Blind Cat Shows Us a Disability is the Ability to Experience the World in a Different Way

Animals can teach us more than we can imagine if we only take the time to watch and listen.

The cat, named Stevie, is blind but doesn't let that get in the way of enjoying a good and happy life. Like many animals - and people too - a disability is the ability to experience the world in a different way from the rest of us.

For this cat, the lesson is clear. Make the most of what you have and don't dwell on what you don't.

I've experienced this personally with the eldest of our two dogs, Hope. She survived cancer twice, was deaf, became blind from canine retinal degeneration and just prior to her death, developed severe arthritis. Still, she remained a happy and relatively active dog up to her death earlier this year.

Like Stevie, our dog Hope, was able to adapt to most things she encountered. When we replaced our old single panel dog door with a newer three-panel door and added a ramp, we were worried if she could adapt.

Fact is, she figured it out even before our other dog who is half her age and has no disabilities. As our vet put it, she couldn't see the door was different since she relied on being able to feel the hard surface of the door and the softer plastic covering of the dog door as a way of knowing where to enter.

Our pets are great companions, but they can also be great teachers and motivators if we only take the time to pay attention.