blind Stargazer
Being a star gazer is one of Donovan's most adorable habits. Since he's blind he will never be able to actually see the stars. But he seems to 'see' them even in the house. Then he usually sits down, looks upwards and starts to speak. These are incredibly cute, high mews that make me melt away every time. It looks like he's talking to the stars and it seems to be incredibly important to him.Why he does it will probably remain forever Donovan's secret. Nevertheless, there are explanations for this. A medical and a magical.
Donovan and the magic of the stars
Sometimes he looks up, says a little word to the stars and then he jumps in the air and happily hops around chirping as if they had told him something beautiful or funny.
At first glance Donovan's eye looks like the blue sky with clouds. But if you look closer it seems like you can see through them right into the galaxy.
It's a pretty neat idea to believe that when a living being has to leave this world it becomes a star. Even if they are unreachable their light always shines upon us. I lost my grandparents a few months after I adopted Donovan. I miss them a lot. They were the love and the heart of my life. So it's a precious thought that they became stars hiding somewhere in Donovan's galaxy eyes.
When Donovan talks to the stars, maybe he sometimes talks to grandma and grandpa. So I tell him to let them know that I love them.
There are many things that we do not understand and some explanations might be only dreams. But one of the many things I've learned from Donovan is to live a dream every now and then and bring some magic into your life. Especially since animals can feel things of which we know nothing.
It will forever remain Donovan's secret why he speaks to the stars. But it makes him happy and that's what counts. Look at the sky tonight and if you see a star say something nice to it. If you close your eyes you may hear Donovan purr in your heart.
There is indeed an illness called stargazer disease. It is mainly known to affect rabbits, birds, reptiles, as well as hamsters and mice. But also cats, dogs, sheep (etc) can get sick.
I won't write too much about it so if you are interested you can find more about it on the internet.
When I told the doctors about Donovan's symptoms they thought this disease might be behind it. However it is contagious and none of my other animals showed any symptoms. Donovan himself, apart from star gazing, showed none (e.g. ataxia, balance disturbances, falling over, turning in a circle ...). It is therefore excluded that Donovan suffers from this syndrome.
Stargazer syndrome
The vets though that Donovan's star gazing is related to his epilepsy and are so-called small epileptic seizures (petit mal). More about this under Epilepsy. However his stargazing movements aren't out of control and defenitely at free will. I know his small seizures very well. He then acts as if something's controlling him and he eventually even tries to free himself from it. The stargazing on the other hand seems to be fun for him.
But when the vets saw a video of Donovan gazing the stars or talking to them they confirmed that it's not caused by epilepsy but rather an adorable habit of Donovan and they love their little, stargazing patient.
Some cats stare at the wall or ceiling but they usually see tiny insects, others hear mice in the attick for example. Both is ruled out as Donovan can't see anything and there are no noises that could catch his attention. To prove this even further, the other cats or dogs don't care about whatever Donovan's stars are and he does it on different places, even in the garden, at day and night.
Photopsia - stars for the blind
But as chance would have it I met a nice lady online that mentioned under one of Donovan's posts that she worked with blind people that told her about seeing flashes of light like tose we see when we stand up too quickly. I immediately knew we're on to something and an eye-specialist for pets confirmed that Donovan does have a condition called photopsia which is the presence of perceived flashes of light. It's like seeing stars that don't exist he said... Bingo!
Since Donovan's an animal and can't tell us what exactly he 'sees' or feels it's a difficult diagnosis but almost everything else has already been ruled out the vet is certain to confirm it.
It's a relief to me. Not knowing what could possibly cause a certain behaviour or symptom of you loved pet that already has unsolved health issues is converning. But this is a harmless diagnosis for a lovely behaviour and can but adore it. And it doesn't just look like he's gazing at stars, he really does.
There are many different causes for photopsia, even different types. But simply put, a damaged optical nerve causes Donovan's 'stars'. It's irreversible. The untreated cat flu he had before I adopted him took his sight by destroying nerves etc.
Some humans having photopsia (blind and sighted people) say the light flashes scare them but Donovan isn't frightened at all. When he sees his stars, he is very happy, even chirps. It's like he adores those stars and I'm sure he does as they're the only thing he can see. When they suddenly appear he is fascinated and gazes at them like a child at the Christmas tree.
Donovan really is an inspiration showing us to appreciate all the little things and to find the good even in situations others may find hopeless. Donovan is the prince of the stars.
The secret world of animals
Some people think we are better than animals. In some things it might be true but there are at least as many things animals can do even better and there are - you could call it the secret world of animals - things that we know nothing about or need high-tech machines to see or record it. These include for example magnetic fields, vibrations and much more. Some animals can even predict volcanic eruptions or earthquakes.
Animals have many skills. So there is also a cat that lives in a hospital and (to be continued, come back later)