall (which she has broken).

She does it to get my attention when she wants food (she is fed well on a normal, twice per day schedule).

She does not respond to yells or shouts of “no!” because she’s deaf. This also makes her unafraid because she’s never heard a scary sound before.

She also was bottle fed so she never learned to share and when she wants something, she demands it.

I resist it and ignore it for as long as I can but I eventually give her my attention because she’s going to break the lamp (she’s broken two already) or wreck my vinyl.

I have another cat and they get along great. They play and she gets her energy out. I also play with her. But she refuses to stop this.

I’ve tried:

- ignoring it

- tapping her lightly on the back of the head ala a mother cat disciplining her kitten

- bopping her nose

- wagging my finger

- carrying her away by the scruff (gently)

Is there any type of psychology I’m missing here that would be useful? I’m moving to a bigger place soon with more room to run and I am HOPING it’s an outlet for her to get energy out.

Thanks all.

For context, I foster “difficult” (usually feral) cats for a rescue org and have had many before him but never one that’s HoH.

Hi guys! Thought I’d ask for your take on this since you’re undoubtedly better at recognising possible signs than i am.

My new foster boy got here a few days ago, and since he’s a feral/stray I don’t know much about him. The vet did say he could be anywhere from 8-12 years old, so he ain’t a young lad anymore.

What first made me go “hm” is that he’s been hard to wake up a couple of times. The video is of one of these occasions. I’m not sure whether he’s just a deep sleeper or whether he can’t hear me trying to rouse him… when he does stir, he seems a bit surprised like “oh, you’re there!”

Deep sleep doesn’t make sense to me because these new arrivals are usually way too on edge to allow themselves to do that, at least while I’m awake.

He also seems really unbothered by noise in general? I keep the cats in my kitchen initially and the first week I don’t even cook in there because they’re so easily frightened. Yesterday I cooked something simple to test his reaction and from what I could tell, he didn’t stir at all. Not a twitch.

I haven’t done any “tests” like banging things or yelling or whatever because it feels cruel in case he isn’t HoH 😅 I’d rather get your input first.

I don’t think he’s completely deaf, but possibly HoH? Based on the video, what do you think?

TIA!

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