Hi Pip!! I have missed these updates on Miss Teia! I still remember when Buff and Cooper were in the nursery! Off to check out the album!
That's so sweet! And they say an old cat can't learn new tricks. She obviously trusts the safety you represent.
This is amazing, Pip!! What exciting news to wake up to this morning. And what a dedicated and awesome fur dad you are (well, that's always gone w/o saying) to sleep in the recliner just for her.
Had another little break through for Miss Teia this morning.
Buff was sitting on a shelf by one of the windows. Miss Teia jumped up on the end table right by, lifted her paw, reached out to touch him, he lay down and she stepped over the gap to sniff his flank.
First time I've seen her initiate social contact.
For the new folks...Miss Teia Honey will be 18 in December. We adopted her in June 2009 at the age of 10 1/2. She was still semi-feral as the folks who had her before us had rescued her from a neighbor kid that hurt her (she was about 6 months old), got her fully vetted (including spay), and then gave her a safe haven in their house (food, water, litter box and a room), but spent very little time trying to socialize her.
I was unwilling to accept that she could not be reached. Both Anita and I spent lots of time with her, while not neglecting Kestrel, Hildiekatt and Chesapeake (all 3 now living in fond memory). After 5 months she sat next to me on top of the bed for the 1st time. After 11 months she let me pick her up for the 1st time. By then, she was eating all her meals just outside the room where she spent most of her time (usually under the bed or in the closet) with Hildiekatt just a foot or so away. This was the limit of her social life with the other cats.
2 years ago we adopted Cooper (dark grey) and Buff (ginger) at about 5 months of age. They are our first boy cats in our near 34 years of having cats together, and were rescued from a horrible, ongoing hoarding situation in Harrisburg, PA.
The boys have put on a charm offensive from the beginning.
This is what I hoped would happen some day.