A blind dog from Wales is up and moving again thanks to his new buddy — a stray cat turned Seeing Eye companion.
Eight-year-old Labrador Retriever Terfel was diagnosed with cataracts, a common eye condition that caused the lenses in his eyes to cloud over and become opaque. As his cataracts continued to worsen, Terfel became hesitant, reserved, choosing to spend most of his time curled up in his doggie basket rather than venture out into a once-friendly world that had suddenly become so unfamiliar and frightening.
Terfel’s outlook on life changed drastically the day that his owner, Judy Godfrey-Brown of Holyhead, North Wales, took in a small stray cat. Godfrey-Brown has since named the cat Pwditat — pronounced “Puddy-Tat,” like what Looney Tunes canary Tweety Bird calls cartoon cat Sylvester. When he met Pwditat, Terfel, who had barely left the safety of his basket for months, instantly took to the new houseguest.
Godfrey-Brown could hardly believe her eyes as she watched the little cat gently lead Terfel around the garden. It was as if the cat sensed Terfel’s condition and knew instinctively that the blind pup needed a friend (see video).
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Godfrey-Brown told The Sun, “most dogs and cats hate each other.”
But not these two. Pwditat and Terfel became fast friends, and the pair spends their days taking walks around the yard or snuggling inside the house.
“Pwditat immediately seemed to know that Terfel is blind through some sort of sixth sense that animals have,” Godfrey-Brown explained in a Daily Mail interview.
Amazed at Terfel’s progress and grateful for the cat’s healing presence, Godfrey-Brown decided to permanently adopt Pwditat.
“She uses her paws to guide him,” Godfrey-Brown explained. “They are glued to each other and even sleep together now.”
Friend Anne Craig has since taken over care of Terfel and Pwditat while Godfrey-Brown is hospitalized with an illness. Even upon first meeting them, Craig could see right away that her friend’s cat and dog share an unbreakable bond.
“They’re fantastic friends,” Craig says in a video about Terfel and Pwditat, “they really love each other, and they are together, you know, whenever they can be.”
Sources: The Sun, Daily Mail
