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.
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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.
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