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)."
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...
Thank you it’s been about 10 years since he died. It is hard to lose any animal you care for but losing them young is worse. My son and his family’s Maine Coon was running around the room playing and he ran head first into a piece of furniture and broke his neck. That is what I call a freaky freak accident.
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