Your Incredible Neighbors: Volunteer connects with felines

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Your Incredible Neighbors: Volunteer connects with felines

http://www.gvnews.com/articles/2007/08/28/news/news01.txt

Some call her the Cat Whisperer. She has an almost eerie knack for

communicating with felines, intently tuning into their emotions and their

needs.

Though she cannot see them, she can identify each one by a gentle stroke of

a silky coat, the shape of a furry face, or the timbre of a meow or purr.

That's saying a lot when the Green Valley Animal League is bursting at the

seams with over 25 kittens and cats.

Becky Caroline is 37 stands 4 feet, 10 inches, but her love for cats is as

big as her stature is small.

A native of Massachusetts, Caroline moved to Pittsburgh as a young adult.

" I called every animal shelter in the area, and as soon as they found out I

was blind and disabled, they wouldn't even give me an interview, " she said.

Unable to have her own cat because of her living situation, she vowed that

when she moved to Arizona, she would get a cat and volunteer at a shelter.

And that's just what she did.

" The Green Valley Animal League was my first real home out here, " Caroline

said. " The league is where all my friendships have come from. Everything

good in my life right now, except for my family, has come to me as a direct

result of the league. "

Lack of vision sharpens her radar where cats are concerned.

" Because I don't have sight, I have to pay attention more intensely than

other people do, " she said. " Is the cat relaxed, or is he happy, or does he

want to get away from me? Is he looking at a bug and about to pounce? "

Caroline credits much of her insight to a book called " A Miracle to Believe

In, " which describes the author's work with an autistic child. " A lot of the

techniques he describes work so well on cats, " she said. " To me, cats seem

so much like autistic children. Their intelligence is on a par with ours,

but the world is so much more overwhelming to their senses. They react in a

lot of the same ways, and for a lot of the same reasons, as autistic kids.

They are prone to overstimulation and just perceive things differently than

we do. "

The list of qualities Caroline admires in cats is long. " I love their

intelligence, " she said. " They're such competent little beings. They are so

incredibly powerful and capable and graceful. Those little bodies are

everything I wish mine was. "

Caroline's body has presented her with a number of challenges over the

years. Due to Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, she began losing her vision

when she was 3, was legally blind by age 8, and had to have her eyes

surgically removed at age 10 because of painful, chronic inflammation. She

now has artificial eyes made of plastic. She believes one reason cats feel

at home with her is that they feel threatened when stared at, and they sense

that her eyes are not real.

" Actually, I don't consider my blindness to be my main disability, " she

said. " I know a lot of people would. It's just sort of incidental to me.

It's

my arthritis that really hampers what I do. It's the balance problems, and

the pain, and the fatigue that get in the way. "

But this determined woman doesn't let much get in her way. Last year, she

purchased a house in a non age-restricted area of GV. " The main reason I

wanted my own home was so I could have my cats, " Caroline said.

As a founding member of the local non-profit organization Paws Patrol, she

fosters adoptable kittens that have been rescued from the wild until they

can be placed in loving homes. At one point she was feeding, socializing and

nurturing 15 of these kittens.

What do her own four cats think of her " foster kids " ? " I have the best

boys, " she said. They're just as devoted to my foster kitties as I am. They

couldn't be better role models. "

To help her live independently in her new home, Caroline enlists the aid of

some useful gadgets. Her color identifier verbally announces hues when held

up to items in her closet. Screen reading software enables her to e-mail

friends and shop eBay. She has talking clocks, talking caller ID, and even a

talking thermostat. She indulges her playful side with a Braille Scrabble

board and Braille playing cards.

All those who know Caroline are acquainted with her well-developed sense of

play. When asked if she was a cat in a former life, she quips, " No, but I

aspire to be a cat in the next. "