The view from the flat of this week's cat. It was a very misty morning yesterday and not cold. The cat I am looking after this week is my most tricky client. He is very nervous and his nerves can turn to aggression quite quickly. I have looked after him twice so far and this is the third time, and I feel I am getting somewhere. I have worked out what he doesn't like, and what the danger signals are with him, and know how to react so as to soothe him and calm him down. He doesn't like to be touched with hands, and will strike out if I go to stroke him. He may try to get me when I touch his food and water, and also doesn't like it when I get ready to leave. He shows his stress with a certain tone of miaow, a wide eyed and small pupiled stare, and walking quickly towards me. It is usually enough now if I just stand still and talk to him in a firm but soothing voice. During this lot of visits, I have only had two incidents of him either biting or clawing so feel very pleased with our progress! He likes to sniff my hair, will put his paw on my head and will stretch up my legs all without claws. He also, I have discovered, likes to play over and around my feet if I sit on the floor, and does not use his claws on me at all. I bought a long feather toy for these visits as he loves to play and is quite frustrated by the birds he can see but can't chase! Today I took a broom and dustpan and brush to his flat to have a sweep up of his litter. He did not like those! He prowled round the outside of the room over and over again, gradually getting closer to the broom until he was close enough to sniff it. The same with the dustpan. I had to wait for him to calm down, then enticed him out of the room and shut the door while I cleaned, as I couldn't possibly have done it with him in there! Once I had finished I let him back in and, after checking that the broom and dustpan were no longer there, he played quite happily! Needless to say I love him!
