October 11th 2009 2:42 am
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When I locate which drive and which computer the files for Hallie's diary updates are on, I will edit this with more specific dates.

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June 19 2009

At about 9 pm tonight, June 19 2009 Hallie WALKED for the first time, taking a few steps. I had been petting her, then stopped petting her and went a few feet from her and she got up and walked over to get petted again.
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Before that, Hallie would get around with a movement I can best describe as a crawl.

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As soon as Hallie became able to jump again, she immediately assumed ownership of the bathroom throne! One day when it was necessary for me to dethrone Hallie, I brought a grooming rake with me. Hallie needed to have dead undercoat groomed out. To my surprise, Hallie LOVED being groomed. She started rubbing the sides of her head against the rake teeth, scratching the areas she wanted scratched. I was surprised that this cat who obviously has suffered a lot of abuse, loves to be groomed.

Hallie still reacts in fear to certain things. As is typical of cats and many other animals when scared, she will growl and hiss and display aggressive behavior in an attempt to mask her fear. The sight of a broom or a vacuum cleaner will make her show fear-aggression. She is afraid of water. If even a few drops hit her, she shows fear-aggression. Changing the trashbag in the bathroom wastebasket scares her. Any movement that's made too fast when walking or standing up from sitting, will scare her. What happened to Hallie to cause these fear reactions, I can only guess at.

So far, Hallie is also still scared of the other cats. I sometimes stand and hold the bathroom door open a moment so she can see the other cats (somebody usually is in the hallway outside the door). She will act curious and then hiss and retreat at which point I shut the door. I don't want to push her. Pushing a cat will achieve nothing except resistance and deeper fear. Time and patience are two of the biggest necessities in working with a fearful cat.