{"id":605638,"date":"2026-09-19T21:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T21:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/605638\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T21:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T21:10:19","slug":"race-to-replace-deaf-sailors-ears-after-loss-of-beloved-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/605638\/","title":{"rendered":"Race to replace deaf sailor’s ‘ears’ after loss of beloved cat"},"content":{"rendered":"

After losing the cat who helped him navigate life and the ocean, a deaf sailor has been buoyed by a wave of support for a new furry first mate.<\/p>\n

Retired boat builder Paul Thompson, 69, is totally deaf and relies on lip-reading in a world he says is “not set up for deaf people”. <\/p>\n

Aboard his 32-foot sailboat, Thompson relied on his polydactyl Maine Coon cat named Skatty to be his ears during multiple offshore voyages. <\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

Paul Thompson, 69, pictured with his sailing companion Skatty. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

“Maine Coons had a long history of being ships cats, and the polydactyl cats in particular were much loved by the old-time sailors who thought their extra-large paws gave them surer footing and also made them better mousers,” he said. <\/p>\n

Thompson first got Skatty at 14 weeks from Rebel Pawz breeder Marie Prendergast, who knew that he was going to live on a boat and began harness training as soon as the cat could fit the smallest size available. <\/p>\n

\"Skatty<\/p>\n

Skatty when he was a kitten, being harness trained. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Over the years the bond grew between the pair, and Thompson said he learned Skatty’s body language which signalled key information he would not otherwise hear. <\/p>\n

“When the phone rang and vibrated because a message had come through, he put his paw on it. This he did at first on his own, but I then praised him and gave him a treat and very shortly he began to do that every time the phone rang. <\/p>\n

\"Skatty<\/p>\n

Skatty the Maine Coon cat pictured in various spots around Paul’s 32-foot steel double ended junk rigged sailing boat (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

“Ditto for many other things he did. Should strangers approach the boat, Skatty would immediately stand up and go to the hatch or look out of a port, in so doing he alerted me to the fact that something of interest was happening outside. Observing his body language was the key and also just encouraging behaviours that were useful.” <\/p>\n

He gave another example of a time Skatty became very curious in a specific section of the boat’s floorboards that could be lifted up.<\/p>\n

“I immediately got up and pulled up the section of the floor that he was interested in. Under that section was a pump that pumped our fresh water, the hose had come off and the pump was cheerfully pumping out our fresh water into the bilge. I was once again glad that I paid attention to his messaging.<\/p>\n

\"Skatty<\/p>\n

Skatty and Paul pictured together. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

“Not everything that caught his attention mattered to me, many a time it was something that was only of interest to cats – but often it was something that I was very glad to know about,” he said. <\/p>\n

Sadly, due to an accident, his beloved companion and first mate died earlier this month, which Thompson described as “devastating”. <\/p>\n

“We had lived cheek and jowl together for the best part of 11 years. We lived aboard a 30ft yacht in a space not much bigger than a small room and spent most days together or at times went ashore together. <\/p>\n

\"Skatty<\/p>\n

Skatty the Maine Coon cat pictured in various spots around Paul’s 32-foot steel double ended junk rigged sailing boat (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

“I’m used to living alone, as a deaf person you are always alone as deafness is very socially isolating. No matter how successfully one learns to navigate one’s way, aloneness is just a fact of life. Skatty made the world a less alone place.” <\/p>\n

Thompson said, following Skatty’s death he needed another cat trained to keep him informed \u2013 which is when his friends set up a GiveALittle<\/a> page to raise money for a costly purebred cat. <\/p>\n

More than $4300 has been donated since the page was created – enough for Thompson to buy a new kitten through Rebel Pawz, and use the rest of the funds to make Zebedee a safer boat for cats. <\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

Paul Thompson’s new kitten. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

“I can only be thankful that enough people cared enough to make this happen, and by the time the kitten is old enough to leave his mother and family, I will be ready,” Thompson said. <\/p>\n

“For my new friend, Marie will start with his harness training and I will teach him to come when called, to sit and stay when needed and take him with me wherever we go so that he becomes comfortable with other people.<\/p>\n

\"Skatty<\/p>\n

Skatty always got on well with the vet. (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

“Importantly, I will help him make friends with the vet and to understand that having to use his travel basket is not a bad thing.”<\/p>\n

He said “most cats adapt very quickly”. <\/p>\n

“Despite not liking change, are very adaptable beings. I suspect he will be reasonably content in a week or so and totally content in about six weeks.” <\/p>\n

\"Skatty<\/p>\n

Skatty the Maine Coon cat pictured in various spots around Paul’s 32-foot steel double ended junk rigged sailing boat (Source: Supplied)<\/p>\n

He said one of the biggest takeaways was that “there are many really, really decent people out there”. <\/p>\n

“It’s impossible to say just how much I appreciate the love and care that so many people have shown me since Skatty died. <\/p>\n

“Indeed far more than I ever imagined. To all those wonderful people who cared and cared enough to do something, I will never be able to thank you enough.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After losing the cat who helped him navigate life and the ocean, a deaf sailor has been buoyed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[50,1054,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-605638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-animals","tag-disability","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}