Friday Precerpt: Raising Happy Cat Families - Gaining a Cat's Confidence, Part 2 (Norwood)
Question: What is a precerpt?
Answer: A precerpt is a brief excerpt or preview of a book (or other text), used to give readers a taste of the content before they read the full piece. It's like a sneak peek that hooks the reader's interest (or at least, we hope it will hook yours).
This Friday's precerpt is from Raising Happy Cat Families by Luna Norwood --
GAINING A CAT'S CONFIDENCE
(part 2)
So, how did Boulder became Bobolink? How did I gain
the confidence of this scared baby? In the following ways that can be
generalized to a number of scaredy cats:
LEAVE THE INITIATIVE TO THE CAT; RESPECT THE CAT’S
SPACE.
I left the initiative to Bobolink. He could join the
rest of the family when he was ready and was not forced to do so before he was
ready. Bobolink’s cubby on the cat tree was there as his protective fortress; I
did not disturb him there—did not feed him there, did not try to pet him there,
removed him from there only once a day for his socialization opportunity. The
cat tree was in the cat room, and that room became Bobolink’s alone while he
was being introduced to the family.
PROVIDE A CONTROLLED OPPORTUNITY TO BE PETTED/SOCIALIZED.
I would give Bobolink the experience once a day of
being brought into the living room and being held if only briefly (in the
beginning, a few seconds, then minutes, then for long periods, but the length
of time was always his choice). I did not begin petting him until he was ready
to accept touch. (Sometimes, this wait can be quite a long time but worth the
wait.) Some cat owners have successfully helped feral cats become used to being
petting by attaching a glove to a long stick and petting them safely that way.
I have never used that technique, but it can possibly speed up the process of
acclimating a cat to being petted.
PROVIDE A SENSE OF SECURITY
I spoke softly to Bobolink so as not to scare him. I
moved slowly around him for the same reason. When Bobolink indicated that he
had a favorite toy, I made sure that toy was already near his cubby so that he
could pull it in and sleep with it if he wished. Of course, the cubby, on a
high platform on the cat tree, in and of itself gave Bobolink a sense of
security. Other cats and other people were not allowed to interact with
Bobolink while he was adjusting to being in my home.
Although it is not always possible to be perfectly
consistent, I did try to make sure that Bobolink’s interactions, feeding, and
the link took place on a regular schedule so that life would be predictable to
him.
Bobolink provided me with great feedback; I just had
to pay attention to his body language. When he was feeling confident, he fanned
his feathery tail. When he was scared, he dragged the long tail behind him.
CONNECT PLEASURABLE EXPERIENCES WITH OWNER INTERACTION
AND OTHER POSITIVE ACTIONS
Bobolink was a good eater; each time I fed him alone (before he was integrated into the cat family), I either patted him, or earlier, briefly touched. He began to associate the pleasure of eating with my touch. Also, he liked treats, so a little later when he would leave his cubby to explore the rest of the cat room, I made sure he received treats as a reward. Ultimately, I let Happy Cat, our wonderful beta cat, in to play with Bobolink and me. Together, they took turns batting at a fish on a string. Then, they started interacting with each other directly. When I opened the door for Happy Cat to leave, Bobolink followed him—and never went back. Happy Cat and he were great pals from that day on.
For more precerpts from Raising Happy Cat Families, click HERE.
For more book precerpts (from pending books), click HERE.
For book excerpts (from already released books), click HERE.
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