Jackie, please take a deep breath, sit down and have a cup of tea with me for a moment! As the jolly old Britons would say: “Keep Calm & Carry On!”

I have just filled Paul in on Prince Huckberry’s journey. We are both complete cat lovers and we have both had experience with wild, feral cats and we have two of them as members of our family. Miss Lily has been with us in our home for a full year now and there are times that she still falls back into feral mode very quickly, especially with our Chester Molester! Even when Paul is rubbing her bum (a very sensitive and most times an extremely lovely spot on cats!) she will be able to handle it for a couple of minutes and then she switches! He said it is probably because he has a little fear  of her because she swatted him across the face within the first two weeks of her being with us. I have never been afraid or concerned about her scratching me, (after being a mobile groomer for 10 years, I’ve had to deal with a lot of ornery dogs and cats!) so she will stop and correct herself with me, just before the critical hurting point. I never pull away, but I also don’t put my face into harms way. That is a very critical thing with any insecure or fearful animal!! Only when I know that she is completely calm and open to some lovin’ do I lean my face in for nose and brow kisses and head bops. The fact that Huckleberry has given you his belly already is a huge success for you all!

Paul and I are travelling musicians and we need to go out of town sometimes on overnight trips. (We have a neighbor come in 3 times a day to tend to their many needs!Every time we return home Miss Lily always goes running to the bedroom, under the bed to her safety spot! It usually takes about half an hour of singing her name and rattling her treat cup a few times, for her to come trotting out and then everything is back to Miss Prisses expectations! 

Paul and I both believe that due to the fact that you have been Huckleberry’s saviour right from day one. You have never left himalone in the house. Even when you have taken him to the vets he is with people, granted in a very strange place, but none the less distracted on enough drugs to keep him cloudy. This time, he was left alone in the house, feeling trapped and his instincts more than likely kicked in and he wanted to escape for fear of being trapped and abandoned!

Not only has Huckleberry had to adjust to the removal of a limb, he has been through a traumatic recovery, (this surgery is traumatic to any one of us right, but to a feral animal it is that much worse!) coming down off some very heavy drugs and then his people that he has trusted impeccably has locked him up and all he knows is that he can’t sense you in his kingdom anymore and he was terribly afraid! Don’t feel bad about this! it is something that he is going to have to work through for himself... he has, from what I can understand, only been a house kitty for a few weeks, YOU HAVE COME LEAPS AND BOUNDS AND HOPS WITH HIM!!!! Huckleberry was trying to tell you that he was afraid and feeling very insecure! If you think you have needed patience with a cat of any nature before, you need 10 times more patience and calm demeanour with a truly feral cat! 

Always feel very centred when you are with Huckleberry and if he is feeling a little insecure, try a little meditation before you visit with him or something of the sort. He will fall back into his cuddly self again in no time and each time will be less aggressive to you and the world at large! He has to figure out that you really have his best interest at heart in everything you do for him and that includes having to sometimes be kept in a locked up room! Also, always let him smell you before you start petting, you should see what type of mood he is in by the face he give you when he is smelling... if all is good I usually extend my forefinger to Miss Lily at this point to do a ‘nose bop’. If all still remains good then I will pet her.

When Miss Lily arrived in our home last year, she was kept in the spare bedroom and the door would only be opened if Mum or Dad was around. That was two weeks. Once things appeared to be relatively calm with very little growls sesions at the door, we put a large screen door over the bedroom entryway. That was also for two weeks. In the fifth week we allowed Miss Lily freedom of the house, but only during the day. She would go into her room at night, with a closed door, so that Paul and I could have ‘scrap free’ sleeps! She would be flying circles in the room every night for about 15 minutes, sounding like the Tazmanian Devil and then she would settle down! She was and still is the most vocal cat I’ve ever encountered! 

During the day I was a little worried when she went downstairs, but I closed all doors that could lead to troubled waters. But for the most part she found her bedroom to be her safe spot. (Our bedroom is now her new safe spot!) Chester was and still is her biggest issue... he loves to be in everybody’s face and because Miss Lily was raped when she was still too young...(she was a very good mum to 5 kittens!)  she feels threatened by Chester! Stewie avoids her and Spike couldn’t be bothered with her, so she has no problem with them! Right now  as I write Chester is blocking her on the stairs, so she is growling fiercely at him. 6 months ago it would have been an outright brawl! We don’t let her out of the house at all. I tried taking her out on a leash, but as soon as a leaf blew across the drive, she went snakey! She reverted immediately back to her feral self again! She doesn’t mind being an indoor kitty at all!

So.... in all this rambling, please know that you are doing ALL THE RIGHT THINGS FOR YOUR PRINCE!!! He is just going to take that much more time to adjust than you have been used to in the past. I once found a stray that was so happy to be in a safe cozy warm home, he became a complete slut for attention! But he then became the biggest target for the next wild cat I brought home... (in comes Mr. Spike!) Be okay with the fact that you may have to close the door on your Prince and leave him sometimes, he will get used to it! Try more practice runs of leaving him in his room and going for drives around the block. Come into his room very quietly and talk him into some lovin again. If he’s not ready, just walk away with the door open... he’ll figure things out eventually! 

Sorry for making this a book in itself, but I couldn’t be with you to give you a massive hug and tell you that all is okay!

Calm Cat Purrrs coming your way!

love Petra, Paul, Mr. Spike, Chester McLovey, Miss Lily Bird and of course your partner in TriPower, Super Stu!❤️❤️❤️

I am so relieved for all of you! You actually brought tears to my eyes when I read about your snuggle with him! He soooo loves you guys!

You know, i have lived and loved cats & dogs all my life and their behaviour fascinates me! I am learning more and more each day, especially since I joined Tripawds. Holly, after all of my gibber on cat psychology, you had right from the get go! (Sorry for talking all of your ears off!) The moral of THIS story is... if your cat all of a suddenly changes behaviour, it could very well be due to pain and not because they want to be a catty cat!😾

Hugs to you Huckleberry and cudos to Mum and Dad for taking such good care of you!Hoping you get more snuggles and cuddles. 

Petra, Paul, Stewie, Chester and Miss Lily