How do you tell a cat that she matters? How do you persuade a cat that she's worth being loved? Can you imagine the confused and messed up mind a child would have, locked up for the first couple years of its life, completely ignored, wait...not ignored, treated like vermin? I don't know what this little girl thinks I'm going to do, and that must be it, she has no idea, so she thinks the worst. Every interaction she has had with humans, has been painful. This little girl was forgotten early. Apparently she showed her shyness early in her life, and was put into one of the tiny wire cages in the cattery. The plan had been to euthanize her, but the "deed" kept getting put off. Did I mention that her previous owners answer to how things got this bad was "I could not get anyone to help me!!" Somehow I don't think that is going to mean anything in court.
So into this little wire cage, was thrown food from time to time, and water. Her feet are yellow and blistered from urine scald and stain. After her time in cat hell, this little girl was then pulled out and taken to the shelter. There was no way for her to understand that she was safe. She struck out at every hand that approached her. She was put under anesthesia, spayed, and her matts were shaved off of her back and tail. She was also tested for PKD and put back in a carrier. She's negative for PKD, not the case for at least half of the other cats who were rescued. Back to the shelter she went, and into a stainless steel cage. This must have seemed like a little bit of paradise to her in comparison to what she had been in before. But this was, for this little feral, a slightly different kind of hell, just not as bad as the first. The shelter is full of people, something she was not used to seeing. There were dogs barking, and strange cats meowing. And her friends and family, were gone.
My friends tell me that I am crazy when it comes to ferals. I take chances that most people would not. When we have what we call "hissy spittys" at the shelter, I get very excited and will reach in and pick one up. Granted, I have had 3 trips to the emergency room in the past 8 years, but I think that's pretty good considering! So of course, while driving home with this little girl, down I5, at 65 miles an hour, where was my hand? In the carrier of course. This little cat has never actually been petted before, and I was eager to show her how nice it was. Now, I'm not completely stupid, I put a little towel around my hand and gently covered her head with it before I started petting her. I won't say she enjoyed it, but I still have my hand, so it could not be all that bad.
After we came home we went and sat in the bathroom together. I opened the door a crack to let Seamus, Gato, and any other purr monster come in who were curious. The goal was to have this cats first real look at me, be with ambient purring and very positive cat:person interaction. She was petrified, but it was not bad. Like the crazy person I am, I picked her up from the corner of the room where she sat and placed her in my lap - 1,2,3...10 yes, all fingers still there. Her body language made it clear she wanted to run, but I held her in my lap for just a moment, then let her go. We repeated this a few times, then I put her in with Grissom, my selkirk male. He said hello to her, noticed she was spayed, and then ignored her - PERFECT!
We had another petting session in the bathroom an hour or so ago. Same deal. Seamus gave her a bath and then sat on her, purring all the while. I was able to pick her up, being careful not to look at her. She clearly did not want to be in my lap, but she didn't try to kill me. She clearly needs a name, but it hasn't come to me yet. Baby steps.
She is so beautiful, I really hope this works.
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