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| Former feral cats Snoopy, Carson and Gus are learning to accept human and feline companionship. |
Frightened and unsocialized cats can learn to overcome their fears and accept human attention, as volunteers and staff from Best Friends Animal Society learned over the past year when providing care for more than 800 cats in Pahrump, Nev. When dealing with those abused cats at the former F.L.O.C.K. facility in the Nevada desert, animal behavior consultant Sherry Woodard developed a series of steps to help scared cats overcome their fear of humans.
Now, those steps are being implemented at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. Dubbed “Miss Sherry’s Finishing School for Felines,” the process is being put to use on 26 cats living at the sanctuary.
“We discovered how to take cats that were clearly terrified and could possibly hurt people — because of their fear — and give them an opportunity to develop social skills,” Woodard said. “So far, with our encouragement, and by starting out with limiting the cats’ space, not a single cat has declined our offer to learn how to be a housecat —again or for the first time.”
Each cat starts in a large crate that becomes the cat’s safe zone. The cats slowly learn to accept touch, from a stroke with a soft pointer to a human hand. Next the cats progress to being handled within the cage, eventually progressing to sitting on a lap. Each cat interacts with a human six to eight times per day and is allowed to progress at its own pace.
“If we see that we are asking a cat to move too quickly from one step to another, we slow down and give that kitty time to get comfortable with each step,” explained Terri Gonzalez, one of the lead staff members at the finishing school.
When a cat freely accepts being held on a human lap, it is given time in a playroom where it can socialize with other cats. Each cat returns to its safe zone every night.
The next step is time in a “real life” room, set up to look like a room in a typical family’s home. The idea is to expose the cats to an environment similar to what they would experience when they are adopted into a new home. Sometimes small dogs visit the real life room, too.
The first 26 feline students in Miss Sherry’s Finishing School for Felines are progressing nicely. To see the cats, and to learn more about them, visit the Best Friends Animal Society website.