Once there was a tiny black kitten who lived in a log pile. He was very hungry, and luckily a good Samaritan found and brought him to the humane society. Kwazi was only seven weeks old at the time, undernourished, and suffering from Feline Herpes. The little guy was scared to death of people.
The day we walked into the cat house at the Hawaii Humane Society, we immediately fell in love with this gorgeous black kitten. We adopted Kwazi and brought him (and his new stepbrother Uli) home in a cardboard travel box that the humane society provided. We set the box down in our kitchen, opened it up, and waited. But Kwazi remained in his box, hiding. Finally, after a good hour watching Uli confidently play and explore, Kwazi slipped out of the box and over to the water dish. Once Kwazi had a drink, he slunk against the wall and back into another box provided to him.
We knew we had to wait for Kwazi to come to us. He gradually developed trust and learned to enjoy being petted and cuddled. Now he is an extremely affectionate cat who loves to cuddle.
Kwazi slowly adapted to living inside a house. He adapted so well that we didn’t realize he was partially blind, though over time we saw clues that he was. For example, when Kwazi watched one of his humans walk in from outside, Kwazi acted as though he saw a stranger (and he was scared to death of strangers). Also, when a new item was on the floor, such as a bag or pair of shoes, Kwazi would jump in fear. He needed to approach the object slowly and inspect it before he felt safe.
It wasn’t until we introduced our cats to the backyard that it became clear that Kwazi was truly semi-blind. His sense of smell, hearing and touch and his memory were so strong, he was able to function at the house almost as perfectly as with good eyes.
Kwazi’s poor eyesight may be due to corneal damage he received when he had his kitten flare-up of Feline Herpes.
For more about Feline Herpes, go HERE.
Can you catch the hints that Black Cat Kwazi that suggest he is semi-blind?
Watch this video of Kwazi exploring the back yard and revealing his semi-blindness. Kwazi reacted to the yard very differently than Uli did, which was another clear hint that Kwazi was partially blind. Unlike Kwazi, Uli scampered around confidently, even though he’d always been an indoor cat.
These days Kwazi LOVES to go outside. Kwazi spends time outside every day and uses his other senses to try and catch lizards.