Update: Gunther (aka Cashew)

Gunther (we've gone back to the name he had at the No. 5 Rd. shelter) was a very unhappy kitty while in his cage, occasionally accepting a stroke or two but just as often violently lashing out instead. Once out of his cage, he'd park himself and his big sad eyes on a cat tree in the doublewide... and more often than not lash out if approached.

Or talked about.

Or looked at for too long.

My success rate for receiving any semblance of a cuddle rather than an angry clawing went down from around 50% to closer to 10%. I started to wonder if Gunther was ever going to get over apparently hating my guts and start to warm up to me and my attempts to befriend him.

Last week, Leslie mentioned a correlation she'd noticed between giving him treats or a little extra food and not getting clawed... So I brought in a can of tuna and presented him with numerous morsels. He didn't attack me, but it did seem that his goodwill was bought only for so long as the taste of tuna lingered in his mouth. If I waited too long between offering he'd start eyeing me suspiciously again.

When I returned a number of days later, I'd neglected to bring further bribes and therefore didn't expect much from any encounter with Gunther. But he surprised me. Not only did he let me get close without becoming agitated and defensive, he leaned into my hand when I ventured to stroke him. If that wasn't enough, he later hopped off his shelf, came over to were I was, and lightly head butted my palm when I reached down to him.

Hello, happy Gunther. Very pleased to meet you.

Cashew (Gunther)

Last week I passed a cage in the doublewide with a new occupant and a sign proclaiming that occupant as "VERY UNFRIENDLY!" in large letters.
Right then.

Some new arrivals are left well enough alone, and so I didn't both him further than a quick food and water swap.

This week, Leslie was able to tell me a bit about Cashew. He'd been in a smaller cage awaiting adoption at the No. 5 Rd. shelter, but turned out to be not at all the kind of cat who takes well to being caged. And he'd show his displeasure by hissing, spitting and swatting enough to make him miserable to deal with and impossible to convince any sane person to adopt. So he was sent to the sanctuary in hopes he'll be happier there.

Our ever-patient Marianne has been spending time sitting with him, so that now he thinks she's kind of OK. She's also discovered that he has a soft spot for tuna. As for the rest of the world, Cashew's still pretty suspicious. I went into his cage and sat with him for a while this evening, and was rewarded with being allowed to stroke his head and around his ears for some time. He even took a couple of treats right from my fingers. Any time I left and came back, though, it was like he'd never seen me or decided to accept me and I had to start all over.

It'll take a while to teach Cashew to trust all of us all the time rather than a select few some of the time. But, despite the spirited hiss he gave me when I walked past his cage, smiled at him and asked how he was, he doesn't seem like a bad cat. And quite possibly not even a mean cat. Time will tell.