Does being cross-eyed hurt?
Our beloved Mani Purr is a little cross-eyed. I can cross my eyes voluntarily, and it always leaves me a little dizzy. Papa Miao doesn't like me to cross my eyes because it makes him dizzy just to see me. So every one in a while I'm obliged to cross my eyes for his benefit.
Mani, however, was born that way. Maybe he was a little clumsier as a kitten, but it's hard to tell. Occasionally he would bump his head into a door jamb. Practically speaking, his vision is fine. He likes to chase laser beams, and his Lotus Ear-biting aim is always perfect at morning breakfast time.
However, I've always wondered, what does it feel like to be permanently cross-eyed? Is he constantly dizzy? Is everything just a little blurry?
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I remember being fascinated by her crossed-eyes and somehow taught myself to cross my eyes. it felt unusual, not quite dizzy, more like being on a boat.
If only they wrote a book about Elsa the Lioness - I could read it to Mani as a bedtime story.
I googled "crossed eyes", and a quick read didn't indicate that it was painful, just can complicate vision. Mani's likely learned to compensate.
The cross-eyed lion Mariser mentioned sounded really familiar, so I googled cross eyed lion, and came up with a 1965 movie called Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion (which rang some bells as familiar, although I didn't remember a movie...) then I googled Clarence the cross eyed lion, and found the TV show itself, which was called Daktari. When I saw that title, I remembered it. Apparently it was based on the movie, and there was a cross-eyed lion in the TV show, named Clarence.
Elsa was the lioness in Born Free. (And there was a song, too, which I'll likely be singing all evening... good thing I like the song!)
Since he doesn't know any different, I'll bet his brain has totally compensated for anything that isn't quite lined up correctly between his eyes and his brain.
The brain is such a miraculous thing.....I had lasik surgery for my vision, and I can see perfectly at a distance.
If I wear a contact in one eye for reading, even though my eyes are then very different, my brain totally compensates, and I can see at distances AND upclose perfectly!
(I don't often wear the contact because of discomfort, but I did wear one for quite a while. It was great!)
I know Born Free is in the Miao Library somewhere, but I've never read it. or seen Dakarti. Thanks for posting the Born Free song. :)
Whenever my grandmother sees him, she says, "oh, poor cat." She's the kind of good-hearted person who pities absolutely everything she sees. It can be very frustrating. I didn't start wondering about Mani until she made a big deal of him being cross-eyed. I defended him and said that he was purrfectly happy and healthy, but then I started wondering myself... but he is purrfectly happy and healthy.
Of course, I don't mean to stereotype Ragdolls. Maybe some of them don't like cuddles at all (that would be very sad). When he's not in one of his moods, non-Ragdoll Tantra also goes all limp and purry if you pick him up. Twin Tashi likes cuddles too, but he's a very self--possessed cuddler.
Sophie, OTOH, like them on her terms. I think as she gets older she'll settle into a more cuddly nature, because she has a big heart.
A friend of mine once had a part-Siamese cat who could cross his eyes when he wanted to. And he did it just to freak people out. I'd be asleep, then I'd feel like I was being watched, open my eyes, see the cat staring at me and then he'd cross 'em. I'd be all "dude, your cat is weirding me out!" I swear I could hear that kitty chortle.