Breakthrough!

So here I am, on an airplane traveling for work.  It's one of those "I have to do" sort of things, and I guess that's ok, but I'd much rather be at home with the kitties.  It's been a wild couple of days.  As anyone who read my last post knows, we ended up with a lovely orange tabby male from one of the local Humane Societies who wanted help with this poor boy.  They knew his case was far too difficult for them to handle there (although they did an AMAZING job with what they could!!!), and that he would need to be placed with someone who could help him.   That is, apparently, my crazy family. 

Fortunately, though, they were right, we can help this guy.  He's the one who was left in a trap for over 24 hours, shredding himself to get out the entire time.  The mere thought of it still angers me, but I'm trying to let my anger be motivation for doing things that will cause change, instead of making me bitter. 

As I walked into the room with him (we are now calling him Ramses), I could see that he was very deep into his trauma.  His eyes were HUGE, and he didn't stop looking at me no matter where I went in the room.  It's never good for a cat to show this level of fixation on their target of fear... It generally means that they can't move past that at that moment, and it can lead to them lashing out (hyper vigilence plays a huge roll for cats!), or just not being able to connect.   I put some food in front of him, and he didn't even sniff it.  If a cat is not sniffing something tasty, then they are really far gone into fear.  Pretty much any cat will sniff after a big juicy piece of meat,  but when they don't, you have a good idea of just how much damage has been done.

Our boy was bad... really bad.   I talked to the family and told them what he was all about, let the kids meet him and give me their take.  We all agreed that he's terrified, but how to break through if he's not acknowledging anything aside from the object of his fear?   Well.....  Patience.   I have been going in the room with him several times a day, for short stints, 5 or 10 minutes.  At first if I would move close, Ramses would WAIL.  That's the only way I could describe the sound he made.  It wasn't a scream and it wasn't a cry, it was a sound that said "Please just leave me alone and dont hurt me anymore!" It was heartbreaking!   

Determined to make some kind of breakthrough before I left for ym work trip, I broke out the trusty boiled chicken.   He did allow me to approach without wailing, and he did allow me to feed him.  This was good, we had an in.  I got down to his level and stayed there... every time I was above his level, he lost his mind.  After a lot of patience, and making sure not to scare him any more than he was, I was finally rewarded by him reaching out to sniff me..  YAY!!!  I thought I had already made enough progress, but sir Ramses surprised me by head-butting my hand.   I just decided to go with it, and after a 20 minute long love session in which he not only head butted and kissed me, but also rolled around exposing his belly to me, I was totally thrilled!  I never expected him to come forward that quickly!  After only a day or so!  But it shows something about the animal spirit!  This boy was ABSOLUTELY someone's pet.  Feral cats simply don't see human contact without having had prior....  This guy was a lovebug, wanting the chin scratches and he seemed to know just how to direct me to that spot on his cheek that was oh-so-good.  This, we could work with!  

Here's this cat, been through so much, and able to let go of everything and just live in the moment...   It's amazing to me how they can just move forward from trauma.  No way in the world Ramses is going to be "normal" anytime soon, but even the step he made forward, the fact that he was willing to TRY , to have faith that SOMEBODY wouldn't hurt him.   He was living in the moment.  I wish more people did this!  We are all so busy looking forward and clinging to the past like a 2 year old with their wubbie, and we miss the RIGHT NOW!  Every time that moment happens that a connection is made, I can't help but be present in the now, or I would never be able to make connections with these cats.   It forces me to slow down, think, and relish the moment.  Take a deep breath and just be in the now.   If we were like this, the world would be a whole better place.  

But that aside, before we left Lori pulled a sweet little Polydactyl momma cat (quite preggo), and she's a complete darling.  No confirmed name yet, but soon enough, and it's nice for the kids to enjoy a "normal" cat now and again lol.  Everyone else is doing well, but I just wanted to share my breakthrough with everyone.   I could not be more pleased and excited for what this means for Ramses's prospects.   Thanks all for reading!!