Bessie

As is often the case with the feral cats living at the RAPS sanctuary, I had the opportunity to meet Bessie when she was brought into a cage in the doublewide so the med staff could treat her. Bessie was not overly delighted to meet me, though, and for a long time would hide and/or hiss whenever I had to invade her cage to give her dinner or refresh her water.

Gradually, I started to notice that she'd let me get a lot closer before she hissed, and that she was spending a bit more time watching my movements with interest rather than straight fear. And then this week she surprised me by looking up at me and giving me a little meow when I opened the cage door with her dinner in hand. I looked at the sign on her door and saw that "feral" had been crossed out and "shy - loves tummy rubs and being petted" had been written below it. Under that was another line in a different colour with an added advisory to start slowly.

So I did what the sign said. And before I knew, it Bessie was dancing around with her tail in the air, kneading her blanket and rubbing her head against the sides of the cage. The rubbing made me wince sometimes, as the growth in her ear that staff have been treating still looked pretty sore, but she managed not to get too carried away. And then, seemingly because I was no longer stroking her in the correct manner, she gave me a couple of good smacks to set me straight. I didn't take it too personally -- my now great buddy Colin used to do much the same.

I asked staff what had brought on Bessie's change in attitude and learned that Marianne had been working with her. So of course I had to ask the cat whisperer herself about her experience!

Marianne had previously known Bessie as one of the many barn cats that came to RAPS a few years ago. The tame ones were sent to the No. 5 Rd. shelter for adoption, while the less tame youngsters stayed on at the sanctuary. She remembers how "the youngsters used to all hide out inside their shed, with very few sightings, at least not in daylight. Then, a few braver ones started venturing outside and now most of them, including Bessie, hang out around the gate looking for attention and/or treats." A few of these became tame over time thanks to the efforts of "kitty comforters" such as Judy Watson, but Marianne doesn't remember Bessie being one of them.

What inspired Marianne to do some kitty comforting herself with Bessie? "She looked so cute and 'peeped' at me as I passed her cage so I thought I’d try to make contact. It was love at first touch, at least for me!"

When I told her than Bessie had given me a few smacks to go with my cuddles, Marianne admitted she's had a few smacks from Bessie lately too. And it was Marianne who added the extra text (both the invitation to cuddle and the warning to take it slow) to the sign. She thinks the swats could be a sign that Bessie is starting to take her visits for granted, or perhaps that Bessie's just starting to feel better and therefore a bit more feisty, which is all good as far as Marianne's concerned.

"I still think she’s just the cutest little thing," she says "And sincerely hope that she’ll continue to allow at least some friendly contact once she’s back outside."

Update: Tricia

When I first wrote about Tricia two years ago, she enjoyed being tickled and stroked... if you could get past her strong impulse to flee the moment she saw a hand reaching toward her. The only really reliable way to get some cuddle time with her was to corner her, but that moment where she'd invariably look at me in wide-eyed horror before she remembered that being patted was pretty nice always felt so awkward. And so it's been a little while since I tried "tormenting" her with cuddles.

When, on a whim, I reached out to her this evening, I was surprised that she didn't try to run away. Sure, she still crouched down just before contact like she half expected something awful to happen to her, but she didn't run away. And before I knew it, we were having a lengthy cuddle that she enjoyed without reservation. I was even able to go away and come back several times throughout my shift without feeling like I had to win her trust all over again each time (as had been the routine before).

Whether Tricia's gained confidence thanks to the determined efforts of one or two people or just repeated interaction with all volunteers and staff over a period of time, I don't know. But it's so nice to see her able to accept and enjoy some affection without having to be backed into a corner.

Poosie

Poosie came to the RAPS sanctuary in January at the age of around four and a half years.

She was found by her owner as a kitten around the Abbotsford Airport. All was good for the first couple of years, but then Poosie started acting aggressively. It got to the point that, when her owner had to go out of town, he could no longer get people to look after her because they were scared of her. Even her owner ended up buying Poosie a collar with a bell-- just so he'd have some warning when she was coming his way.

I understand that Poosie was taken to the vet to check if there was any medical cause for her behaviour, but nothing was found. Eventually, her owner had to make the difficult choice of giving her up.

At the sanctuary, staff were understandably cautious at first, but have had no incidents. As with other potentially anxious cats, though, visitors are warned to keep their time with her short and sweet and to avoid "overpetting" her.

Update: Twilight

I was able to meet and get to know Twilight a little in the spring of 2011 when she was caged for a time. Staff had noticed she was looking a little thin and brought her inside to fatten her up a bit.

During her time in the cage, Twilight gradually went from hiding from us to enjoying visits and cuddles. Once she was released, though, she quickly disappeared into the back pens and pretty much forgot that she'd ever decided humans could be her friends. From what Leslie tells me, this has been something of a standard cycle for Twilight: being brought in, becoming tame and cuddly, then going back outside and forgetting we can be trusted.

After the latest bit of cage time, Leslie has been hoping that Twilight will at last break the cycle and just stay friends with us. So far, it seems like she just might.

Twilight's been continuing to spend time in the doublewide where she'd been caged, sometimes in the cage itself and sometimes on the back porch. I've been able to visit her in both places, and although she's still uncertain at first, it takes little more than a smile to get her lifting her tail up and thinking about coming forward for some purrs and cuddles.

Twilight and Rosie
The cage is open -- they just enjoy each other's company.

Twilight has started going outside again, but Leslie says that she's continuing to come inside to visit her and will even cautiously approach for pats. Let's hope it sticks this time!

Topaz

When I first went to introduce myself to pals Onyx and Topaz on Monday, only Onyx was present, and she wasn't all that excited about the whole introduction thing. I tried again a little while later and found that Topaz had returned from whatever she'd been doing and joined Onyx in their spot on top of the water heater.

Louise had described Topaz as the friendlier of the pair, who would sometimes come down to floor level for pats. Up high, Topaz wasn't quite so sure about me, and felt a need to retreat to an even higher shelf that was just about out of my reach and stare at me for a while before she could get into the idea of being stroked.

Eventually, she decided the she rather liked the attention. There's no competing with her affection for Onyx, though. Leslie describes the pair as inseparable, and says it's likely that they're siblings.

Onyx

At last Saturday's pub night in support of RAPS (thanks to all who attended!), Louise was telling me about two black cats, Onyx and Topaz, who like to hang out in the tiny room in the doublewide where we keep the water heater.

When I went to investigate this evening, Topaz was off doing cat stuff elsewhere, but Onyx was there, comfortably installed on top of the water heater. She wasn't too excited about getting up close and cuddly with her uninvited human visitor, though, and soon scooted up to a shelf safely out of reach.

Louise had warned me that she's found Onyx isn't really into being touched, so I wasn't too surprised. If anything, I was grateful that Onyx was relaxed enough that she didn't seem to mind me being there just as long as I stayed out of arm's reach.

Onyx came to RAPS from the same place as Cara, Princess, Elmo, Huey, Hannah, Whiskey, Paris, and others. Like Paris, Onyx started off as a feral. She certainly is curious enough about people to enjoy a good stare. Perhaps she can be convinced that people cuddles aren't so bad either.

Update: Booster

When I first posted about Booster two years ago, her signature method of getting attention was to incessantly yell at us from the top of the cages while seldom making much of a move beyond that. Well, she still meows and meows from the top of the cages...

... but she seems to have at last understood that making herself a little more easily accessible for a cuddle results in more cuddles. And so if I call her over to another side of the cages where she can hop down onto a shelf where I can reach her better, she generally comes. (Whereas before she'd just stay right where she was and keep meowing.)

Sometimes when I come in the evening I find she's even ventured down closer to floor level.

All of this makes it much easier to properly respond to her vocal pleas for attention and affection. She loves being picked up and cuddled, and will purr and nuzzle away for a long time. Unfortunately, the time a person can set aside for cuddling one cat when there are many cats' dinners to prepare is usually not enough to satisfy this needy kitty. And so after setting her down again, the meowing still tends to start up anew.