The Feline's Progress

The way a cat can progress never ceases to fascinate me. I wrote about Indigo yesterday, but not really about how far she has come. This is a cat who initially was ready to scratch at my touch. I couldn’t give her the insulin she required at first, and, when she started to warm up to me and lie beside me, only then could I inject her with the insulin – and not always even then.

But lying beside me was a start. Now, I can inject her wherever she is lying. It is still sometimes difficult, but only because she sometimes jams herself into a corner to snooze, perhaps to make sure none of the other cats will sneak up on her. She knows the needle is coming and prepares herself; she will sometimes give a sharp, short yell, but I keep the injection going, rub the top of her head, and she allows me to finish.

But Indigo’s progress is more than that. She makes full eye-contact with me now, and at dinner, with her lying on the next chair, she started purring as I spoke to her, without a pet or stroke. Afterward, I was relaxing on the couch with a cup of tea (relaxing for more than a quarter-hour these days is at a premium); Indie jumped down from a perfectly comfortable, cushioned chair to lie on my lap.

We have become friends.

This is the wonderful part of fostering. I have seen it repeatedly that when a cat has given her trust to one human, she finds it easier to give it to others. Numerous cats I’ve known to start out shy or stand-offish – Dabney, Hector, Portia, to name three – came to be friendly and affectionate with me, and then, when they were adopted, skipped right over the timid part with their new person. Even when they remain shy in new company, it doesn’t last long.

Will Indigo be adopted? Diabetic cats rarely are, though the easier they are to medicate, the better the chance of adoption. If she remains with me, I think we will stay good friends. If she goes to another home, I think she will make new ones.

That’s progress.