Feral, shmeral. Zelda, who was a true feral - never been in a human home and born to and raised by a true feral mom, is on a record pace of deferalization so far. Last night was her third night in a row inside, where she asks to come in, and the fourth night in five. She goes out during the day to hang out with her chicken brother (who should be inside within a couple of weeks - hes debating it more each day), but will come back like clockwork each night. Two days ago, she tentatively let me pet her for the first time. Last night, she joined the cat/human pile on her own, knowing I was in the bed already. There was no space, so she sat patiently while I scooched Punkin up a bit, and Cloud down a bit, so I had a nice line from armpit to lower thighs, with Punkin, Zelda, Cloud and Sweet Pea all snuggled together. When I turn from one side to the other, Zelda didnt bolt, but just went along with my slow movement and settled back in. Its a few days after full moon, so early in the morning, the moonlight comes in very bright. Unlike a lot of ferals, Zelda is content to stay in the catpile and not go hunting in the room. She makes no attempt to escape - when she goes out, its casual, and shes not at the door at the first sign of me opening it. Shes also very well behaved - she understands no and hand gestures, doesnt climb the shelves or to the top of things, doesnt rip out the birdblock barriers to the other room, doesnt walk on your face or toe chomp in the middle of the night (several of my feral conversions in the past were notorious night-time wiggling toe hunters.) This morning, she not just tolerated, but enjoyed an extended soft petting session, where I stroked her whole body (not going too far towards the tummy region), and than ran my fingertips along all those little scritchy spots behind the ears, along the jawline, under the chin. My reward was a nuzzle and then the pink tongue came out for extended kitty kisses and a finger bath while she purred. Depending on how things go, I figure Im two to four weeks from pick up practice, then well see how that goes, and eventually move to carrier practice (with treats). Meanwhile, Ill get the brother to turn to the dark side - he knows he wants to, but hes just a bit too chicken. Over the last couple of days, when he checks out the front door, he has gone from 1/4 way in to 2/3 of the way in, so its only a matter of a little more time. When theyre both in, then outdoor privileges will be gradually curtailed. :D
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 00:16:26 +0000
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