She has the routine down pat now. When I empty her litter pan out of the last cubicle, she is there waiting. Her small condo is her hideout and her gorgeous mackeral tabby head pops out to watch. She makes no effort to flee, she just watches.
When I fill up her food bowl (in the first cubicle) her head pops out of the second hole watching me closely.
I added something new to the mix this afternoon and put my fake hand in there to see how she reacts. Well, let me just put it this way, it will be a long time before she will allow anyone to touch her. It will come in time.
She is eating and using the pan and drinking and above she is safe. not a very happy camper, but she is safe.
She’s curious, and that’s a step toward getting to know someone. Cats are most interesting, no matter what they do, aren’t they? And I love the name Velcro.
and she is curious and she will come to learn that there is love in the world
I know that this post is old, but perhaps someone will see this! I’m curious about the fake hand. A shelter volunteer had told me about this, but I can’t seem to find one online. Do you have any advice about where to purchase one reasonably? (I think I have some horrid, cheap Halloween plastic zombie hand from a dollar store–it’s not that lifelike, nor pleasant to touch, I’m sure… Would this work???) Do you think a piece of plastic really helps with the socialization process of a feral cat? I have also read about using cloth (such as flannel) rubbed with your scent, and wrapped around a wooden spoon to help acclimate.
My hand is simply a old work glove of mine stuffed with cotton batting and duct taped to a piece of pvc pipe. If you can get the cat to respond to a touch of anything, be it a fake hand, the other end of a wooden spoon without a reaction, you are ahead of the game. They are so quick to strike that yes, I believe a fake hand is necessary to help with socialization. I have had to many trips to the ER with bad cat bites to trust much else.