Staff Photo: Jason Braverman Betty Macaluso holds her cat, Tom 2, at her Lawrence-ville home. Macaluso is deaf, and the cat wakes her up in the morning and functions as her ears.
Posted on 07/05/2009 7:37:10 AM PDT by JoeProBono
LAWRENCEVILLE - Betty Macaluso doesn't need an alarm clock; she has cats.
The Lawrenceville woman is awakened each morning by Tom 2, a wide-eyed orange and white cat, who gently paws at her arm about 6 a.m. wanting his breakfast. If Tom 2 happens to sleep through his job or gets distracted, Tiger, a heavier gray and black tabby, steps in.
Since Macaluso can't hear the ringing of an alarm clock - she has been deaf all her life - her cats serve as her ears. She adopted Tom 2 and Tiger, both now about a year old, from PetSmart in Lawrenceville when they were 3 months.
"They know I can't hear," Macaluso, 68, said through a sign language interpreter. "They do hear for me."
Macaluso recalled one morning when Tom 2, whose predecessor, Tom 1, she said was also very smart, stood on her stomach gazing up at the ceiling above her bed. A week went by and she noticed Tom 2 often staring up at the same spot. When Macaluso shined a flashlight over the area that held the cat's attention, she saw a thin, round line of clay on her ceiling and immediately called pest control. Tom 2 had detected termites.
"(Pest control) came to check up and ... found out termite(s) (were) inside (the) wall and asked me how I (heard them)," Macaluso wrote via e-mail. "He was puzzled (how I knew if) I am deaf and can't hear. I smiled and pointed to my Tom 2."
The exterminator told Macaluso she was lucky to have a cat like Tom 2; she could have lost her home if he hadn't detected the termites.
Tom 2 seems especially sensitive to insects in his home.
"He notices the smallest things," Macaluso said, "a spider on the ceiling, an ant crawling on the floor."
Tom 2 and Tiger also notice the flashing lights that signal the doorbell or video phone is ringing and alert their owner.
Since Macaluso can't hear her cats' meows, whenever the two want to play, they know to gently paw at her leg to get her attention.
Macaluso, whose parents were also deaf, grew up in a home with cats. She remembers one evening when she was a young girl, sitting down with her mother on the swing on their porch, when their family cat began acting strangely.
"We were puzzled why," Macaluso wrote.
Until the cat began fighting with a rattlesnake that lay five feet away from Macaluso and her mother.
"He saved me (from being bitten) by a rattlesnake," she wrote. "I will never ... live without two cats because they always helped me by (hearing what I cannot)."
Staff Photo: Jason Braverman Betty Macaluso holds her cat, Tom 2, at her Lawrence-ville home. Macaluso is deaf, and the cat wakes her up in the morning and functions as her ears.
My dogs are my door bell. My bell does not work properly and seems to defy being repaired but I don’t need it. I have 4 dogs and they alert me when someone drives up into the driveway and then they go nuts when someone pushes the door bell. I don’t know what they hear but I know what they are telling me.
Nice story.
Thanks.
She adopted Tom 2 and Tiger ... from PetSmart ...
If I adopted every cat I fell in love with at PetSmart I would need a farm. :)
Now, this is how God made animals and mankind..., in such a way as to complement each other... it’s a good story...
I sure wouldn’t ring that doorbell. LOL
The article said — Since Macaluso can’t hear her cats’ meows, whenever the two want to play, they know to gently paw at her leg to get her attention.
—
Ahhh..., cats are intelligent and adaptive, too... :-)
These cats appear to have turned into “alert animals” for this deaf person, but I have heard of dogs being trained to alert deaf people to things. However, I’ve never heard of a cat being *trained* in this manner. I think she’s fortunate to have it turn out that way for her...
My cats have alerted me to strangers coming out of the woods and walking through my neighbor’s yard. They are like watchdogs kind of, just quieter and you have to look and listen for their ques.
I have some age-related hearing loss. Our dog has taken it upon himself to let me know when anyone is on the property. He does get confused, though, by sounds of doorbells and cellphones on TV. He will run to the door and the large windows overlooking the driveway, barking like crazy and looking for the *visitor*.
If a friend comes into the house, he will not let them past a certain point unless I specifically tell him it’s ok. He just stands rooted like a statue and blocks them, gently, until I come over and tell him to let the person pass further. At 115 pounds, no one argues with him.
LOL! Clock cat sez, “I keep teh time in dis place!”
My cat is my alarm clock and notifies me when it is time for breakfast and time for dinner......She’s the smartest cat in the world.........../NOT!
Our late Muffin used to wake me up every morning at 4 a.m. in time to get Hubby out of the house for his long commute. Every morning. Every stinkin’ morning, holidays, vacation, weekends, sick days, every bleedin’ darn morning.
We loved him anyway.
LOL! G-d bless all kitties!
My cats also are great watchcats....from everything to bugs or outside people walking too close to the house. They hear things I can’t and when they perk up —I take notice and action. They also will surround a bug which gives me time to get the vacuum.
Dogs bark at EVERYTHING and ANYTHING. They are too annoying....I just watched that movie ‘Marley and Me’ and all through it, I kept telling myself how lucky I was not to have a destroying noisy clumsy dog —but instead- 3 quiet, patient, litter boxed trained, well behaved calm cats..
My cat, Gracie, did a little flaminco dance in front of my wife yesterday, blocking her way and preventing her from stepping on a scorpion that had gotten into the house. Between scorpion spotting and stalking palmetto bugs, my two little girls are quite adept at letting me know when something isn’t quite right in the house.
If you find cats boring, then you never really knew them. They are hardly boring...unless you mean they don’t drool, barf and eat it, pace and scratch you to go out 10 times a day, bark bark, bark, bark, fart all the time, roll in poo whenever given the chance, bark bark bark, wag their tail and knock things over, smell like poop 5 minutes after bathtime, drip saliva...then yeah i’ll agree with ya.
LOL....love the name ‘Gracie’.
There is a reason your cats 'leave you alone'. I don't think I need to point it out. Mine are around me as much as possible --all the time and it's not for food. I have a small blanket on my office desk because my one cat is there whenever I'm there. They are very funny, playful are just full of antics. They are a pure JOY ...unlike the smelly needy poop eating dogs.
I find owning a dog is like having a barking piece of poop tied to your ankle...and you can't shake it free.
I get back more than I give my dogs. I get playful fun (anytime), protection(all the time) and devotion(constantly). I can’t say the same for any cat I ever owned. Maybe the old tomcat I had as a child, he let me dress in in a nightgown and would lay on his back as long as i kept milk in the baby bottle. Then he went outside and killed song birds in the yard. I’ll bet you have never owned a dog and that’s too bad, or if you did, he had behavior problems. Some of my cats had behavior problems too, so I understand that.
Ha ha ha ha! When cats puke, dogs get a hot meal.
Our irresponsible former neighbors had a very sweet dog, Hannah, and they left her alone outside all day. She and I used to have a great time together until they moved away. I miss her.
I grew up with schnauzers, shepards, a dobbie, etc...I know dogs. I’ve had cats every day of my life (and rabbits, horse, gerbils, birds, chickens, etc... along the way).... My cats also give me devotion, protection(they alert me to many things) and are always ready to play. My one cat tore the head off of this little stuffed doll toy and she tosses it and carries the head around all the time (too funny).....I prefer cats 100 to 1 - to dogs....
LOL!
Poor Hannah.....good thing she had you when she did....people shouldnt' get dogs if they are just going to tie them up all the time...
I have had all the critters that you mentioned including goats, sheep and a pig I raised on a bottle. I don’t hate cats like you appear to hate dogs, I like cats but we are going to have to agree to disagree to which animal makes the most satisfying pet.
Do you really live in Zambia? What is that like?
I’m not in Zambia...I just chose it from the list because I didn’t want to get - ‘state’ mail...
No, that was the awful thing. They didn’t tie her up, just let her run free. We have no fences. People were continually bringing her to my door, so I just started spending time with her outside so she wouldn’t run in the road. It’s not a busy road — only three of us live on it, but still... We used to take long walks together, and I got a bunch of stuff to groom her and give her treats. She loved me too.
LOL! I know what you mean. We used to be able to turn state mail off but not anymore.
Yes, my Rocket is a Maine Coon. He is a runt, his fighting weight 10 years ago was only about 18 pounds, and he was all muscle. He was a real gentle giant. Now that he’s 13-15(?) years, he only weighs about 12, and he’s getting a bit frail.
He’s still a perfect gentleman, and he’s at my feet as we speak.
Rocket is beautiful. Junior was a gray and black striped tabby. We had him at the time we have 7 house cats and almost as many dogs. He got tired of the house and demanded to go out side. He was neutered and he didn’t roam but I think he might have been sleeping under car and he was killed. He was a huge fabulous cat.
Aw gee Ditter, that’s really sad. Old age and illness are hard enough killers, but a losing good cat like Junior ahead of his time is hard to handle. You have my sympathy.
Big deal. James Traficant used to have a ferret act as his hair...
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