So I'm 3.5 weeks into socializing Coconut. We've revised our idea of her age upward, so she was close to 4 months when we got her off the street. The reason for the revision...she is in heat. No wonder she was interested in the other cats...though they are all fixed and don't quite know what to make of her. At least she isn't yowling - just trilling and doing the "present butt" to Chaser, the one male cat we allow to visit her (the others hiss at her). She has a spay appointment scheduled for March 8.
Coconut is still in the large dog cage, but we are constructing an "annex" that will double her floor space. She is accepting pets, but cringes when we first reach toward her (slowly, hand lightly curled, below her eye level). She does like the chin scratches and the sides of her face rubbed. She's even purred...though it may have been comfort purring. She relaxes some while she's being petted.
The negatives are that she still moves away from us when we first come to the cage (even if we are bringing food). And she cringes initially with petting. But she "recovers" much more quickly from the touch, and we always mix play, petting, and food/tuna so she gets lots of positive interaction.
Knowing that she is older than we thought, it doesn't surprise me that she is taking longer to come around. We are still making progress. Now we have to get her used to the idea of being moved/picked up. We are trying the "hand under the belly, lift a tiny bit, and put her down" approach. We'd love to be able to take her into the bathroom for play. Hopefully in a week she'll be ready for that. We'd put her into a carrier to move her...so no chance of an escape. I think she'd love more room to run around.
I just wanted to give you all an update.
Coconut is still in the large dog cage, but we are constructing an "annex" that will double her floor space. She is accepting pets, but cringes when we first reach toward her (slowly, hand lightly curled, below her eye level). She does like the chin scratches and the sides of her face rubbed. She's even purred...though it may have been comfort purring. She relaxes some while she's being petted.
The negatives are that she still moves away from us when we first come to the cage (even if we are bringing food). And she cringes initially with petting. But she "recovers" much more quickly from the touch, and we always mix play, petting, and food/tuna so she gets lots of positive interaction.
Knowing that she is older than we thought, it doesn't surprise me that she is taking longer to come around. We are still making progress. Now we have to get her used to the idea of being moved/picked up. We are trying the "hand under the belly, lift a tiny bit, and put her down" approach. We'd love to be able to take her into the bathroom for play. Hopefully in a week she'll be ready for that. We'd put her into a carrier to move her...so no chance of an escape. I think she'd love more room to run around.
I just wanted to give you all an update.