Miss Cactus - a taming in progress
Nov. 5th, 2005 12:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sugarplumkittyI've been meaning to write about our Miss Cactus and how over time I've been slowly turning a semi-feral cat into a purely tame one. She still has a way to go on that. Each of these behaviors took months or years to accomplish. I can be very patient. She was raised under our house for the first six weeks of her life. We've had to gain her trust and teach her to accept the kind of loving we like to give our kitties. She's now 8 years old. A lot of her taming came from her mentor, my old boy Boo. He taught her to hate cameras but he also taught her we were trustworthy... as long as we aren't trying to take her picture. LOL
Feral behavior/reaction and method used
Didn't want her back paws touched.
She reclined along my arm as a kitten. Eventually she got too big to stretch out and I'd cup her back paws in my hand without holding on. Once she was used to that, I'd stroke the tops of her feet without lingering. Once she got used to that, I'd just lightly leave my finger or thumb there. Now she loves it.
Didn't want her front paws touched.
When we were snuggling in bed I'd tuck my hand under her paw. That way she has control over the contact and doesn't feel trapped. Once she got used to that, I started tucking a finger in against her paw pad when she had her front paws folded against her chest and stroking the tops of her front paws when she sitting on my chest. She's just now getting used to that. Next step will be holding her front paw.
Didn't want her belly touched.
I get quick pets in but she still kicks me after one touch. We'll get there in time.
Didn't want her chest touched.
I'd pet the approved places and quickly stroke her chest. Eventually she came to understand I wasn't going to choke her. Now she likes having her chest petted and loves massages of her entire upper torso.
Freaked when I attempted to pet her whole face at once.
I started petting each part of her face with one finger, leaving the rest of her face free to move away. Then I started petting one entire side of her face at a time with my cupped hand. Once she got into that (purr purr drool drool) I tried the full face pet again, once each session until she came to understand I wasn't going to grab her face or force her to endure more than she could take. Now she initiates them by snowplowing under my hand.
Freaked when my head came near hers for any reason.
I can understand how frightening it could be to see this huge heavy thing coming at me. She was fine with my head as long as she approached it on her own terms, like sleeping on top of my recliner while I was in it. At first I'd hold her head and brush my cheek across her in the direction the fur grows and let go right away. She ran away at first, but got used to it. Trying to put my cheek on her was too much, so I learned to lie on the bed near her and pet her. I moved my head closer and closer to her over time until she came to trust that it wasn't going to crush her. She now will let me lie my cheek on her for a few seconds. She is just at the point of starting to relax and enjoy it.
Kisses terrified her.
As part of the head coming at her process, I started planting a kiss on her forehead. Kisses terrified her at first but I knew she was adjusting because in the computer room, she started shoving her head at my mouth for kisses and bumping my nose with hers. In the last year, she started bumping her mouth against mine when we're snuggling in bed. She's licked my lips on occasion (yuck) so when she's coming at me, I fold them in so she just gets the skin around them. I tell her "No frenching, kitty!" I'm not sure I really like a kitty kissing me on the mouth, but I'm amazed that she picked up that behavior on her own.
Hugs
Hugs made her feel trapped. Her instincts told her to escape. Because of the way I hold her in the computer room, I started by hugging her shoulders with my free hand against me, very quickly with a complete release afterwards. It took a while but now she not only accepts hugs in the computer room, she'll roll around on my arm to invite them. When I hug her on the bed, she says "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh" in a distressed tone but she doesn't run away anymore. The quick hug and release method is still in place there since she's still stressed but I expect that soon she'll just purr and hug back. She recently started stroking my face with affection, so hugging can't be far away.
Completely freaks at the sound of plastic bags or being held near a sink
These terrify her for some reason. I'm not sure I want to know why. I do know she was the only kitten her mommy raised in our yard though as sick as she was when I found and caught her for medical treatment, the others might have died. We're not conditioning her on those. We simply respect her fear and try to avoid frightening her.
Runs away when Eric pulls the covers up on the bed or gets ready for work.
For some reason, I could do stuff with the bed and change my clothes without frightening her too much but Eric scared her. He's very loving and gentle with her. He can be a bit rough with the bedspread and he flaps his shirts before he puts them on for some reason. It took her several years of sweet-talk from him to stop running away the minute he came in to get ready for work. Now she just looks crabby when he does it.
Runs away with any movement behind her when she's eating
Mostly we stop doing anything in the kitchen while she's eating so she'll feel safe enough to eat her fill. She was afraid to eat in the kitchen at all at first. I'd put her plate in the doorway so she could stand in the hall for a quick get-away if she felt the need. Eric didn't like that because she would drop little bits of catfood on the floor of the hall. We've inched the plate farther into the kitchen so now she will eat next to Lee-Roy (who will clean her plate if she abandons it). When I have to go past her, I'll talk to her first in a baby talk voice that "Mommy needs to go by you, it's OK sweet dirl." and I'll move slowly past her without making eye contact. She's no longer running away every time, but sometimes she still does. This is a work in progress.
** Crossposted in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
cat_lovers and my journal **
Feral behavior/reaction and method used
Didn't want her back paws touched.
She reclined along my arm as a kitten. Eventually she got too big to stretch out and I'd cup her back paws in my hand without holding on. Once she was used to that, I'd stroke the tops of her feet without lingering. Once she got used to that, I'd just lightly leave my finger or thumb there. Now she loves it.
Didn't want her front paws touched.
When we were snuggling in bed I'd tuck my hand under her paw. That way she has control over the contact and doesn't feel trapped. Once she got used to that, I started tucking a finger in against her paw pad when she had her front paws folded against her chest and stroking the tops of her front paws when she sitting on my chest. She's just now getting used to that. Next step will be holding her front paw.
Didn't want her belly touched.
I get quick pets in but she still kicks me after one touch. We'll get there in time.
Didn't want her chest touched.
I'd pet the approved places and quickly stroke her chest. Eventually she came to understand I wasn't going to choke her. Now she likes having her chest petted and loves massages of her entire upper torso.
Freaked when I attempted to pet her whole face at once.
I started petting each part of her face with one finger, leaving the rest of her face free to move away. Then I started petting one entire side of her face at a time with my cupped hand. Once she got into that (purr purr drool drool) I tried the full face pet again, once each session until she came to understand I wasn't going to grab her face or force her to endure more than she could take. Now she initiates them by snowplowing under my hand.
Freaked when my head came near hers for any reason.
I can understand how frightening it could be to see this huge heavy thing coming at me. She was fine with my head as long as she approached it on her own terms, like sleeping on top of my recliner while I was in it. At first I'd hold her head and brush my cheek across her in the direction the fur grows and let go right away. She ran away at first, but got used to it. Trying to put my cheek on her was too much, so I learned to lie on the bed near her and pet her. I moved my head closer and closer to her over time until she came to trust that it wasn't going to crush her. She now will let me lie my cheek on her for a few seconds. She is just at the point of starting to relax and enjoy it.
Kisses terrified her.
As part of the head coming at her process, I started planting a kiss on her forehead. Kisses terrified her at first but I knew she was adjusting because in the computer room, she started shoving her head at my mouth for kisses and bumping my nose with hers. In the last year, she started bumping her mouth against mine when we're snuggling in bed. She's licked my lips on occasion (yuck) so when she's coming at me, I fold them in so she just gets the skin around them. I tell her "No frenching, kitty!" I'm not sure I really like a kitty kissing me on the mouth, but I'm amazed that she picked up that behavior on her own.
Hugs
Hugs made her feel trapped. Her instincts told her to escape. Because of the way I hold her in the computer room, I started by hugging her shoulders with my free hand against me, very quickly with a complete release afterwards. It took a while but now she not only accepts hugs in the computer room, she'll roll around on my arm to invite them. When I hug her on the bed, she says "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh" in a distressed tone but she doesn't run away anymore. The quick hug and release method is still in place there since she's still stressed but I expect that soon she'll just purr and hug back. She recently started stroking my face with affection, so hugging can't be far away.
Completely freaks at the sound of plastic bags or being held near a sink
These terrify her for some reason. I'm not sure I want to know why. I do know she was the only kitten her mommy raised in our yard though as sick as she was when I found and caught her for medical treatment, the others might have died. We're not conditioning her on those. We simply respect her fear and try to avoid frightening her.
Runs away when Eric pulls the covers up on the bed or gets ready for work.
For some reason, I could do stuff with the bed and change my clothes without frightening her too much but Eric scared her. He's very loving and gentle with her. He can be a bit rough with the bedspread and he flaps his shirts before he puts them on for some reason. It took her several years of sweet-talk from him to stop running away the minute he came in to get ready for work. Now she just looks crabby when he does it.
Runs away with any movement behind her when she's eating
Mostly we stop doing anything in the kitchen while she's eating so she'll feel safe enough to eat her fill. She was afraid to eat in the kitchen at all at first. I'd put her plate in the doorway so she could stand in the hall for a quick get-away if she felt the need. Eric didn't like that because she would drop little bits of catfood on the floor of the hall. We've inched the plate farther into the kitchen so now she will eat next to Lee-Roy (who will clean her plate if she abandons it). When I have to go past her, I'll talk to her first in a baby talk voice that "Mommy needs to go by you, it's OK sweet dirl." and I'll move slowly past her without making eye contact. She's no longer running away every time, but sometimes she still does. This is a work in progress.
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Baby Cactus kitten |
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Miss Cactus in 2004 |
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Cactus on my elbow |
** Crossposted in
cat_lovers and my journal **
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no subject
Date: 2005-11-05 08:46 pm (UTC)My Kitty won't headbutt me...and I wish she would, nor does she rub her cheek on my face. =( But I do rub my cheek on hers and kiss her kitty forehead. She LOVES the pads/toes to be rubbed on her front paws, but not so much on the back. She licks me (my hands, fingers, toes...)...I love that she's pretty affectionate. =)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-05 08:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-05 11:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-06 08:27 am (UTC)