Sometimes you just never know what is going to help you make progress with your feral fosters but you are sure glad when it happens.
Frankie has been stuck on a plateau in her socialization for about two weeks now. She has not regressed, which is good, but she has not moved forward at all. All I could do was keep trying to chip away at the wall she had built up between us and hope that she would one day stop being afraid of me and start wanting my company. The usual tricks of food, baby food, toys, and petting were not working. She was still too frightened and insecure to open up to me. She pretty much would rush to eat her food and then find a corner to hide in until I left the room. She would tolerate me picking her up or touching her but she did not like it at all.
I wanted to give her a place that she could feel like she could "get away" from me without cramming herself into a little dark corner. But I had been forced to throw out all my cat climbing trees earlier in the year due to possible contamination with a mysterious virus that was fatal to two kittens in a litter of five. Thanks to the generosity of people donating their unwanted cat furniture to the shelter rather than tossing it or selling it and because two wonderful staff members remember I needed cat trees, I was able to put both a shorter cat post and a tall climbing tree into my foster room late last week.
At first both Frankie and Hyde were afraid of the trees, but after about a hour and some exploring they were two happy climbing kittens. Then something wonderful happened this weekend. Frankie was able to look at the world from an up high perspective and it helped her find her confidence. She could be away from me with out being cornered in a small dark place.
She stopped bolting right away after eating her food. If I put her on my lap, she did not like it, but once I let go, she just walked a few feet away and calmly sat down rather than freaking out. And today there was even more progress! I went into the room in between feedings to give Hyde some attention and cuddling. She watched for 2-3 minutes from her perch on the smaller cat post yawned and then came down to join us.
For the first time ever, she allowed me to pet her without food to distract her. And when I stopped petting her, she looked at me like she was enjoying it. She watched Hyde come up and hit my hand to get me to pet him again. She was not brave enough to try that, but she did come closer to me.
I did 3-4 short sessions with no food in the room with them today and by the time I turned out the light to put them to bed, she was coming right up to me and even climbing into my lap. She is still very nervous, and not yet ready to head butt my hand to ask for petting, but I can tell by her expression that she likes it and is actively seeking out affection from me.
That stubborn wall had finally came tumbling down and allowed me to see the real Frankie hiding behind all that fear. I now can finally see that someday she will be a good companion to an experienced cat lover who can appreciate her shy, feisty, sweet personality.
So, Frankie, my little girl, it it nice to finally meet you.
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