This morning I sat in the “safe chair” and got out the crunchy treats that three of the four kittens love. Cap’n Jack was left out, but he was still eating the canned food on the plate, so I didn’t feel too bad.
The friendly Little Gem was already in my lap. I gave her a treat, and – as soon as Midnight heard her crunching it, she rushed over and was soon in my lap too.
Then Princess came over by the chair. I held my breath, and decided my goal was to lure her to come up. She has been so shy, she’s leery of just being near a human. But she loves two things that humans provide: toys that move – and food. I showed her the treats, and then didn’t look at her. She did it! She climbed up and at first perched on my knees, but was soon pushing in with the other two for treats. A first!
Even better, she would sit down and look at me when she wanted a treat. We have been working on that. It’s hard for a wild cat or kitten to look into your face. So freakin’ scary for them! So whenever Princess would look up towards my face, I would click my clicker and drop a treat near her. After a couple of days, she got the idea, and decided that looking into my face wasn’t so scary after all! More than that, it gives her a way to ask for something that isn’t grabbing or meowing. I’m proud of her!
In the video you’ll also see Little Gem, who was settled very happily in my lap, gazing into my eyes. It seems to me every litter of kittens has a whole range of reactions to humans. In every litter I’ve had (unless they were born here), there were one or two kittens who were seriously scared of humans, but there was at least one in each litter who thought that humans were simply fascinating and not at all scary. In this litter it’s Little Gem.