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Slow and Steady

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 Well, I think maybe Calliope allowing us to touch her is much farther off than I thought. I touched her with a string from the wand toy last night and she jumped away as if she were being severely hurt. I may have to bite the bullet and get falconer gloves just to remove her collar. I don't think a towel alone will be sufficient based on the vet report.  Despite this, she seems to be a lot more comfortable and will sit in the window near my head if it is open. Thank you, warmer weather. If I move a muscle, she is ready to run. I'm pleased that she isn't hiding underneath things.  Everett likes to sit near us, which is very endearing. But he does NOT want us to touch him. He sat on my feet which were under a blanket the other day. I moved my toe slightly and he was shocked and appalled. He still sat with me, but shifted away. When he was leaning on me, I felt a little sad because I could feel  his bones, and not softness. We have been feeding them more than our other...
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Calliope and Everett

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 We ended up adopting Calliope's brother, Kava, who we have now renamed Everett two days after Calliope. We came up with his name because he was hiding in a very small space in my husband's desk. In the movie, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" the character Everett is always saying that they're in a tight spot, so there it is. I thought a name keeping a V sound in it would be good, too. I put out a poll for my family, so his name (so far) is Everett Lando Catrissian Monopoly Williams. We'll have to give Calliope a second name. Maybe Leia Organa just to keep with the Star Wars theme.  Anyway, this blog isn't about names. It is about progress of shy cats. Calliope was getting fairly comfortable with us before we brought Everett home. She did come from a hoarding situation, but after a week and seeing her interactions with Everett, I wonder if she'd prefer to be in a one-cat home. Only time will tell. She ate a treat from my fingers and has been doing pretty w...
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New Shy Cat

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We have adopted a new shy cat!! Because I had such a fulfilling experience with Milky Way and his transformation from terrified to comfortable and safe, I looked at other "spirit cats" from hoarding situations at our local shelter.  There was one I really wanted because of how scared she looked, but she was adopted out pretty quickly because she was orange and people love orange cats. There were several cats left and I finally decided on Kettle, who looked terrified in her picture.  She was in foster, so I had to click a link to apply online. I had never done this before, but it was easy. I submitted the paperwork, made an appointment for a phone conversation, and then set up a time to pick up Kettle. :) I had the cat within 24 hours after clicking "adopt."  Kettle (who we will probably re-name Calliope), is very scared in her new home, as expected. She hid underneath a dresser and then the couch. I got a picture of her last night, but I haven't seen her since. ...
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Two Years!

It has been two years since we adopted Milky Way. He has transformed from a cat who hides under the couch all day to one that sleeps in the open, up high. He sleeps with us at night (and our other two cats). He is happy to sit in windows. He loves to be pet, even standing up on his hind legs to get pet. I credit a lot of Milky's progress to our dear kitten August, who tragically passed away on August 2nd. August's death set Milky Way into a depression and he and Jabez began fighting a lot. We decided, though our hearts were so broken, to adopt another kitten. Figaro is very different from August, but he has been accepted (it took a while). He and Milky play together, wrestling or with string - one on each end! Milky and Jabez aren't best buddies, but they live mostly peacefully now. I have ZERO regrets adopting Milky Way... though I do wish I had figured out he wasn't neutered sooner!
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Miracle on West Center Street

For the past two days Milky Way and Jabez have been left together without a gate while we are at work. There have been no obvious signs of a fight and no cat is running away from the other. We are taking this as a very good sign!! We are still putting Milky Way in his room at night, but I think that on Friday or Saturday we will try him not in his room and see what happens. We tried that last week, but almost the second we turned out our light there was a fight. We are so close, and I don't want to rush things, but I want to rush things!!! I'm imagining our open pocket door or at least a gate-free door to the north side room. These are exciting times!
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Another Huge Step!

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I never thought I'd be writing this post - even a few weeks ago. On Friday I put together a tall cat tower thing for our living room. I thought that August would like being up high and going into the little houses when he wasn't outside. August immediately climbed all the way to the top to explore, but he's not been up there much since that time. Jabez has completely rejected it and I don't think he's even tried to climb on it at all. Milky Way, on the other hand, LOVES it. He sits on it a lot and loves to scratch the posts. I'm so glad. Because of this, we've also been allowing Milky to be out in the house with Jabez inside. There was only one incident where Milky smacked Jabez. I videoed them and the video clearly shows that Jabez deflected the swat. I put Milky back into his room after that. I think he may have connected attacking Jabez to being put in his room. Anyway, today I came home from work for lunch because August was still outside. I deci...
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After One Year...

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It has been over one year now since we adopted Milky Way. I've noted some of his progress here already, but I wanted to note the changes.  He still defaults to sitting under tables and couches, but he's a completely different cat. He's no longer fearful of many things that used to scare him - people, a certain position of my hand, cups with straws, letting us se e him sitting in windows, etc.  Now he comes when I call his name. Kindness and gentleness win. And obviously so do love and consistency.  <3
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