Ceren Kiran Tatli is a cat lover who has been taking care of the strays in her neighborhood in Turkey for years. She has also rescued a few cats and given them a good home. In January 2015, one particular cat caught her eye. She and her husband were out walking one day when they noticed a white cat they hadn’t seen before.
After observing him for a while, the couple realized he was deaf and blind.
Once Tatli realized that, she knew she wanted to rescue him. She tried to approach the cat, but the skittish animal ran away. Over the next few weeks, she spotted the cat a few more times, but every time Tatli got close, he ran. Then, the cat stopped appearing altogether.
In April 2015, Tatli finally saw the cat again. And unfortunately, he was in much worse condition than before.
He had a broken leg and he was starving. He barely had the energy to move, and Tatli knew if she didn’t take him in, he wouldn’t survive.
Tatli and her husband brought the cat home, fed home, and took him to the vet. The vet had to remove one of the cat’s eyes. After that, the cat started healing.
Tatli gave the cat a name, Yoda, and helped him get comfortable in his new home. Yoda was very skittish, and he was afraid of Tatli’s other cats. The other cats also weren’t sure about Yoda.
“At first he used to walk very slowly around the house, afraid of any other cats [who] may attack him out of nowhere,” Tatli told The Dodo. “Our other cats were afraid of him too; they couldn’t understand why he didn’t change his direction whenever they encountered him, for example. They must have thought he was some kind of alien, not a cat.”
Finally, one of the cats started playing with Yoda. The cat, Obi, started touching Yoda with his paw when he wanted to hang out.
Yoda quickly got the hang of the ‘paw tapping’ system. He even started tapping Tatli with his paw when he wanted attention!
“The more we get to know him, the more we fall in love with his vivacious, adventurous, independent spirit,” Tatli said. “He made us forget about his disabilities and focus on the bright side.”
Yoda has now been with Tatli and her husband for three years, and he absolutely loves it! He’s become the boss of the house, and he has no trouble asking for what he wants.
“I’m sure he doesn’t think he is any different than the other cats,” Tatli said. “He is very confident. He seems to believe he’s not missing anything at all, he is able to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. He makes sure we understand that too.”
Yoda is a smart cat who doesn’t let his disabilities stop him from doing what he wants. We’re so glad this sweet cat has found such wonderful parents who understand him and help him live his best life!
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