This is Tucker and he is my hero!  Tucker is a Tonkinese cat that has had a rough couple of years.  He was very sick for a while and I almost lost him because no one could find what was wrong.  As you can see, he is fine now and is healthy as he can be.  One of the side effects of his illness was that he went blind.  He is totally blind with no reaction in one eye and the other eye might be able to see some bright lights but hardly any light comes through at all for him.  I was prepared on his diagnoses to deal with his "disability" but someone forgot to tell Tucker there was a problem. In spite of his eyesight, he never missed the litter box.  He found his way up and down the stairs with no problems.  I was amazed to watch him in the first few weeks after he lost his sight.  He would bound up and down the stairs playing on the steps and you could almost hear him counting in his head!  Tucker knows EXACTLY how many steps are on the stairs.  You would think that he would be insecure and not want to move around much.  Not Tucker!  He walks across the floor with his feet up in the air, sort of like the stiff legged military marching of some countries.  He is not that stiff though. You can tell he is "testing" the air in front of him but he does it every step.  When he comes to something that blocks him, he smells it and moves around it.  My big, yellow lab sleeps on the carpet and Tucker bumps into him and then moves around him.  Zach, the dog, never moves or says a word to Tucker and will just lick him on head as he passes by.  (Zach is another hero to be discussed at a later date).   We do not allow Tucker to go outside.  He has been an indoor cat all his life, even before he went blind.  This morning it was very windy.  Dad went outside to do some chores and closed the door behind him, but not tight enough.  The wind blew it open and while Dad was at the barn, Tucker snuck out of the house!!!  Dad saw Zach run down to the bottom of the horse pasture and he barked at something.,(another act of heroism).  When Dad went to investigate, there was Tucker just wandering around smelling things as he went.  He had walked from the house a distance of about 300 yards!  Poor Dad just about dropped to the ground in fear and picked Tucker up and took him back to the house.  No harm to Tucker thank goodness, but our fear is would he find his way back to the house or not?  Needless to say, doors will be firmly tugged on from now on to make sure they are secure.  I can not believe that Tucker is brave enough to go out of doors into an environment that he has NEVER been in and want to go exploring!  He is napping now on his favorite spot on the back of the couch.  He jumps up there and knows the exact distance up and down and if you were watching you would not know he was blind as he commits to his leap!   I am so proud of Tucker for adjusting so well to his "disability".  He never ceases to amaze me with his bravery in getting around in spite of not being able to see anything in his surroundings.  He inspires me to take a "leap of faith" every once in while, just to experience the journey.