A Leap of Faith

Nobody can say that I don't know when to say "Uncle". But my latest foster "Tigger" had me really baffled. He had been with me for 1 week and still remained barracaded in my guest bathroom, periodically taking swipes at me, his eyes dialated and ears back. As I've said in other posts, I don't do well with these kind of cats. So I made a few calls to foster parents who had some experience.

The first call was to LisaMarie whose current foster cat hid behind the only toilet in the house, hissing, growling and lunging at them whenever they reached for the toiletpaper. I can only imagine what it's like to sit on the toilet in your most vulnerable of vulnerable positions to have an angry cat growling at you. She said things didn't change for Caesar until they introduced their own cats to him. Hmmm....Tigger had lived in a windowless basement apartment before meeting me - how on earth would he react to other cats?
The next call was to Julie who has a "commando" style for introducing cats. She said, "Beth, open the door and let him deal with the other cats. Maybe that'll help him."

I was desperate. So I filled a giant tupperware bowl of water to dump over any cat fights and opened the door to the bathroom. Five cats flooded the washroom, dying to see who was on the other side of the door. To my amazement, Tigger was absolutely THRILLED! For the first time, he looked actually happy....sniffing the other cats, and not a hiss to be heard.

It's been two days, and Tigger is a different cat. I can pet him and scratch under his chin. He loves playing with my cats and the feeling seems to be mutual. Although he hasn't really ventured through the rest of the house, I'm certain that's only days away now.

Thank you ladies for your wonderful advice....You gave me courage and it looks like we have another happy ending in the making....

Tigger and Bandit

Playing a little too rough for me....but they love it!