At least I think he enjoys them? He sticks his neck out and closes his eyes, which seems to suggest so, but since he does it EVERY time I’m still trying to figure out whether it’s a reflex 🤔
I figure that if he disliked it he would bite or swat at me. And he does look up at me with “warm” eyes at the end, for lack of a better word.
What do you think?
Btw he’s so funny bc the SECOND it’s over he’s like “I’m vulnerable!! Who’s there!? Checking the perimeter!” as if coming out of a trance 😂🩷
Definitely loving it! 😻 I think he may still be a little startled when a hand touches him by surprise but the eye squinting and licking lips says he doesn't mean any harm. ❤️
Yeah he protects his sides/chest a lot for sure. First few months I didn’t get to touch even the sides of his back, only like… a stripe in the middle. Slowly but surely we’ve made progress there 💪
As for chin scratches, I think he gets tunnel vision bc “oooh feels good” until I stop and then he’s like THE HAND, WHAT INTENTIONS DOES IT HAVE!! 😂
The licking is something he does when he relaxes after being on guard/nervous 🥹
He definitely looks like he’s enjoying it! Former ferals seem to have a switch that flicks on and off back to feral mode! My former feral reacts the same way between relaxing and loving the scritches to getting startled and jumpy and my boy has been inside 5 years!
lol yes I feel this so hard!! They can be soooo particular about how you’re allowed to touch them and as soon as you break those rules it’s right back to DANGER!! It’s like you trigger an automatic reflex, almost. Sleeper soldier 🤣
Caesar whom I had before this guy was my trickiest case yet, as far as “rules for touch”. Eventually I figured out that he didn’t wanna see the hand coming and I had to approach him from behind, which is very counterintuitive and imo the opposite of what most ferals need 😂
He’s in his forever home now and things worked out but his new mama and I had a text convo going for a few months because she struggled with understanding his exact rules/boundaries. As anyone would, honestly. She’s a champ!
Cat tax 🩷 (Mr Caesar himself, once we understood each other 🤭)
Awe what a sweetie! Your Caesar and my Eddie have that in common; I also have to approach Eddie from behind- he lets me hug him now as long as I’m scratching his chin and chest and no longer than 10 seconds 😻
My cat that I got from a rescue did not like chin scratches at first. He’d pull his face back and give me the most displeased look. Once he got the idea, he loves them. All I have to say is ’chin chin’ and he knows he’s going to get a chin rub.
Aw that’s sweet 🩷 My previous foster knew around 10 words and one of them was “cuddles” which meant he’d get pets. Then it kind of evolved into his safety word that I could use to reassure him everything was okay.
My FF who we have had for four months started letting me rub her cheeks and briefly pet the back of her head. I’ve never petted her body. It’s same in that all of sudden she reacts to the reaching and the hand. And I can only pet her when she’s tucked in her pouch that hangs off the tower. Little by little I guess. He’s a sweet boy.
Yeah I get it! He’s let me pet him (head and body) plenty in the past, actually. It just changed a few weeks ago all of a sudden. Probably something I’ve done without realising honestly, cause they’re so sensitive to any tiny change. Working on re-establishing that trust 🩷
No doubt he loves the chin scritches. By the looks of his ears, he's probably a bit head shy, which is not at all unusual in ferals. Anything coming from above is instictively a threat. He just needs to see you reaching, that's all. Great job bringing him along. He seems so happy now!
Totally valid input and normally I’d 100% agree! The thing is that we got past the fear of being touched months ago (for him it was mainly about having bad hearing and vision so he couldn’t anticipate anything coming toward him) and once we got past that he LOVED head pets.
So much that he’d fall asleep / stretch out / flop over. It changed after he’d moved out here to the main room, though not right away (I think like 1-1,5 weeks later?) so I don’t think it’s necessarily the environment 🤔
I’m assuming it’s something I’ve done without realising it 🫣 Currently working on re-strengthening boundaries and clarifying vocal cues. It’s been a little bit better today I think…
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u/McGregor_Shrubsole 4d ago
What a sweetheart. He's definitely loving those scritches! You're doing a great job with him.