Manitoba cat born without eyes part of ‘The Long Walk’ movie

A Manitoba cat born without eyes can be seen in ‘The Long Walk,’ which opens this Friday.

A Manitoba cat with a unique condition is ready for her close-up, though she won’t be able to see it.

Dory, an eyeless cat who lives in Steinbach and is an ambassador for the Steinbach and Area Animal Rescue, was featured in the upcoming film ‘The Long Walk,’ starring Mark Hamill.

“She’s just the sweetest girl,” said Michelle Neufeld, Dory’s owner for nine years. “She constantly wants hugs, and she relies on physical touch to see the world. She’s very, very affectionate. Anytime she greets somebody, she wraps her legs around them.”

For these, Neufeld said “you would never even remotely think that she would be in a horror movie.”

The film is an adaptation of the 1979 Stephen King novel, written under the Richard Bachman pen name, which concerns a race where the contestants must keep walking at three miles per hour, or be shot. The last one walking wins.

A friend of Neufeld’s trains animals for movies, and suggested Dory would be perfect (purr-fect?) for the movie, which was looking for a cat with either one eye or no eyes for the scene.

Dory can be seen in the trailer for the film, sitting on a mailbox as the characters walk past.

The movie was shot in Birds Hill Provincial Park and other locations around Manitoba, including Winkler, where Dory’s scene was filmed. Neufeld said Dory was scheduled to be there for three days, but her scene was completed in one day.

“She did everything that they needed her to do, and they were actually shocked that she was so awesome,” Neufeld said. “Granted, her role was just sitting on a mailbox, but most cats wouldn’t just sit there idly. She was very well-behaved on set.”

Neufeld said Dory was treated well by the crew, given shade when she wasn’t needed on set, and the cast and crew took time to pet her and pose for photos.

Despite her blindness, Neufeld said Dory is an active cat.

“You wouldn’t even think that she is blind,” Neufeld said. “She runs through my house, jumps on counters, jumps on furniture, she catches flies like you would never even think that she’s blind.

“Occasionally, if we have something left out that’s not normally there, like the vacuum cleaner or a mop pail and she’s running, she will bump into it, but typically she does not bump into anything. Her senses are like super charged.”

‘The Long Walk’ opens in theatres Friday.