So! While the calico is slowly, slowly becoming less afraid of me, the tortie's favorite spot is still under the bed:
She IS a pretty thing, isn't she:
She looks kinda like a Jackson Pollock painting. I believe her actual coat designation is "tortie and white" - please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
I have to confess - I am not fond of torties as a rule. Their schizophrenic personalities are wearying. Rescues I've volunteered with call friendly torties "anti-torties", because most torties want nothing to do with people. They're really kind of ideal for someone who ... can take a lot of ignoring? And sleep with one eye open?
Jump in any time with your friendly tortie stories - it gives me hope for the future. And I'm hoping that by badmouthing torties here, the gal in my bedroom will prove me wrong and turn into a lovebug. Hey, one can hope, right?
ANYhow, at this point, her sister the calico really isn't a whole lot friendlier:
The one-eye-eyeliner look SLAYS me. I call her the pirate cat. And her coat is really interesting. Here's a better shot of it:
Isn't that gorgeous? I think technically she's a Caliby, or Calico Tabby. Maybe. I'm really bad at coat designations, and I still have NO IDEA what a "torbie" is. Anybody?
That's Tinks in the foreground of the pic above. Both of the fosters IDOLIZE Tinks. It's adorable. As soon as he strolls into the room, they are ALL OVER HIM. The calico lays down in front of him and purrs and purrs and purrs. He is a rock star of the cat world, evidently.
So! That's the news from the foster room. Slow and steady progress. These gals were four months old when they came to me, which most rescues regard as "too old" to be socialized. And up to that point, every single contact they had with humans resulted in bad things - Being live-trapped, being separated from their mama, being spayed, being vaccinated ... It's like if I was walking down the street one day, minding my own business, and a spaceship full of aliens swooped down and beamed me up and started doing experiments on me. I don't think I'd be befriending my captors any time soon, if ever, and that's what these guys are going through. I'll tell you what, when you foster ferals, you've gotta be good at handling rejection. It DOES hurt to have a cute, cuddly kitten in your house who hates you. But as it turned out, my busy schedule hasn't been a problem, because about twenty minutes at a time of "human in the room" is all they can handle at this point.
And I will keep soldiering on, because every cat (yes, even torties. *sigh*) deserves a chance.
Who knows? One of these days I may actually be able to PET them.
3 comments:
My dad's dog has the eyeliner on one eye. We always say her mother didn't have time to teach her how to line both eyes.
it is harder after that point, and more often than not they remain skittish for the rest of their life, but they can and do come around.. I specialize in feral kittens and enjoy working with them.
Birdie, I love that!
And Tails, I love that you're willing to work with ferals. If you'd like to pass on any advice, that'd be cool.
It did warm my heart today that when I got home from work and started moving around the house, the gals actually came out from under bed, like they wanted to greet me! Or be fed, either one. Ha.
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