Yesterday was a very long day work wise and tying up a million little loose ends with feedback parties and SWOT analysis to boot. It was a very cold day and fluffy things were in order. Little missy over there thought so too!
This is Lady V. She isn't technically my cat, although I love her like my own. She and her sister own my house mate. Yes, you read that correctly lol.
These two sisters were feral kittens. My house mate does not know how they came to be rescued by people, but they found their way to him. They were absolutely terrified of humans, or cars, any noises, doors opening - even a loud sigh is enough to send them scurrying sometimes.
They literally hid under his bed for weeks when he first adopted them. He would lie down on the floor with his hand just slightly under the bed for 20 minutes at a time and just softly speak to them. And through time, effort and patience, they came to know him as their human.
With everyone else though, they would disappear at the first sound and not return until much later once the irritating trespassers had left. They are very skittish kitties. When I moved in here, I hardly ever saw them. Occasionally they would run past me and I would simply say "Hello Lady V" and not push the envelope. Over time, they became more and more accustomed to my presence and voice. They started becoming more curious of who I was and after a while, they both started giving me good morning head bumps against my leg while I was making coffee. I was proud. I had eventually won them over and they realised that they could trust me.
A few months ago Lady V got very ill and I had to take her to the vet. She absolutely hated me for this. She had a urinary tract infection and had to be put onto antibiotics and pain meds. We were really stuck as to how to administer medication to a cat this skittish. We got lucky when she was quite happy to eat the pain medication tablet straight out of her food bowl, but the antibiotics? Not so lucky. They obviously smelled funny and got an absolute pass over.
We discussed the options and I told my housemate that I would rather it be me that break her trust and give her the meds than him have to do it. Why? I believe that he is their anchor point in life. All the trust they currently have in anyone is because of his patience, care and calm demeanour when they were small. I didn't want that bond to be dented. Sometimes you have to do the hard stuff for the greater good. For three weeks I administered her antibiotics daily and even though I felt absolutely awful doing it, I had to so that she would fully recover. She hated it every morning and started avoiding me which absolutely broke my heart, but it had to be done.
She made a full recovery and even though that was now a while back, it took weeks before she started trusting me again. I didn't try to coax her with food or force the issue, I simply let her decide in her own time that I was a friend.
Today wasn't the first time in the last week that she has come and snuggled up on me, but I must admit that it felt really nice knowing that she forgives me and that I've earned her trust again. Her purrs and head nuzzles were absolutely worth the wait.