Beanie the lunatic (as is rapidly becoming his nickname)

[Judecat (Paula)]

Sorry Hikari,

Not really been on as I was on holiday, it sounds as if he is coming on a treat, only one of mine had a decent upbringing, but she doesn't like babies,
 so when my eldest fell again I got the "Muuuuum, you know you've always loved Emo....." phone call, so we did 180 miles each way to pick up Emo. All my others had issues, sometimes it is challenging, to put it politely. But we persevere and they are so worth it.

[Hikari92]

its nice when cats like that come round, two of ours didn't have a great start, one belonged to 4 members of my own family (who shouldn't have pets in my opinion) by the time she was two and another was a cruelty case from the rspca, she still runs when the doorbell goes and has been with us 11 years but she is a little treasure

Yeah, the proudness last all of 5 minutes when he was playing with one of his toys, turned and smacked into the door frame. Hes now spending the day sulking 

[Dawn F]

its nice when cats like that come round, two of ours didn't have a great start, one belonged to 4 members of my own family (who shouldn't have pets in my opinion) by the time she was two and another was a cruelty case from the rspca, she still runs when the doorbell goes and has been with us 11 years but she is a little treasure

[Desley (booktigger)]

Aww, I'm so pleased that you gave a timid cat a chance, and that you have been rewarded for it - please don't worry if you get the occasional set back.

I took on a cat with a lot of issues 16 months ago, its not been easy, but knowing I gave her a chance when many wouldn't - she bit me the first time I met her! - helps when she is being hard. Her initial nickname was fat cat grumpy Lucy. 

Oh bless, oh yeah i know he will still have his moments. Yesterday the newspaper came through the door and he ran away. The day before that it was the amazon delivery guy.
The problem i had before with his hiding was his choice of place to hide. It was fine when he was in the spare room when he brought him home but now he has the run of the house its under sideboards and the sofa. While much care has been taken to make sure he cant hurt  himself  i still worry he will, so i got a medium dog crate, covered it in his favourite blanket and put one of his beds in there so he has a safe place to hide.

I think im going to have to add nag to his collection of names, he makes sure i know when its time for his meals that his box needs cleaning out and its playtime. Based on the last 2 days it will be a miracle if i get round to my coffee before 10

Aww, bless him. Even after 16 months, Lucy is still scared of certain noises - she rarely goes out on a Fri as it's bin collection day - they never come before I leave the house though!! Lucy's safe place, which she still uses after 16 months, is under my bed - unfortunately I can't get under it though, and sadly due to her vet visits, she was hiding on seemingly a daily basis before her operation, which is disheartening.

[Hikari92]

You're so right, Desley.  You gave Lucy a chance when many wouldn't.   

Thanks Sue - my neighbour admitted she wouldn't have given Lucy a chance - poor thing has had 3 homes and 2 stints in rescue in her first 8 years, I've promised her a home for life.

Oh my god thats rather a bumpy ride. Thats amazing that you've given her another chance, just going through that is traumatic enough.
Its great that shes found such a lovely owner

[Desley (booktigger)]

You're so right, Desley.  You gave Lucy a chance when many wouldn't.   

Thanks Sue - my neighbour admitted she wouldn't have given Lucy a chance - poor thing has had 3 homes and 2 stints in rescue in her first 8 years, I've promised her a home for life.

[Hikari92]

Aww, I'm so pleased that you gave a timid cat a chance, and that you have been rewarded for it - please don't worry if you get the occasional set back.

I took on a cat with a lot of issues 16 months ago, its not been easy, but knowing I gave her a chance when many wouldn't - she bit me the first time I met her! - helps when she is being hard. Her initial nickname was fat cat grumpy Lucy. 

Oh bless, oh yeah i know he will still have his moments. Yesterday the newspaper came through the door and he ran away. The day before that it was the amazon delivery guy.
The problem i had before with his hiding was his choice of place to hide. It was fine when he was in the spare room when he brought him home but now he has the run of the house its under sideboards and the sofa. While much care has been taken to make sure he cant hurt  himself  i still worry he will, so i got a medium dog crate, covered it in his favourite blanket and put one of his beds in there so he has a safe place to hide.

I think im going to have to add nag to his collection of names, he makes sure i know when its time for his meals that his box needs cleaning out and its playtime. Based on the last 2 days it will be a miracle if i get round to my coffee before 10

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

You're so right, Desley.  You gave Lucy a chance when many wouldn't.   

[Desley (booktigger)]

Aww, I'm so pleased that you gave a timid cat a chance, and that you have been rewarded for it - please don't worry if you get the occasional set back.

I took on a cat with a lot of issues 16 months ago, its not been easy, but knowing I gave her a chance when many wouldn't - she bit me the first time I met her! - helps when she is being hard. Her initial nickname was fat cat grumpy Lucy. 

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

  This is just so lovely to read. 

Beanie sounds like he's making great progress.  When you think about it, he didn't get off to the best start in life, so didn't have a lot of expectation in terms of human interaction.  You're showing him how that has changed, and the trick is to keep going, even when he gets a bit prickly about stuff. 

One thing I've learnt from having the Gurlies, is that it's a long old haul, but tiny miracles can and do happen when you least expect it.

I remember when we'd had ours about a month, and I had (to my shame) moaned to OH one disheartening day when, like you, I felt we were going backwards:  "I wanted an affectionate cat, not two mental velociraptors."      (I know - how could I?!)

16 months on, Barley often clambers up on the bed at night, peers at us to see if we're awake, squeaks at us if she thinks we might not be, and once she's hadgher ears and cheeks and base of her tail scratched, she curls up happily in the middle of us and goes:  "mphm, mphm" until she goes to sleep, sometimes with one of us resting our hand on her flankl.  I never thought that day would come, but it did.  And even Malt, who would flinch away from any human contact now lets us stroke her and scratch the base of her tail too, and she does actually enjoy it.  We get "Happy Tail." 

Beanie is learning that his life has changed for the better, and you're making great progress.  You should be very proud.

I love binge watching My Cat From Hell too.  It's been ages since the last series, but then Jackson's been getting on with his life bless him, and after everything he's been through, he deserves it.  He's such an inspiration. 

Have you seen either of these?  You might find them interesting. 

http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/

(Over 500 entries of really good blog stuff on cat behaviour)

http://www.theluckyfew.org/site/feral_cats.html

(This guy is lovely and has some great ideas too, some of which you'll recognise  )

Sending Beanie a virtual ear rub.     If he doesn't want it, you can have it instead   

[Hikari92]

Beanie baby middle name difficult is really starting to make progress and being the proud kitty mum that i am i must shout this to the entire world 

For those who havent seen my newbie post, Beanie is a 2 year old male black cat who we got from our local shelter. When we saw him he was pretty chilled out and we were told that he used to live in a chaotic home with 7 other cats, pretty much left to it with no vaccines, neutering etc. We were also told that he was very timid and had bitten a member of staff (they poked his castration site so i think justified) despite this we took him home as there was just something about him
At the time we thought that he may always be a little nervous, definitely not be able to touch him for a long time and it became my mission to think of creative ways to slowly get him used to us, hands and all the other things he was scared of (thank god i used to binge watch my cat from hell the lessons really came in handy)

Last week was hell, he had gotten into his treats which was followed by a very upset tummy, he was back to hiding and it seemed like he was going backwards. I was getting frustrated and i felt guilty because the thought of did we make the right choice popped into my head. Then it was like he woke up one day and said oh this is my home, these people are ok and i can handle this. He went from not being able to put my hands within 2 foot of him to keep stroking me please its not like you have anything better to do in about 4 hours, he isnt hiding at all and hes getting more and more vocal with every day.
Hes settled into his routine nicely and if i deviate from this by even 5 minutes hes round my legs bugging me.
Were not a 100% he still lets me know hes had enough after a couple of headstrokes and he scratched me when i tried to adjust his collar but that was my own fault so i didnt hold it against him
Today he spent about 10 minutes rubbing his head on every possible surface in my bedroom.

I really feel like weve turned a corner with Beanie and he is a much happier cat. Its lovely to see his hilarious somewhat mental personality starting to come through.
So proud of my gorgeous boy