It will be very interesting to see what Houdini, the feral cat, turns himself into.
Now that he's been out of the basement for a couple weeks, he has to make his peace with the pesky humans he shares the house with.. He spends most of his time curled up in his bed, watching us warily, but when he is spoken to, he blinks slowly. According to the 'experts', the slow blink is a sign of trust. So. That's good news.
We feed him cat treats when we pass by and with the cat treat comes a pet or a chin skritch. He's begun to extend his head forward to investigate the treat. He purrs as soon as we begin talking to him. We think that's a good sign too.
Of everyone, it is William that the cat has bonded most closely with. It may have something to do with their mutual love of tuna. When William makes a sandwich, he always squeezes the water out of the tuna and puts it into a bowl for Houdini. William talks to him as he sets the bowl down, and Houdini will get out of bed to come over and eat with William. If anyone else walks out into the kitchen, he retreats immediately into his bed.
It pleases William quite a bit that Houdini has 'picked' him.
That's cute about William's sock. I didn't know cats did that.
ReplyDeleteMooch did it in the cartoon, but I did not know it was a real 'thing'. A first for me.
DeleteThat's so sweet, for both of them.
ReplyDeleteWilliam told me tonight that the cat was 'his'. I told him that the cat had picked him alright.
DeleteThat is sweet & funny about William's socks! Enjoyed reading about Houdini here too, this sounds promising... :^)
ReplyDeleteLittle by little. We've had him nearly two months.
DeleteHoudini has picked his person. The rest of you are servants.
ReplyDeleteI guess so.
DeleteExactly so!!
DeleteThis is really adorable. I love how the kitty has bonded with William.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to pick a person for him to bond with, it would have been William.
DeleteI didn't know cats liked used socks either. Maybe he hung out with dogs before. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteThe first time I found one of William's socks in his bed, I thought it was a fluke. But it kept happening.
DeleteMy cats have swiped various pieces of my clothing, probably the familiar scent. It feels so flattering to be the chosen one of a formerly feral. William's doing well, and it's not just the tuna!
ReplyDeleteThat was my thought, that it was the scent. Plus it's small enough to tote back to his bed.
DeleteWhat a sweet little kitty. Are you going to have him neutered so he will want to stay domesticated? Or has he already bee cut in another life? William has turned into a regular "cat whisperer".
ReplyDeleteHe was a feral trapped down the street. I picked him up from the vet. We had him neutered and vet checked and treated for fleas and his innoculations. He really does seem to like to be petted. He will not make the first move though. Hopefully that will change. He does play at night as well. We scatter toys about for him.
DeleteHoudini has picked William as his human. This is indeed a big thing and William has every right to be pleased. Trust will come slowly but it starts with one person.
ReplyDeleteCats and people are not so different, are they?
DeleteWonderful way to begin the new year... William has his happy place and Houdini has his human. Thanks ever so much for the update!
ReplyDeleteIt is sweet, one of those things to be savored.
DeleteHappy Houdini.
ReplyDeleteThe purr is encouraging.
DeleteYou should write a book about the gradual changes in Houdini's behaviour; I'm sure it's heading towards a happy ending.
ReplyDeleteOh, today, I'm convinced of it. Today, I have been rolling balls under the hoosier to him. He rolls them back out to me!
DeleteHoudini is one cool cat.
ReplyDeleteYes. Just the other day, I saw him wearing a beret and having a smoko.
ReplyDeleteYou can also do a slow blink at Houdini. I do that with Lacey.
ReplyDeleteI read that and I do that. This morning, he was curled up on a kitchen chair, another first.
DeleteLove it that he favours William's socks! I reckon he should have one all to himself :) A sort of feline comfort-blanket - if a rather odd shape!
ReplyDeleteHe sounds like he is getting to know you all now anyway, and those purrs sound very positive.
He seems as if he is going to become quite a character. William AND Houdini.
DeleteI am happy for William!
ReplyDeleteMe too.
DeleteHe is really coming around! Excellent! (ツ) from Jenn Jilks , ON, Canada!
ReplyDeleteI see plenty of positives.
ReplyDeleteI thought I would offer a cautionary tale. Years ago we had a house cat that we fed tuna, not all the time but often enough. Eventually she started losing her fur and we took her into the vet. She was in liver failure (I think that was the failing organ but not positive) due to all the unsaturated fats from the tuna that she wasn't able to process. It eventually killed her and we stopped the tuna feeding after that.
ReplyDeleteHe doesn't actually get tuna. We buy tuna in spring water for WIlliam. He drains the water off and gives it to the cat when he makes a tuna fish sandwich. Thanks for the alert though. I never knew this, and wandered off to have a read about it.
DeleteYikes! I've never heard that! Was it tuna in oil, Ed? Maybe tuna packed in water would be safer.
DeleteIt has been so long ago I don't recall Steve. And it may have just been a one off thing as I know others who occasionally give tuna to their cats and haven't had any issues. I just remember that after the vet visit, we couldn't give our cat anything but dry cat food until the liver failure was complete.
DeleteIt led me to a block of reading. I never heard of it, but it is definitely something that was not on my radar. Thanks Ed!
DeleteSounds like he's coming around! It's cute that he's "picked" William, as you put it. I'm sure the tuna water is a big help, but maybe the fact that William is smaller helps too.
ReplyDeleteAnd Lord knows he is not always in the kitchen banging around and running scary machines...
DeleteAre you sure he isn't Dobby? (did you read Harry Potter?) So gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteHa! I forgot about Dobby. It would have made a great name.
Delete