Woman Told Her Shelter Cat Is Deaf—Turns Out She Has ‘Selective Hearing’

A video of a cat responding to her owner has left the internet in hysterics—especially because Jeisen-Simone Tucker was initially told that her new furry friend was deaf. But as it turns out, she told Newsweek, the cat was simply displaying selective hearing.
In a viral TikTok clip shared to @jeisensimone, she can be heard saying “hey” multiple times, followed by a meow from her six-year-old cat. The text over the video explains that the shelter believed Cinnamon Martini was deaf, but Tucker disagrees.
She said: “I think that she might’ve just disliked being in the shelter or the people that worked there, so she purposely ignored them.”
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The 29-year-old fashion designer from Los Angeles adopted the fluffy feline in March of this year and quickly realized that her hearing was perfectly fine.
The July 4 clip of Cinnamon in action has amassed 1.8 million views and over 473,000 likes, at the time of writing.
“Once I adopted her, I started talking to her like any other cat. I even told her that I was changing her name from Fluffy to Cinnamon Martini so she would know,” Tucker told Newsweek. “I never expected her to respond, but it didn’t feel right just completely not talking to her, so I continued. Over the first two to three weeks after adopting her, she began talking more and more.
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“Now she’s having full-on conversations and knows her name!”
It isn’t just the sound of Tucker’s voice that she reacts to, but also the sound of plastic bags and the doorbell—both of which she hates.
After spending one month being overlooked in the shelter, her doting owner believes she shut down. But now, she is thriving and couldn’t be more vocal—but only with Tucker.
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Cinnamon is now described as “very talkative, loud, and affectionate.” However, these characteristics aren’t seen by everyone. “It’s almost like owning two different cats,” said Tucker, who explained that Cinnamon bolts off and hides if they have visitors. But when they are alone, she follows her owner around.
So far, the clip captioned: “Cinnamon Martini was not messin with them people,” has received almost 700 comments.
“She has so much to tell you,” said one comment with more than 40,000 likes, and another said: “She did a vow of silence until she found her final home.”
A third commenter praised: “I just love how cats let you know if they like you or not. Definitely petty,” and a fourth with over 56,100 likes said, “selective hearing.”
Another user suggested checking for ear mites, noting that the cat can be seen scratching at the start of the clip. If left untreated, these tiny critters can progress to the middle and inner ear, potentially damaging the eardrum, according to the Cornell Feline Health Center. This can permanently affect the cat’s hearing and sense of balance.
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