F.I.V. Feline Immunodeficiency Virus

Although I have lucked out with all of the cats I have fostered and adopted over the years, and none were found to be FIV positive, it is a very real concern when dealing with strays and ferals/semi-ferals. Most people don't really understand what FIV is though, and given it's close association with HIV, there is a very definite and misplaced fear of FIV cats.

This link was shared by C4P on Facebook some time back, and I think it's important enough to share here as well. Not only is it a fantastic explanation of FIV, but it's a realistic one.

F.I.V. Feline Immunodeficiency Virus

Treat games

I know its been a while since my last update, and I apologize for that. It's been a busy week.

Jasper is still making slow and steady progress. I have been continuing our treat games, and he has built up a great deal of trust as a result. He has now progressed to the point where I can put the small pile of treats right in front of my face (close enough that he ends up inadvertently  headbutting my face when he's eating). I am now working on being further and further away from him when I do this, thereby slowing convincing him to come out from under the bed while I'm in the room. 

He has, on a few occasions now, gone over to his food bowl after this game, and while I am still partially under the bed where he can keep an eye on me. Any movement on my part still sends him ducking for cover again, but I am pleased that he at least feels comfortable enough to do that much. 

I think the most gratifying thing about his current progress is that when I give him slow blinks, he has started to return them. :)

First picture!!

Somewhat blurry, somewhat pixelated photo of Jasper. Apologies for the incredibly craptastic quality, it was taken with my phone. He's still very wary, and I figured he would find the phone less threatening than my actual camera.

Greedy guts

My goodness. My little Jasper (henceforth nicked named greedy guts since he has come to loooooove the treats) is going to be quite a rolly polly bundle of fur at this rate.... but our success continues! 

After a few weeks of watching his somewhat unusual eating patterns, and working on a tip from the woman who had been feeding him, I realized that although he is definitely eating enough during each day, he is still very much sticking to the feeding times he got used to with her, despite the fact that he now has food available 24hrs a day. (All of the strays I've worked with previously ate obsessively for the first week or so, until they realized that there was food available all the time, whenever they wanted.) On a hunch, I decided to alter my tactics once again. I still go about my business during the day, sitting at the computer etc, but now, I get under the bed with him for a while, specifically around the times he's used to being fed. 

I started back at ground zero since I know I had previously made him uncomfortable doing this. Over the course of a few days, I was, once again, able to get my hand close enough to him to put treats directly under his nose. But it was this morning that we saw our first major successes of the week. First I tried making a small trail of treats between us, with a small pile of treats at the end, in front of me. Then I closed my eyes and waited. 'lo and behold, he inched his way forward along the trail until he was close enough that his eyebrow whiskers were tickling my face while he was eating. I'm so proud of him that he was willing to get that close! Even if he was heavily bribed to do so. ;)

But the big excitement of the night was this: he voluntarily (and rather daintily I might add) ate treats directly from my fingers!! And as long as he was still in the process of taking the treat from my fingers, I was allowed to gently pet his cheeks with a finger from that same hand. He continued to take the treats from my fingers for as long as I was willing to give them. (I eventually stopped since he'd had a rather large number of them by that point and I didn't want to upset his tummy)

But... huzzah!!! 

You can't see it, but this is my happy face. :D

Holding pattern

Jasper and I have been in a kind of holding pattern since my last update. He let me know one day, in his quiet, subtle way, that I was trying to be too friendly too quickly and that it was making him uncomfortable. So now, I'm trying a different tactic. Instead of joining him under the bed and feeding him treats, I lay down on the floor near the bed and tell him how beautiful he is and how much I love him. Then I put down a few treats for him, and either go to work on my computer for a bit, or curl up and read on my bed for a while.

He has come out a few times while I was on the bed to watch me, but still scurries back under again when he sees that I see him. He has thus far, shown no interest in coming out when I'm at the computer. I'm not sure if this new method will be successful, as I suspect that he is the type of cat that does not ask for affection, but instead needs to have his person seek him out to give it to him. But since he does, at least occasionally, come out from under the bed while I'm in the room, I'm hoping that he will start to feel more secure about doing so if he doesn't feel as though his every move is being watched.

He still comes out to play with his mousie when I'm not around - I know because he sings relentlessly when he does. ;) And overall, I have to say I am beyond impressed with how polite and well mannered our little guy is, especially considering he is a semi-feral. Since he leaves a trail of fur where ever he goes, it's been pretty easy to see where he has been in the room. He has not jumped up on any of the furniture, except for my bed. He has amazing litterbox skills. He's a tidy eater (no crumbs on the floor). And most telling... no matter how nervous he has been, I have never heard him hiss or growl. For example, if he feels uncomfortable with having my hand too close, he simply moves slightly out of reach. Whereas most cats would, quite naturally, hiss or growl in warning. He seems to try his very best not to be a bother at all (which is what leads me to believe that he is the type that needs to be shown affection, and will not ask for it - although that behaviour can certainly be modified with time and love).

Bitter-sweet news

It turns out Gamine belongs to my upstairs neighbour. She got out 2 days before he had to leave for a trip to France. He tried knocking on my door the day after she went missing, hoping she was with me since he knows I have cats of my own, but I wasn't home at the time, and then he had to leave the country. He just got back this evening and the first thing he did was come and knock on my door to check again.

On the one hand, I'm glad that I was able to keep her safe and reunite her with her family. It was obvious how much he loves her and how relieved he was that she was safe and sound all this time. But I'm sad that she's gone. I'd gotten really attached to my little snugglebunny, and she had become a lovely addition to my little cat family. Even Kitty liked her, and he notoriously hates everything. She's only been gone a few minutes and already the house seems emptier without her. =/

Identification

Oh wow! More Jasper updates already!

He's definitely gaining confidence in me and in his surroundings. He still needs a minute or two between when I shimmy under the bed with him, and when I can start moving around again, but that necessary moment of stillness is getting shorter with each visit.

Today, while feeding him treats, I left my hand near him to see if he would bat at my finger again. He didn't, but he did let me gently pet his toes for almost a good minute before he decided that was enough of that and pulled back out of my reach.

And as if that wasn't exciting enough, this evening we played together for the first time! One of his toy mice happened to be within my reach, so on a whim I decided to bat it around a few times. And suddenly whoosh! He completely forgets that he's nervous, and is 100% fully engaged, complete with ears pricked up & facing forward and whiskers bristling with excitement. We even took turns batting it back and forth between us which was super cute! 

I finally got a good look at the pads of his feet while we were playing. I've been waiting patiently to see them as they are a fairly classic identifier for Russian Blues. And the answer is nope, not a Russian Blue. Although he does have the silver tipped double coat that Blue's have, both his eyes and the pads of his feet are the wrong colour for a true Blue. Regardless, breed cat or no, he is one stunning boy once the fear fades from his eyes. Can't wait to see that little happy face of his more often!

Jasper begins to show a bit of spunk

A small but significant bit of news regarding Jasper. He still hides under the bed whenever I'm in the room (although he's quite comfortable with the space now, and regularly sleeps on my bed when I'm not there - he leaves little tell-tale grey fur balls where ever he goes which give away his movements) however, this evening we had a small breakthrough.

Not only did he let me lay under the bed with him, less than a foot away, but he ate the treats I gave him in front of me (he's always eaten them, but until tonight, never while I was still in the room)  AND best of all, he not only sniffed my finger, but then rolled over and playfully batted at it. :)

As long as there were treats involved, he was quite content to have me that close and moving, but he still retreated out of reach if I tried to touch him. Still, now that I've finally got him engaged, I am fully confident that I shall have a new friend very very soon. :) He may end up being a slightly chubby friend from all the treats it's taking to convince him that I'm friendly ;) but I am ecstatic about his progress.

I haven't been able to get any photos of him yet as the lighting under the bed is terrible, and the flash would scare the piss out of him, but hopefully I will be able to soon. He really is breathtakingly beautiful, despite the knots and matted fur.

Baby steps

A small bit of exciting news to relate about Jasper. Last night, while I was laying on the floor near him reading, he flopped over on his side and watched me sleepily for a few minutes before falling asleep. :) He may not yet trust me enough to come near, or to let me near, but he's at least *starting* to get used to my presence.

Then later that evening, while I was reading on my bed, he came out to go to his food dish twice while I was in the room. He did end up skulking back under the bed both times when he realized I was still in the room, but his body language was more embarrassed at being seen than fearful. Once I saw that he is still not comfortable having me in the room when he's eating, I moved to the living room for a few hours to allow him time to eat in peace and quiet.  

He was also singing at my bedroom window at around 6am this morning. ;) Thankfully, I'm used to my boy cat doing the same thing, so I knew what was happening instead of waking up thinking he was distressed somehow. I quietly said good morning to him, and the singing stopped immediately. I can only presume he scooted back under the bed at that point (it was still too dark to see anything).

They may only be baby steps, but I am nonetheless pleased with his progress. And I feel that a breakthrough is on it's way. :)