Sissy

Sissy is a former feral who, through patient attention and determined affection from Catherine, has begun to think that humans might be OK.

When she was brought in 4-5 years ago, Sissy was just not into the prospect of any human contact. Hardly unusual for a feral.

But Catherine took a shine to her, grouchy face and all, and decided to make a project of her.

As Sissy was already out of her cage by this time, Catherine would just approach and try to touch her whenever she had the chance. This clearly got Sissy’s interest, as she started following Catherine around the room. Eventually, Catherine was able to make contact and stroke Sissy. When Sissy was caged for a time due to some medical issue, she was able to introduce her to the concept of sitting on a lap, something that Sissy decided was indeed rather nice.

These days, if Catherine sits on the floor when she comes in in the morning, Sissy may actually come over of her own accord and climb onto her lap. She’s even had some luck with being able to pick her up.

All this work at socializing Sissy has paid off for the rest of us too, as Sissy has started to allow others to touch and stroke her. She still has a peculiar habit of hissing when approached, which can be off-putting until you realize that she has no intention of following it up with teeth or claws. Get past (i.e. ignore) the hissing barrier and Sissy immediately capitulates, allowing herself to enjoy being stroked.