Reader Sylvain Duford, a Canadian living in Panama, and yet another photographer who visits here, sent me this note and two photos of a kitten he rescued. It was so cute I couldn’t resist putting it up. Plus, it’s a life saved:
We have a stray cat near my office that had a new litter recently, she then moved them away but left this one kitten behind for some unknown reason. After a couple of days we realized this kitten was abandoned and getting weak. We took him home and nursed him back to health, he’s now 3 weeks old and healthy.
We called him Little Bear because of his ferocious appetite and assertive personality.
This was a timely rescue for Sylvain, too, as he reports he’d recently lost his beloved cat Cleopatra. Here’s Little Bear:
Very blue eyes – is it deaf?
Kittens very often have blue eyes and the color changes as they get older. (The same thing often happens with humans.) Blue eyes are also not a sign of deafness. Many cats with blue eyes (Siamese often have blue eyes) are not deaf. The deafness/blue eyes trait is usually associated with all-white cats with only one blue eye.
My impression was that ALL kittens are born with blue eyes (like human babies) and they change color. But I may be wrong.
I was very surprised to discover that baby crows also have blue eyes.
What is it about blue?
Melanin I think. A lot of baby animals have blue eyes. I got distracted and started reading this Wikipedia entry about eye colour.
I was follwing CD in On the Origin –
“cats with blue eyes are invariably deaf”
But I see that was questioned at the time –
http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/entry-2970
See also this from 2008
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/11/11/2416286.htm
How common is deafness in cats? There was a neighborhood cat a few years ago that I got to be pals with who was deaf and now a new cat that likes to hang out in my yard also appears to be deaf. (Or maybe I’m just not worth listening to.)
Pardon?
LOL
I used to have a lovely pure-white, blue-eyed, long-haired cat who was not deaf at all.
[She ultimately had to be put down because of congestive heart failure following on hyperthyroidism.]
The meme “white cat with blues = deaf” is only an approximation.
Started by Darwin!
Very cute. It kinda reminds me of grumpy cat for some reason.
Awwww cute kitten!
Reminds me of Summer-the-little-stripey-cat whom I found when she was only a few days old (eyes still closed, ears still down) and bottle-fed for seven weeks. She used to get all four paws on that feeding bottle.
@Dominic. No, not deaf. Most, if not all, kittens have blue eyes at that age.
Sweet. And well done to save him!
Cute overload! I feel like I’m in danger of diabetic shock….
b&
Dia-cutic shock?
Cuticle overload?
Isn’t cuticle overload when you’ve been cut to the quick?
b&
What perfect shots for a caption contest!
I’m glad Little Bear has a home – good save 🙂
(I won’t say he’s cute ’cause all kittehs are)
Very cute, this kitten!
We lost our old cat last February and just adopted two cute kittens. However, in the meantime a feral cat moved into our backyard and had three kittens. Our city has a very good deal for feral cats. You can catch them, have them neutered, vaccinated, and the cats are returned to where they are caught. No more “death panels.” People are even allowed to legally feed feral cats.
Google “Trap Neuter Return”
+1
Excruciatingly cute. Very good save.
Lucky kitteh!