The Portland cat (long update)

You might remember the 3-year old orange tabby I posted about. He was
trapped by us as a 10-week old feral, kept for 3 weeks and "tamed", got
his shots, etc., then went to a new home in Portland. She moved 3 mos.
ago and left him with a co-worker. Abernathy reverted to feral-mode, and
the new owner could not get close to him. For months, he was either in a
drawer or the back of a closet, and she was very afraid of him. Well,
the cat is in now the cradle -- wooo hoooo! He's here.

I picked up him up about a week ago. I took a trap and a carrier, and
was set to spend a couple of hours trying to corral a hissing, feral
cat. We worked out a couple of scenarios for him with the carrier and
blockades in the closet, and nabbed him in 15 minutes and only two
hisses! What a relief.

Walter and I have decided to work with him, that he was going to be our
responsibility, and he will stay with us. We knew he was turning into
such a loving kitten when he went to his first home, that we felt
responsible to try to make it right for him again (thanks for the offer
though, Charlie.) The 2nd owner was so distressed at the situation, she
was starting to look into shelters for him. We knew he would never be
adopted.

Anyway, all is going well. He's in a room by himeself, mellowing and
listening to talk radio, and I have taken an "example cat" in to him a
few times. He's very interested in the other cats but has not had a
formal introdution, just more of a "see, here's how we pet and love and
feed cats around here."

I have had to scare the crap out of him for some tough love, getting him
out of the closet where I could work with him. After exiting the closet
he hides behind a small chair. I've spent lots of time on the floor
where he could see me from there. I also finished a book last weekend,
most of it on the floor.

One major breakthrough was last Saturday, he took chicken from my hand
-- woo hooo! After two more days of hand-feeding, I was able to touch
his head without him backing away. I then began to scritch the back of
his neck, and he lowered his head for me. I scritched all around his
ears and this loud, rumble escaped out of him. He started purring like a
banchee. It was such a surprise!

Since then, he usually lets me scritch him, and has started coming out a
few feet from behind the chair at times, and flopping against my leg so
I can scritch his back too. He was such an emotional kitten, he has not
changed at 3 years old. He wears his heart on his sleeve.

Thanks for listening, and for all of the advice. We plan more cat
introductions as we go and everyday scritching sessions. I'm waiting for
him to tell me when he's okay with venturing into the rest of the house.

Rhonda

"Rhonda" wrote in message
...
You might remember the 3-year old orange tabby I posted about.[...]

Walter and I have decided to work with him, that he was going to be our
responsibility, and he will stay with us. We knew he was turning into
such a loving kitten when he went to his first home, that we felt
responsible to try to make it right for him again (thanks for the offer
though, Charlie.) The 2nd owner was so distressed at the situation, she
was starting to look into shelters for him. We knew he would never be
adopted.

Anyway, all is going well. [...]

Since then, he usually lets me scritch him, and has started coming out a
few feet from behind the chair at times, and flopping against my leg so
I can scritch his back too. He was such an emotional kitten, he has not
changed at 3 years old. He wears his heart on his sleeve.

Thanks for listening, and for all of the advice. We plan more cat
introductions as we go and everyday scritching sessions. I'm waiting for
him to tell me when he's okay with venturing into the rest of the house.


Rhonda, this is great news. I read your posts about Abernathy and
wondered what would happen. It's terrific of you to take him back in.
He sounds like a really neat boy. And you know how much I love those
big red boys!

On Thu, 06 Oct 2005 04:55:35 +0000, Rhonda wrote:

You might remember the 3-year old orange tabby I posted about. He was
trapped by us as a 10-week old feral, kept for 3 weeks and "tamed", got
his shots, etc., then went to a new home in Portland. She moved 3 mos. ago
and left him with a co-worker. Abernathy reverted to feral-mode, and the
new owner could not get close to him. For months, he was either in a
drawer or the back of a closet, and she was very afraid of him. Well, the
cat is in now the cradle -- wooo hoooo! He's here.

I picked up him up about a week ago. I took a trap and a carrier, and was
set to spend a couple of hours trying to corral a hissing, feral cat. We
worked out a couple of scenarios for him with the carrier and blockades in
the closet, and nabbed him in 15 minutes and only two hisses! What a
relief.

Walter and I have decided to work with him, that he was going to be our
responsibility, and he will stay with us. We knew he was turning into such
a loving kitten when he went to his first home, that we felt responsible
to try to make it right for him again (thanks for the offer though,
Charlie.) The 2nd owner was so distressed at the situation, she was
starting to look into shelters for him. We knew he would never be adopted.

Anyway, all is going well. He's in a room by himeself, mellowing and
listening to talk radio, and I have taken an "example cat" in to him a few
times. He's very interested in the other cats but has not had a formal
introdution, just more of a "see, here's how we pet and love and feed cats
around here."

I have had to scare the crap out of him for some tough love, getting him
out of the closet where I could work with him. After exiting the closet he
hides behind a small chair. I've spent lots of time on the floor where he
could see me from there. I also finished a book last weekend, most of it
on the floor.

One major breakthrough was last Saturday, he took chicken from my hand --
woo hooo! After two more days of hand-feeding, I was able to touch his
head without him backing away. I then began to scritch the back of his
neck, and he lowered his head for me. I scritched all around his ears and
this loud, rumble escaped out of him. He started purring like a banchee.
It was such a surprise!

Since then, he usually lets me scritch him, and has started coming out a
few feet from behind the chair at times, and flopping against my leg so I
can scritch his back too. He was such an emotional kitten, he has not
changed at 3 years old. He wears his heart on his sleeve.

Thanks for listening, and for all of the advice. We plan more cat
introductions as we go and everyday scritching sessions. I'm waiting for
him to tell me when he's okay with venturing into the rest of the house.

Rhonda


Best wishes for complete success soon. MLB

On 2005-10-05 23:55:35 -0500, Rhonda said:

You might remember the 3-year old orange tabby I posted about. He was
trapped by us as a 10-week old feral, kept for 3 weeks and "tamed", got
his shots, etc., then went to a new home in Portland. She moved 3 mos.
ago and left him with a co-worker. Abernathy reverted to feral-mode,
and the new owner could not get close to him. For months, he was either
in a drawer or the back of a closet, and she was very afraid of him.
Well, the cat is in now the cradle -- wooo hoooo! He's here.

I picked up him up about a week ago. I took a trap and a carrier, and
was set to spend a couple of hours trying to corral a hissing, feral
cat. We worked out a couple of scenarios for him with the carrier and
blockades in the closet, and nabbed him in 15 minutes and only two
hisses! What a relief.

Walter and I have decided to work with him, that he was going to be our
responsibility, and he will stay with us. We knew he was turning into
such a loving kitten when he went to his first home, that we felt
responsible to try to make it right for him again (thanks for the offer
though, Charlie.) The 2nd owner was so distressed at the situation, she
was starting to look into shelters for him. We knew he would never be
adopted.

Anyway, all is going well. He's in a room by himeself, mellowing and
listening to talk radio, and I have taken an "example cat" in to him a
few times. He's very interested in the other cats but has not had a
formal introdution, just more of a "see, here's how we pet and love and
feed cats around here."

I have had to scare the crap out of him for some tough love, getting
him out of the closet where I could work with him. After exiting the
closet he hides behind a small chair. I've spent lots of time on the
floor where he could see me from there. I also finished a book last
weekend, most of it on the floor.

One major breakthrough was last Saturday, he took chicken from my hand
-- woo hooo! After two more days of hand-feeding, I was able to touch
his head without him backing away. I then began to scritch the back of
his neck, and he lowered his head for me. I scritched all around his
ears and this loud, rumble escaped out of him. He started purring like
a banchee. It was such a surprise!

Since then, he usually lets me scritch him, and has started coming out
a few feet from behind the chair at times, and flopping against my leg
so I can scritch his back too. He was such an emotional kitten, he has
not changed at 3 years old. He wears his heart on his sleeve.

Thanks for listening, and for all of the advice. We plan more cat
introductions as we go and everyday scritching sessions. I'm waiting
for him to tell me when he's okay with venturing into the rest of the
house.

Rhonda

I'm so glad he is with you. I think he needed a more experienced cat
person. Here is to success.

Rhonda wrote:

Anyway, all is going well. He's in a room by himeself, mellowing and
listening to talk radio, and I have taken an "example cat" in to him a
few times. He's very interested in the other cats but has not had a
formal introdution, just more of a "see, here's how we pet and love and
feed cats around here."

That's great, Rhonda! You're the best thing that could happen to this
little guy and I'm very happy for him. He'll have a wonderful life
now.

If talk radio in Portland is anything like it is here, then it's not
very mellow unless you mean NPR.

Anxious to hear about his progress,
Candace

Thanks! He is a neat boy. He's still very shy, but coming out to me
after 5 minutes or so of reassurance.

Maybe you like those big red boys because it seems like they're always
the ones that need help.

Rhonda

Topaz wrote:


Rhonda, this is great news. I read your posts about Abernathy and
wondered what would happen. It's terrific of you to take him back in.
He sounds like a really neat boy. And you know how much I love those
big red boys!

Thanks, Mary. You'll probably hear my yelling from here the first time
he curls up on the coach!

Rhonda

mlbriggs wrote:


Best wishes for complete success soon. MLB

The first time I went there to try to help with the situation, I knew it
was one of the worst cat-person matches ever. She was a very timid
person, had not had a cat as an adult, and was afraid of his shadow. It
wasn't her fault, she really thought her gentleness would overcome his
shyness, but she wasn't prepared for tough love and a cat that hid for 3
months.

The woman who left the cat with her knew (admitted) this person was not
going to be the best one for him but left him anyway. That's what I'm
having trouble with.

Rhonda

Nomen Nescio wrote:


I'd bet that you'll find that the problem was not the cat,
but the "co-worker". Maybe it was simply that she was
afraid of him, or maybe it was something else that you
don't know about.
Since he's now started to come to you for attention,
He's obviously decided that "Yea, this girl's OK"
You'll probably have a lap kitty within the next week.
Kinda makes you wonder what was wrong at the
other place. Doesn't it?

Diane wrote:

In article ,
Rhonda wrote:

He's in a room by himeself, mellowing and
listening to talk radio, and I have taken an "example cat" in to him a
few times.

This made me laugh out loud. "Where's my example cat? Oh, there you are.
Here, why can't you be more like your brother? Does he run away?
Noooooooo."


Bad example cat! Oh, and MY example cat, Bear, promptly bit me in front
of Abernathy. He is a "you can pet me this much and then I will
unexpectedly nail you"-type of cat, and I wasn't watching closely
enough. Abernathy saw it all.

I may have to wear gloves from now on.

Rhonda

Thanks. I will drink to that!

Rhonda

Karen wrote:


I'm so glad he is with you. I think he needed a more experienced cat
person. Here is to success.