Felix update: Some good news!
There are still a lot of problems with our man Felix, but we've had an important breakthrough in the past week. I have scratched his chin, neck, and ears. Several times.
Last Thursday, I was sitting here at the desk, and he came up next to me and started bumping and rubbing his face against my hand. I tentatively scraped one fingernail under his chin. No reaction. I used three fingers to give a couple of swipes under the chin. He sort of raised it a bit, as if to give better access. I got increasingly bold, until I was fully scratching his chin and throat, and he had his neck stretched way up to facilitate. I also tried rubbing a knuckle in his ear, which he loves, and was successful there too. I did this for over 6 minutes. I had tears running down my face.
He still has to initiate the contact. I tried a couple of times to initiate it and he declined. It is happening more frequently, though, and yesterday I was so bold as to scratch a shoulder, and that was accepted. I'm absolutely thrilled. The pattern would indicate that things will continue to improve, though we can't know if he will get back to the status quo ante.
Here's a conundrum, though. His fur has poop caked in it in several spots from accidents he's had. (Since his legs don't work very well in the back, and he unwillingly sits thuddingly on the floor a lot, sometimes he accidentally sits right in a plop he's just had come out. I am able to swoop in with paper towel and get most of it, but then there's the last little bit that won't come out that way.) So he needs a bath. It's been too cold, though, to give him one. Our heat is sporadic in this apartment, and often freezing on weekdays, I think because they think no one is home, so they turn it off. Today, the temp is meant to soar up to the low 50s, and it's only today. It drops back down to the low 30s tonight and mostly stays there and lower for days. But #1 Am I willing to jeopardize the progress we've made by royally pissing him off? and #2 Am I even capable of getting the muzzle on him and keeping it on him through a bath and drying process?
Still, good news. Very good news. Probably the President arranged it somehow.
Last Thursday, I was sitting here at the desk, and he came up next to me and started bumping and rubbing his face against my hand. I tentatively scraped one fingernail under his chin. No reaction. I used three fingers to give a couple of swipes under the chin. He sort of raised it a bit, as if to give better access. I got increasingly bold, until I was fully scratching his chin and throat, and he had his neck stretched way up to facilitate. I also tried rubbing a knuckle in his ear, which he loves, and was successful there too. I did this for over 6 minutes. I had tears running down my face.
He still has to initiate the contact. I tried a couple of times to initiate it and he declined. It is happening more frequently, though, and yesterday I was so bold as to scratch a shoulder, and that was accepted. I'm absolutely thrilled. The pattern would indicate that things will continue to improve, though we can't know if he will get back to the status quo ante.
Here's a conundrum, though. His fur has poop caked in it in several spots from accidents he's had. (Since his legs don't work very well in the back, and he unwillingly sits thuddingly on the floor a lot, sometimes he accidentally sits right in a plop he's just had come out. I am able to swoop in with paper towel and get most of it, but then there's the last little bit that won't come out that way.) So he needs a bath. It's been too cold, though, to give him one. Our heat is sporadic in this apartment, and often freezing on weekdays, I think because they think no one is home, so they turn it off. Today, the temp is meant to soar up to the low 50s, and it's only today. It drops back down to the low 30s tonight and mostly stays there and lower for days. But #1 Am I willing to jeopardize the progress we've made by royally pissing him off? and #2 Am I even capable of getting the muzzle on him and keeping it on him through a bath and drying process?
Still, good news. Very good news. Probably the President arranged it somehow.