Operation Rehab Neville
Efforts continue apace to convince Neville that I'm not going to eat him. He's still unconvinced.
The main problem I'm running into is that he's making such slow progress that the size of the cage we're having to house him in for now is becoming an issue. Most of our foster kittens stay caged while we're working and sleeping (the cages are roomy, with lots of toys), but come out to run amok when we're around and can keep an eye on them. The completely untamed ferals, however, can't be trusted to do this. You bring a feral out, and he'll just find a place to hide. Getting him back can be difficult, and the entire exercise does nothing towards taming him and getting him adoptable.
The issue, though, is that Neville's making very slow progress. I'm uncomfortable keeping him caged 24/7 when there's not currently an end in sight for when he'll be able to have more freedom. Enter the compromise.
We have a small screened-in front porch on the house. It's big enough to run amok in, but not so big that he can get away and hide. All of the furniture stands high off the ground, with no way to hide somewhere he can't be easily retrieved. Last night, I took Neville, Nellie, and the Pterodactyls out there, along with the Pterodactyl's climber and a handful of jingle balls and other cat toys.
It was a huge hit. Nellie and the Pterodactyls have been playing together a good bit lately, so they were jumping on each others' heads almost immediately. Neville seemed unsure about all this at first, but before too long, he was running and chasing and pouncing and climbing with the others. He turned from a scared little cat back into a kitten. I took my laptop out and stayed out there with them for a couple hours (minus the time that I left them out there and cleaned their cages inside.) He still wanted no part of being picked up or held, but he forgot I was there and ran over and under my feet several times while playing. These are all signs of progress.
One of my biggest concerns about Neville has been that he didn't seem to care much about getting out and romping with the other kittens. With the other ferals we've tamed, that's always been a key component of getting them to settle down - they wanted GO, and they quickly learned when picked up that relaxing and purring meant they were put down to play faster. They'd quickly get to where they purred immediately when picked up. Hopefully, by finding a place that we can give Neville a little more freedom and a chance to romp and play and have fun, we'll be able to motivate him to begin relaxing more quickly when picked up. Between this and the fact that he seems to REALLY like turkey baby food, we've hopefully got some tools to motivate him.
In other news, last night was another nail-biting attempt by the Tigers to choke away a game, but another win in the end. I swear, Fernando Rodney's gonna give me ulcers yet, putting men on 1st and 3rd with no outs in the bottom of the 9th with only a 2 run lead! He pulled it off, though, without letting anyone score. I guess you can't argue that he's a boring pitcher to watch! The White Sox lost to the Red Sox again last night, so this win moves us further into first place. In other news, the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth you may be hearing right now is me being forced to root for Boston. Blech. I feel a little dirty.
The main problem I'm running into is that he's making such slow progress that the size of the cage we're having to house him in for now is becoming an issue. Most of our foster kittens stay caged while we're working and sleeping (the cages are roomy, with lots of toys), but come out to run amok when we're around and can keep an eye on them. The completely untamed ferals, however, can't be trusted to do this. You bring a feral out, and he'll just find a place to hide. Getting him back can be difficult, and the entire exercise does nothing towards taming him and getting him adoptable.
The issue, though, is that Neville's making very slow progress. I'm uncomfortable keeping him caged 24/7 when there's not currently an end in sight for when he'll be able to have more freedom. Enter the compromise.
We have a small screened-in front porch on the house. It's big enough to run amok in, but not so big that he can get away and hide. All of the furniture stands high off the ground, with no way to hide somewhere he can't be easily retrieved. Last night, I took Neville, Nellie, and the Pterodactyls out there, along with the Pterodactyl's climber and a handful of jingle balls and other cat toys.
It was a huge hit. Nellie and the Pterodactyls have been playing together a good bit lately, so they were jumping on each others' heads almost immediately. Neville seemed unsure about all this at first, but before too long, he was running and chasing and pouncing and climbing with the others. He turned from a scared little cat back into a kitten. I took my laptop out and stayed out there with them for a couple hours (minus the time that I left them out there and cleaned their cages inside.) He still wanted no part of being picked up or held, but he forgot I was there and ran over and under my feet several times while playing. These are all signs of progress.
One of my biggest concerns about Neville has been that he didn't seem to care much about getting out and romping with the other kittens. With the other ferals we've tamed, that's always been a key component of getting them to settle down - they wanted GO, and they quickly learned when picked up that relaxing and purring meant they were put down to play faster. They'd quickly get to where they purred immediately when picked up. Hopefully, by finding a place that we can give Neville a little more freedom and a chance to romp and play and have fun, we'll be able to motivate him to begin relaxing more quickly when picked up. Between this and the fact that he seems to REALLY like turkey baby food, we've hopefully got some tools to motivate him.
In other news, last night was another nail-biting attempt by the Tigers to choke away a game, but another win in the end. I swear, Fernando Rodney's gonna give me ulcers yet, putting men on 1st and 3rd with no outs in the bottom of the 9th with only a 2 run lead! He pulled it off, though, without letting anyone score. I guess you can't argue that he's a boring pitcher to watch! The White Sox lost to the Red Sox again last night, so this win moves us further into first place. In other news, the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth you may be hearing right now is me being forced to root for Boston. Blech. I feel a little dirty.