When he was barely four months old, Andrew, the Maine Coon Jihyo’s owner, and a sailor took him on his first sea excursion along the coast of New Zealand. Jihyo proved to be a terrific trip companion for Andrew, the sailor. But the Maine Coon may also help his owner in another manner.
Andrew is deaf and uses the cat to help him navigate and identify noises in space. Andrew explains, ‘Jihyo is my ears.’
‘Without any prior preparation, he immediately recognized that I couldn’t hear anything and gave me clues.’
I love his company and have learnt to appreciate his viewpoint. You must acclimatize to the slower pace of life when you have a cat on board. He just accepted these travels as part of his everyday routine, and he’d be surprised to discover that other cats don’t swim in boats.
After reading Andrew’s account, he believes that many sailors would want to take their cats sailing with them, which will benefit both parties because cats make fantastic companions and get bored waiting at home.
Jihyo and his owner both have Facebook and Instagram pages where you can keep up with their exploits.
