 Purred: Tue Apr 25, '06 5:46pm PST |
 | |  | | I think that if you can successfully pet a cat, then it wasn't too early to pet them. She might just be trying to step back and let you work more with Dancer; cats work in mysterious ways. If you're concerned she's associating being petted with scary feelings or memories just keep taking it slow and giving her lots of rewards. We fostered little Hillary who was a victim of abuse and by first sitting by her while she gobbled down canned food, and then having my hand on the edge of the dish while she ate, and then sneaking in cheek scratches while she ate she finally started getting a taste for petting and although she's still very skittish and jumpy she loves being petted and starts jumping for joy or running towards us when we reach down to pet her. Sometimes fostering takes a lot of patience that way.
But it sounds like Dancer and Leigh are coming along well. Keep bribing them, and if they tolerate other people being around try having them come bribe them sometimes. Nothing can really prepare them for the whole giant pet store experience, but getting them used to a variety of people helps them be more adaptable to people who ask to hold them and everything. And even if they are always cage-haters, that doesn't mean they won't get adopted. I had a big sweet cute black cat and when I brought her to an adopt-a-thon at Petsmart she spent the whole day scrunched up in the corner looking thoroughly annoyed with the whole situation. It wasn't a busy day and none of the other cats had gotten adopted clsoe to closing time. Then a lady came in and looked at the cats, and wanted to hold my big black cat instead of a kitten! She was set on adopting her even before I pointed out she was a polydactyl. And the lady has even kept in touch through e-mails so I know she's still very happy.
(Oh, and Dancer and Leigh are both set in the looks department, Dancer is cute as a button and Leigh has such a beautiful face! ^-^) |  |  | |  |
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