Foster kitty progress

[Jilly_in_VA]

After two days of hiding, kitty came out this evening when I went down to feed her. Not only came out, but came out to be petted! She was very cautious at first, circling and sniffing, but I sat very still, and she soon came up and started rubbing against my hand. I discovered that she doesn't like being petted per se, but loved having her neck scratched, so we did that, and I talked to her and she head butted my hand and meowed at me a bit while exploring her surroundings a bit more. She ate some wet food, came back for more scratches, and seems to like me. She's still skittish but I think will settle in. Last night I remembered something that one of our best cat people at the shelter sometimes does with scared cats and took a shirt I'd worn downstairs and put it in the playpen by the sleeping mat. That may have helped.
Also, last night or early this morning I dreamed I called her Sarai instead of her shelter name of Spaghetti, so when I went downstairs I called her Sarai and that's when she came out! Maybe that's her name now.....

[spooky3]

1. That's very encouraging! I've had my current foster since

Feb. and we’re still working on fear issues.

[Midnight Writer]

2. Good progress.

[biophile]

3. You must be an animal communicator

She told you her name in your dream!

[Dear_Prudence]

4. That is a relief.

And she is training you well! 😄😺

[AllaN01Bear]

5. eggscllent.

[erronis]

6. After having 40+ cats (and dogs) I've learned that everyone is different

Different strokes for different folks.

I'll try something and if they don't like it, I'll stop and try something else.

It's mutual training.

[3catwoman3]

7. This sounds like gratifyingly rapid progress.

How happy and relieved you must be.

What color eyes and fur does this little lady have?

[soldierant]

14. Until Jilly answers with the facts,

I would guess that, since the shelter named her "Spaghetti," there is some orange and some cream in the fur. Wirh rhat combination, the eyes should be green, gold, or somewhere in between.

[3catwoman3]

15. Sometimes shelter names are keepers, and sometimes not.

One of our 4 cats, a green-eyed tuxie female, had the shelter name of Penny, which is also the name of my husband's unpleasant ex-wife. I changed that kitty's name right on the adoption paperwork before we even walked out of the shelter.

[Jilly_in_VA]

17. i think they were just on a food kick that week

since we also have cats who arrived around the same time and are named Breadstick and Parmesan. We had one named Creamcheese and one named Bagel but I think they've been adopted. She is a blue-cream (aka dilute tortie) with green-gold eyes, and she is a stumpy Manx! But I cannot keep her as I can't have an in-house cat. Husband is allergic and those are the conditions.

[soldierant]

18. Sounds like specifically Italian food!

And Sarai sounds gorgeous. I'm a sucker for dilute colors.

I had an orange (lighter than the usual but not light enough to be dilute) cat once who was female (she was also a tomboy, but I doubt there's any connection to collor. I named her Cobrisa (Spanish for copper).We lived near a vocational school, and her idea of fun was to go there and climb on the heavy equipment. We always knew where to find her if she was out after curfew.

[EverHopeful]

8. Once read something like Cats always have 3 names

What you name them, what you call them, and their real name that only they know. Maybe you hit on her real name, Sarai.

[Klondike Kat]

12. I saw that referenced in "Logan's Run"

Quite a few years ago. If I remember correctly they're
The name you call them
The name that other cats call them
The secret name they call themselves

[ShazzieB]

16. This conversation remins me of a poem!

The Naming of Cats
T. S. Eliot 1888 – 1965

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo, or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey—
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter—
But all of them sensible everyday names,
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that’s particular,
A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum—
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there’s still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover—
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular name.

[Karadeniz]

9. Wow !!

[catrose]

10. That's how I named my cats, tested names & went with their response

[Picaro]

11. Sarai is a much better name than

Spaghetti

[PatrickforB]

13. Sarai is a good name. I guess she was in Ai, but is now in Bethel. Warm regards!

My wife and I have four cats, all rescues.