Chronicles of the Xmas Kittens – Journal Entry 16

I've separated the three bold kittens (two blacks and bi-colour one) into the rumpus room and left Miss Tortie-and-White by herself with the occasional visitor – Samson. The three of them have made it well beyond the seventh stage of stroking a feral cat which I identified in a previous blog post – they're now lap cats, I can pick them up for a cuddle while I'm standing up and they perform spontaneous roll overs accompanied by loud purrs whenever I enter into their vicinity. Miss Tortie-and-White on the other hand has always held back. I have to admit I gave the other three rambunctious ones more attention, simply because they always jumped into the fray in whatever game I was playing with them and never really gave Miss Tortie-and-White the chance to participate. She's been a fringe dweller during the time she's been living here but hopefully that will change now that she'll get some one-on-one attention.

If this morning is anything to go by, she'll progress nicely. I used a piece of cloth with a knot tied on the end and dragged it all over the floor. She surrendered completely. I've never seen her so relaxed or indeed so animated in play. She pulled out all her best cat moves; she was pouncing and tumbling, twisting in the air and wrestling. She came within about six inches of me, which is the closest she's ever been before. She still pulls back if she thinks I'm going to man-handle her but the good thing is that her eyes are no longer filled with suspicious and are telling a new story. She's asleep in the old gym at the moment so I'll have another play session with her tonight and hopefully encourage her to eat from my hand.