Jimmy is having a breakthrough!!

Jimmy has found a new spot!!!! A DRESSER DRAWER!!!

Originally Posted by jcribbs

Jimmy has found a new spot!!!! A DRESSER DRAWER!!!

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How cute is that? Jimmy's the master at finding cosy spots!

I love it! Jimmy does like a cozy small space.

I am getting ready for work right now, but had to check this thread....... and let you all know, Jimmy is back walking through the house. In fact he just was in here just a sec ago in the LR and I saw him head back down the hall. I had to go the bedroom and figured he was in there as well since he was headed that direction. I got my pants out of the closet and started back to the living room and Jimmy walked past me on his way to the bedroom. He was in the bathroom.

He walked past me. No running...no dashing......no speed walking. He just walked past me...... He did not even look at me.

He has been invisible for about a week now......... So glad to see he's back with us........

Ye haw!!!! It's going to be a good day.

Originally Posted by jcribbs

p.s. You know what scary is........? Sitting on the toilet and glancing around and seeing a feral cat 6" behide your rear..... Fridge is nothing.. Juan has no idea.. Luckily Jimmy just sat there.

I swore I wasn't going to tell that....Yikes.....

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Oh, I've been there! When I first trapped JinJin, she was feral, pregnant, and absolutely infested with fleas, but I couldn't treat her. She spent the first 4 weeks in my tiny bathroom until the kittens were old enough that I could treat her (per the vet's recommendation). Her favorite spot was behind or crammed right next to the toilet. I didn't have any relaxed "private time" for the entire duration! Fortunately she isn't aggressive either! It must have been okay for her, though, because now one of her favorite spots is on the floor right next to, or behind my computer chair...you know, I just put that together in my head when I was writing this!

I can't wait till that day clix!!! I just can't wait. Jimmy is so soft to touch......... And he is coming along. How long did it take with jinjin.....??

I also have another feral "Star" that I have had for over two years. She is an in/out cat and for the last 9-10 months has had no trouble coming in and out and meowing when she wants something. She has never liked being petted much but she is a good girl and one of my favorite cats.. Probably because I spent so much time with her wanting her to trust me. Recently I I front lined all the animals, and she saw me and has now avoided me like the plague "in case I put somehing on her back". She will not come inside and it's been since the 14th... She has sat by the door looking inside but will not cross the threshold. She doesn't run away and she wants in because if I stand at the door for 30 minutes, she will poke her head in but not enter... lordy lordy........hehe

I tried keeping her food inside for one day in the hopes she would come in to eat but noooo.. I had to put it back outside so the other ferals out there could eat too. They stand in the yard and wait at meal times... Or if the bowl is empty.

So then, a few days ago, I decided to kill her with kindness in the hopes of getting her inside so I could frontline her. I have been feeding her tuna and canned food, warm milk and the likes and she is loving it!! She comes to within a foot of me finally and waits for me to sit the bowl down and then gobbles it up watching me out of the corner of her eye in case I cross the 12-18 inch boundry with the dreaded frontline. While ago, she finally let me touch her outside. She did not like it much but I did pet her slightly. I did not grab at her cause I don't want to spook her. She has fleas......... poor little girl kitty. She is the only one left to do. I bought Jimmy some program and he ate his with no trouble. But Star is fine in the house IF I CAN GET HER IN.

All I want to do is front line her. It will not be a problem if she is inside. It might remind her of the time I had to give her antibiotics twice a day for week which she really hated. It was rough but necessary.

I hate to trap her and scare her just to frontline her. I tried a gentle approach to trapping last week and she did not take the bait but she did get the tuna. She got trapped once a couple years ago by a neighbor in another state and that was after I had been feeding her for a year so when I called her I could hear her meowing. I found her in a cage and turned her loose. She might remember that too. Because I put a crate on my porch and put a bowl of tuna in it and arranged it so that if she went in to eat I could then use the house door to close the crate. She went totally around the crate and pulled the lid that the tuna was on through the side and ate it. This was very calmly done while I watched through the door.. urgh.....

She now has a nice soft bed pillow on the porch covered in a towel and she is sleeping there by the door and by her food bowl and her water. Cookie kitty, who she has known for years, is with her tonight. They are friends. She doesn't like Cow Kitty or the other male ferals outside so I have to leave one of my other with her so she will have company.

She is very smart. I have her front line waiting on her however....

But I am being outwitted by my ferals.........

When she finally comes indoors, I am keeping her in for awhile. Probably until we move. In fact, I know I will...

Here's a link to Star and cookie playing. Cookie is the black cat and Star is the tortishell
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88031.

Originally Posted by jcribbs

She now has a nice soft bed pillow on the porch covered in a towel and she is sleeping there by the door and by her food bowl and her water. Cookie kitty, who she has known for years, is with her tonight. They are friends. She doesn't like Cow Kitty or the other male ferals outside so I have to leave one of my other with her so she will have company.

She is very smart. I have her front line waiting on her however....

But I am being outwitted by my ferals.........

When she finally comes indoors, I am keeping her in for awhile. Probably until we move. In fact, I know I will...

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Good for you.

When is the move?

approx 3 weeks give or take a week.

Good luck getting her in, and with the move.

Instead of trapping her, I am trying to win her over with yummy treats. She watches me when I go outside to see if I am holding a saucer. I can stand by her when she eats and after a few days, will probalby just be able to pick her up. I have petted her twice on the porch but don't want to scare her. I am waiting till she is more relaxed and frontline is the furtherest thing from her mind.

She has never scratched me but she is wiry so I will have to get a good hold the first time I do it. There will not be a second time since she remembers everything forever. Once I have her, she will quit struggling and this is due to experience with her.

That is part of the problem with Star. Since she does remembers everything and all her actions with humans are based on her memories and what she knows, it tells me as a kitten she was probably harmed. And that's in addition to her being feral.

Poor Star, we love you!

What are you calling your other girl?

Haha..........which girl?

Hang on, I messed up my pics. I have a Jimmy update!

JIMMY UPDATE...........DRUMROLL PLEASE!!!!!

I sent Eileen an email earlier telling her that Jimmy let me approach him in the laundry room. I squatted about a foot from him and held my hand out. He did not attempt to smell me or anything but he also did not run. I did NOT try to touch him and I went in the other room giving him his space.

Now he is sitting in the living room socializing with me and the other cats. I have already brought most of them in for the night and he is sitting by the scratching post with all of them and me. I am actually walking through the living room changing the tv channel and talking to him and he is just sitting there soaking it all in.

He is not running as I walk around the room. It is just amazing. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME EVER HE HAS SAT WITH ME WALKING IN THE ROOM AND DID NOT RUN AND HIDE. He is quite the chuck now. I have been slipping him soft cat food in a dish under my dresser which is his hangout. It would not surprise me if he sleeps in the living room tonight with the other cats.. He appears quite relaxed. I am not being careful as I walk around...meaning not on eggshells. I am doing everything the way I always do things and he is staying there.

ahhhhhhhhhhh.............finally he has decided to be social.

He is a good good kitty guy!!!!

Jenn

p.s. I had planned on going to bed early and now I can't. I am going to sit with Jimmy........ He seems to move forward in stages. He will make progess then hide for a week. Then when he comes out of hiding, he makes more progess. And so on and so on. But this is a first. And it definately won't be the last. He is moving ahead and is deciding that humans might not be that bad after all....

I got your email about Jimmy first thing this morning, Jenn. What wonderful news to start the day with!

Like we've talked about, your patience and willinginess to accept Jimmy on his own terms is exactly what he needs. And, it's obviously paying off. I share your excitement in his progress! Love the lastest picture of him too. He's a handsome guy alright! Please tell Jimmy I said he's a good boy and I'm so proud of him!

You got it Eileen!!! I have talked to Jimmy many times about his Elly, as we call ya...

And I was just laughing at Peter. You call him a "hunk" and I call Jimmy a "chunck"..........hehe Him and Claire sure are beautiful...

Originally Posted by jcribbs

You got it Eileen!!! I have talked to Jimmy many times about his Elly, as we call ya...

And I was just laughing at Peter. You call him a "hunk" and I call Jimmy a "chunck"..........hehe Him and Claire sure are beautiful...

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I can see why you'd call Jimmy a "chunk." He's such a big kitty!

Thanks for your compliment about Peter and Claire. They're my feral babies. It took a little while to gain their trust, although not as long as Jimmy, since they were trapped and we began working to socialize them at 3-4 months old.

Jimmy will come around too..... I can tell he wants to. He let me approach him again today. I held my hand out just like last time but he did not approach me. He has been sitting in the laundry room most of the day today by the dog food...

How old was Jimmy when he was initally trapped? Did you tell me 6 months?? I can't remember. He has big cheeks on his face like a male cat 2-3 yrs old.. I am just trying to determine his age. Or approx age.

He has a very definate jawline. Quite masculine to my girl kitties I imagine...

Originally Posted by jcribbs

Jimmy will come around too..... I can tell he wants to. He let me approach him again today. I held my hand out just like last time but he did not approach me. He has been sitting in the laundry room most of the day today by the dog food...

How old was Jimmy when he was initally trapped? Did you tell me 6 months?? I can't remember. He has big cheeks on his face like a male cat 2-3 yrs old.. I am just trying to determine his age. Or approx age.

He has a very definate jawline. Quite masculine to my girl kitties I imagine...

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I think you're right that Jimmy wants to trust people. You can see it in his eyes. He was at least six months old when Millie trapped him in Feb. of last year. We figure he was born in the late summer of '04, so he's close to 2 yrs old.

I figured he was around two....... He's still young.... that's good.

Right now, he is curious but very cautious... When he first got here he hid and only listened to the house noises. It still blows me away he actually sat in the living room with me walking around in there.

Tonight he is back under the dresser with his food and water.

Oh, and also............he quit using the litter box I had put aside just for him. He is using the others cats litter area now which tells me he is joining the group . In order to use it, he walks through the entire house from our bedroom, does his job and then walks back. So, I moved his litter box back to the old spot where the other litter boxes are. Thank god they are all in one place now... Ye Haw.....

Just because I have so many I keep three large litter boxes ready for action in the house. And I have one covered litter box that is on my porch. When I initially started training them to go outside I moved a covered litter box outdoors. Kissy would meow at the door to come inside to poop...like a human. Then she wanted back out. She knows how to dig in the dirt now out in the woods. Most go outside but in bad weather I sure like to have them! I don't keep litter outside any more. But at first it was helpful. Tink and Cookie knew how to go outside, but until we lived here Dovey and Angie had never been outside except once a few weeks after they finished their first shot series and that was one at a time with me. I was worried a dog would get them when we lived in Arkansas and they trusted dogs because we had dogs. Kissy also had never been outside until my daughter gave her to me. Those three used the covered litter box outside and I would move it further and further from the house. Finally I took the bottom out of it and they HAD to dig in the dirt. They were still in the litter box but ground was under them.

That is progress also regarding Jimmy and him choosing to use the other litter boxes.... Mostly becauses it brings him through the house in order to do it. He has also quit using his crate. It was his den but how he lounges in different areas. So he is more secure. The progress he is making will make his move to our new house easier. I am waiting for the day he walks toward me to smell my hand.