Wow! What a trip this has been with Tabitha - our feral cat that we got over Christmas in 2007.

She has had horrible spells of colitis which means that whenever and wherever, she would leave unsavory deposits all over the house. Especially the chairs in our office and the kitchen. The feeling would scare her and she would race all over until she would lose control.

We took her to the vet and got her on a high-fiber diet (high-fibre for you UK fans) and some medicine to relax her intestines. It did the trick for awhile. But being around people would stress her out so much that it would keep coming back. That's why we put her in the small bathroom.

She stayed there for about two months with small forays out into the rest of her world. While in the bathroom, she would hide in her drawer (her safe place) and we would have to coax her out with food or soft talk. Then she would come up to us and purr like crazy as we pet her. Sometimes we were able to hold her on our lap and pet her. At first, she was so unused to purring and being touched that she would gag on her saliva. The gagging reflex went away after a couple of weeks and normal eating habits were established.

As time went on and she became familiar with the whole family petting her, we would let her out into a small area - like the hallway in front of the bathroom with all the doors to the rooms closed. There she would play with us (from a distance) and play with the other two cats. As time went on, we let her have more and more room. Now she roams the house freely.

If we have company, we put her back into the bathroom as she feels secure there. Or if she gets another bout of colitis and we can see that she is stressed. By keeping her there for a couple of days, she feels safe again and she calms down and is back to normal.

There are times she gets little frisky spells and she hides on the third stair down while I crouch down and move my hand back and forth at the edge of the second stair. Her eyes get that big, cross-eyed, huge-pupiled look and I know she wants to play. She'll try to bat at my hand, run down a step, twist around and come back for more. At first, when she would touch my hand, she would kind of freak out and quit. Now she'll bat it just fine.

She likes to sleep on a towel next to Pete while he is working on the computer. He'll pet her and then she'll groom his hand. She'll lick his fingers and bite at the tips and his nails. I claim it's his English flesh! Even the mosquitoes in Utah can't stay away from him! He is our new insect repellant - we just hang out with him on our walks and he attracts them all. I know, I know - I've deviated. Back to the story of Tabitha...

She has her safe places where we can pet her. It usually has to be on a blanket or a towel. If she knows that we want to touch her, she'll run to it, crouch down and wait to be stroked. She'll then purr. The amount of safe places increases with time.

One morning I woke up rather early, came out of the bathroom and all three cats were there with their eyes half-shut. You could just see they were thinking it was rather early to be up and about but what the heck - nice way to start the day early. I grabbed Gabriel (the perfect cat) and stroked him. I then picked up Tommy Thompson (the stinky one - that cat just does not know how to keep it clean!) and stroked him. Tabitha then allowed me to stroke her. She is very smart; she'll observe me stroking Gabriel and holding him and cooing at him and then she'll imitate his behavior. She'll actually come up to me for some petting!

This morning was a huge breakthrough. I got up early again - all the other cats were sleeping with kids so she had been alone that night. She came right up and meowed (in Tabby-Lab language that means - hey! You can touch me right now), so I stroked her. I sat down with my coffee and started to study the Bible. She hopped onto the couch and sat right next to me so I could pet her. Huge strides!

We have great hopes for this one. I believe within a year, she will be a lap cat and quite normal.

Labels: Feral Cats, Tabitha, Taming Feral Cats