A ginger cat acts as the ears of a deaf sailor of Auckland

He is a sailor from Auckland and cannot always hear everything around him while at sea because he is totally deaf and his six-month-old ginger cat acts as his ears. The cat has a long-winded name but is Skatty for short and it plays an important role when the pair go sailing around New Zealand.
This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz darted 10 July 2016.

He has no training as such but knows instinctively that his owner is deaf. Therefore, he has taken it upon himself to let his owner know if a boat comes alongside, or when people are at his door or when his phone receives text messages.
The 58-year-old owner is originally from South Africa and is a computer programmer. He built his 32-foot double-ended junk La Chica himself and lives on board with Skatty in summer. His cat keeps him company constantly whether below the deck or above it. The cat is polydactyl which means he was born with extra toes on each paw. Such a trait was considered highly desirable to old-time sailors because they are believed to be good mousers since the extra toes helped get better grip on the deck.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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