--- title: Meet the Award-Winning Seeing-Eye Cat description: An unpublished LIFE Magazine story from 1947 featured Baby the Persian cat, who guided his blind owner, Carolyn Swanson. canonical: https://time.com/3758912/seeing-eye-cat/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-07T14:00:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:49.473Z og:title: Meet the Award-Winning Seeing-Eye Cat og:description: An unpublished LIFE Magazine story from 1947 featured Baby the Persian cat, who guided his blind owner, Carolyn Swanson. og:url: https://time.com/3758912/seeing-eye-cat/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfbf397740a0dab6/6987854de53abadcb24d842c/150325-seeing-eye-cat-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Seeing eye cat, 1947 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the Award-Winning Seeing-Eye Cat twitter:description: An unpublished LIFE Magazine story from 1947 featured Baby the Persian cat, who guided his blind owner, Carolyn Swanson. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcfbf397740a0dab6/6987854de53abadcb24d842c/150325-seeing-eye-cat-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the Award-Winning Seeing-Eye Cat  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 7, 2015 2:00 PM CUT  Baby the seeing-eye cat, 1947. Baby the seeing-eye cat, 1947.Loran F. Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 7, 2015 2:00 PM CUT We can only imagine the reasons why Carolyn Swanson forewent the traditional seeing-eye dog in favor of a Persian cat named Baby. Perhaps she was allergic, or afraid, or simply too attached to Baby to consider a canine replacement. Whatever the reason, LIFE Magazine dispatched a photographer to capture their special relationship in 1947, creating a series of photographs that never appeared in the magazine’s pages. Swanson kept the white cat on a tight leash, lest a squirrel send him running. Baby, in turn, guided her over thresholds and across streets. And his service did not go unrecognized. A clipping from a [local newspaper](http://udn.lib.utah.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/davis7/id/2087/show/2130/rec/2 "undefined") announced that Baby was awarded a medal “for faithful devotion to his blind mistress.” Though the cat posed stoically with his medallion, he seemed to favor a more humble reward: a heaping plate of cat food. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at_ [_@LizabethRonk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  Baby the seeing-eye cat, 1947. Loran F. Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection  Baby poses with his medal of honor, 1947. Loran F. Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection  Baby guides his owner down the street, 1947. Loran F. Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection  Carolyn Swanson and Baby stop to talk to a neighbor, 1947. Loran F. Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection  Baby the seeing-eye cat leads his owner in her home, 1947. Loran F. Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection  Baby eats a meal, 1947. Loran F. Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection  Carolyn Swanson and her seeing-eye cat, 1947. Loran F. Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection  Baby the seeing-eye cat, 1947. Loran F. 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