Day 10: Another breakthru

So the saga of our two little kitties continues. The new little feral kitty Scaredy Cat has been letting me pet it from time time over the last couple of days.

So today, I lay down on the floor and called the kitties. Bubba Jr came running and rolled over to get his belly rubbed. Scaredy Cat showed up few minutes later and stood about five feet away. Lo and Behold, Scaredy decided that she wanted some of that action, so she walked right over and got in my face until I petted her. That's the first time she's sought out petting.

She purred and purred and definitely let me know she liked the cheek and sided of the head and ear scratching the best.

My wife still says the kitty hates her. I keep tellin' her she needs to get down on the floor with the kitties.

Yay!! That's big progress!

I'm sorry I don't have any tips for you as I have not worked with feral kitties before, but I'm sure it will keep getting better with Scaredy Cat as he as already shown some progress.

Day 13 and we are just about finished the acclimation process.

Scaredy Cat now walks over to me if I lie on the floor and gets petting several times a day, even flipping over once or twice for belly rubbin'.

If I'm standing, she'll walk over and rub up against my legs. May or may not stay put for me to reach down and pet her. Still a little skittish at noises or people walking around making noise, but world's different from early days running under the bed.

Both kitties are eating from the usual feeding station in the kitchen. Shared water bowl. Shared dry food grazing. Eat wet food together from a two sided dish.

The last step is to move the temporary litter box from the hall downstairs to the basement next to the other one. Both cats have been down there, explored around, and used the basement box, so it's probably about time for that.

They chase each other incessantly when they are awake. Bubba Junior (the boy kitty) is generally the aggressor, but Scaredy Cat is a sly little provoker in her own right.

The only bad news is that my wife still hasn't petted Scaredy Cat. I can't seem to convince her that she's going to need to get down on the floor and play with the kitty to build a bond. Pull up a pillow and a kitty fishing pole.

Same thing happened with me, we got 2 from a shelter and while I did get down on the floor to play with them it wasn't near as often as my husband did it and the little girl was more friendlier towards him then me, I was a little hurt but it wasn't her fault it was mine, so I did the floor thing with a rubber spider on a stick and before you knew it she was as close to me as to my husband.

Yeah, I'm guessing it would go quicker for my wife than for me because the kitty is so much more social now. When I first started, it would often take ten or fifteen minutes just to lure her out from under the bed to play with the toy.

I think they just have to get used to being in close physical proximity to a new person. I forced myself to play with the kitty for several days without ever reaching out to try to pet it.