I think Jimmy and Sylvester could pass for brothers.
Those tuxies just seem to have an extra shy streak ya have to break through.
It was 3 or 4 years ago when I had Sylvester in all winter.
At first he hid under my bed which is a base with drawers all around. It seems he got scared under there and made a mess which tipped me off to where he was or had been. I had to take of the mattress, and box springs to clean up and found him in one of the drawers. He took off then and started hiding in other parts of the house.
Eventually he was coming into the kitchen with the others to eat and would slink on through with no one bothering him.
I started going in the linving room where he would lay on the cat tree or the loveseat and giving him yogurt from a spoon. He loved that. Then when he was on the cat tree I would brush him. He would always cringe when I came near him, but relax a bit and start purring once the brushing started.
I had been doing that for a couple months, (sneaking in pets too), when spring came around and Steve convinced me I was being cruel keeping him in so I let him go out with the other guys. The minute he went out the door it was just like he was a brand new hard feral and I could no longer get near him.
The next winter I caught him a brought him in, but Steve screwed up and let him get out the door. I managed to nab him again and he got out again. After that I decided to leave him stay out where he really wanted to be and put a heater in the cat house along with a very large heated water bowl for putting his soft food and water dishes in.
This year I told Steve I was going to try and grab him again and he is not going out till he is firmly one of the "loves living in the house cats".
I plan not to be swayed again. This boy is almost 7 years old and he needs to learn what the comforts of living in a house without fear is about.
I just think that when I was pushing forward with him, things were progressing better. The thing with Sylvester is though that I don't fear he will bite me because he is so shy and will submit rather than fight back. Of course I've always let that keep me going slow because I don't want him to feel tortured, but I want to step it up a bit. That has always worked pretty well with all the other cats here so now it's his turn.
Those tuxies just seem to have an extra shy streak ya have to break through.
It was 3 or 4 years ago when I had Sylvester in all winter.
At first he hid under my bed which is a base with drawers all around. It seems he got scared under there and made a mess which tipped me off to where he was or had been. I had to take of the mattress, and box springs to clean up and found him in one of the drawers. He took off then and started hiding in other parts of the house.
Eventually he was coming into the kitchen with the others to eat and would slink on through with no one bothering him.
I started going in the linving room where he would lay on the cat tree or the loveseat and giving him yogurt from a spoon. He loved that. Then when he was on the cat tree I would brush him. He would always cringe when I came near him, but relax a bit and start purring once the brushing started.
I had been doing that for a couple months, (sneaking in pets too), when spring came around and Steve convinced me I was being cruel keeping him in so I let him go out with the other guys. The minute he went out the door it was just like he was a brand new hard feral and I could no longer get near him.
The next winter I caught him a brought him in, but Steve screwed up and let him get out the door. I managed to nab him again and he got out again. After that I decided to leave him stay out where he really wanted to be and put a heater in the cat house along with a very large heated water bowl for putting his soft food and water dishes in.
This year I told Steve I was going to try and grab him again and he is not going out till he is firmly one of the "loves living in the house cats".
I plan not to be swayed again. This boy is almost 7 years old and he needs to learn what the comforts of living in a house without fear is about.
I just think that when I was pushing forward with him, things were progressing better. The thing with Sylvester is though that I don't fear he will bite me because he is so shy and will submit rather than fight back. Of course I've always let that keep me going slow because I don't want him to feel tortured, but I want to step it up a bit. That has always worked pretty well with all the other cats here so now it's his turn.
