Lucy

Dora gave birth to five kittens at 3:00 in the morning in our bed. Everything was great, except the mess, of course, but we knew something wasn't right when the last kitten came out. Dora was already exhausted, this being her first litter, and she expressed no interest in the tiny kitten who couldn't find her way to Dora's nipple. I ended up having to clean the kitten off and, after several tries, finally succeeded in getting her to latch on.

We didn't think much about anything being wrong with the little kitten except that she was just a runt. As the weeks passed, she didn't grow much, and the other kittens would push her out of the way when going to nurse. She would end up waiting until the others were done to see if she could get any leftovers.

But we still never thought anything was wrong until the kittens began to walk. While the other four rambunctious kittens were playing normally, jumping around and wrestling, our sweet little kitty would wander off somewhere across the room and walk around in circles with her head cocked to one side. Occasionally, she would stop, sit down, and her head would shake like she was getting dizzy. We thought it was funny at first, but then we realized that something wasn't quite right. In addition to the dizziness, Lucy, as my sister named her because she was "red-headed and cried a lot," was also deaf. She was the only kitten still hanging around when the vacuum cleaner was running, and she was also the only kitten brave enough to sleep right next to a booming stereo speaker. With this in mind, we decided that we should get some help.

My husband took Lucy to the vet when she was about five weeks old. They diagnosed her with Cerebellar Hypoplasia. Basically, this is a disorder of the brain that affects motor functions. This means that Lucy's cerebellum didn't develop completely when she was in the uterus. It doesn't get worse in felines, and the affected animal will usually find ways to compensate for the clumsiness that comes with the disorder. Lucy compensates for her loss of balance by wagging her tail almost all the time. Fortunately, the vet told us that she would lead a perfectly normal life, excepting that she would be clumsy.

Eventually, Lucy gained her hearing after she started eating cat food, and she became the most determined cat in the litter. While the other four kittens, Bobo, Spanky, King Kong, and Minnie Me grew weary of the same old games of "Chase the String," Lucy hung around until we got bored of it. To this day, she still doesn't know that the little red dot from the laser pointer isn't real. She just chases and hunts down that dot until she is panting with exhaustion.

Lucy learns by watching. All the other kittens were given away, so it's just Lucy and Dora around the house. Dora was a stray that we took in, so with her street smarts and fine-tuned hunting skills, Lucy is always watching Dora's every move. When Dora got on the kitchen table, Lucy was right up there with her. When Dora jumped at the screen door to scare away the cats hanging around our porch, Lucy was watching. A few minutes later, she came tearing across the room at the screen door only to forget her brakes and skid face first into the glass. She never quite got the hunting skills down either. Dora, like most cats, is very calculating when it comes to catching moths and other various flying insects that get into the house. Lucy, who lets her determination get the best of her, just runs around crying and jumping frantically at the poor insect until Dora finally catches it and gives it to Lucy to eat.

Sure, every cat has their quirks, but I don't think that Lucy will ever tire of her simple-minded antics. She will always run into the bathroom after I flush the toilet just to watch the water go in circles. She will always jump up and begin hunting when I click the button on the laser pointer (even if she can't see it). And she will always come running when we put fresh food in the dish (even if she just ate). But it's these simple things that make us love Lucy. She may not be the most graceful cat in the world, but she will never stop trying.

Elizabeth Grant
elizabethgrant23@hotmail.com

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