Cats are nothing if not lordly, even when they cower lowly out of fear. In addition to saving cats from hopeless situations, Tabby’s Place is a space where the most fearful and most cowering of cats are elevated (duly!) on pedestals, enthroned, and crowned with the highest titles of royalty re-stowed (as opposed to bestowed, since cats are born with their titles) upon them. For some, takes a while and many reminders and loads of fish mush to remind them of their lineage and proper place among the all-stars (other cats).
The update in a recent blog touched on matters of continuing socialization of a few little grey guys (Technical term, for those unaware.) and their progress. In the Suite of Undersocialized Kitties that are Slowly Becoming Suitably Socialized (AKA Suite A), there are yet other little grey guys who are burrowing deeply into their hiding places and trying with various amounts of might to remain unseen.
One such is named for Vaermina, a character from The Elder Scrolls video game. Vaermino’s name was adjusted following a thorough check-up after his initial intake. Vaermino, like his namesake, is a character too, but he is definitely less villainous and far more regal. As to his character-istics, Vaermino stares. It’s kind of his thing. It borders on creepy. No, really. If he were a person staring at another person that way, there would be complaints. Being a cat that stares at people that way, he is found to be utterly adorable.
Those that socialize the undersocialized go through hoops and do somersaults and handstands (We’re not olympic-level gymnasts, but we try!) to befriend this ultra-cautious, smooth-furred, little grey guy. Progress has been made. Hissing has given way to singular hiss. Running away has eased into pulling backward from the hand that leaves treats. Okay, so there might be an occasional whap when things have been too exciting (e.g. deep cleaning of the suite was recently completed, or another cat was medicated), but those are increasingly rare. The texture of Vaermino’s fur has been felt under very particular conditions and found to be VERY SOFT.
As for fellow little grey guy, whose fur is not yet confirmed to be felt-like and soft, Rubiks (Yes, named for one of the squarest most colorful toys ever marketed) is a little more of a challenge for socializers. After all, it is difficult to approach a cat that insists on squishing into a hallway-crossing, overhead tube that contains many cats that choose to play the Sardine Game. You know, that game where everyone crushes together so tightly that observers can’t tell where one cat’s tail ends and another’s toe-beans begin. Suffice it to say, Rubiks trusts not humans. The thing is, humans provide clean bedding. Humans provide shelter. Humans deliver deliciousness multiple times a day. Humans giggle at the sight of entangled tails and multitudes of toe-beans suspended above corridors in clear tubes.
When humans watch Rubiks, he watches back. Recently, he has even begun to exchange blinks…sometimes…unpredictably. This is a good first step for a cat that needs to be reminded that he rules an earldom alongside other cats that rule their own fiefdoms and kingdoms and fandoms and every kind of -dom that people and cats can populate together.
Tabby’s Place, being the Place of all Places and the Ark that Jonathan Built and the Haven that out-havens all havens, is the exact right kind of -dom (the sanctuary kind) that cats and humans do populate together for the benefit of both. Tabby’s Place is a kind-dom. There are many sovereigns of realms all over the sanctuary.
For royalty such as Vaermino and Rubiks, who have forgotten how to stand tall (well, typically shy of 10 inches tall), there are people (averaging around 64 inches tall) who are there to remind them. We coax them out of corners. We drape their shelving in curtains. We toss treats from careful distances. We blink blink blink blink blink YAAAWWWN. In time, royalty will begin to recognize itself. Cowers will segue to bows and nods and fancy dances, beginning first with return blinks and caught YAAAWWWNs.
With patience and cautious persistence, Vaermino, Lord Deeplook, and Rubiks, Earl Grey – Not the Tea, will remember their titles and their roles. They will remember how and when to put us humans in our place. They will treat us gently and kindly, yet firmly. Without hiss whap or cower, they will command us in our routines and dances and days. Humble servants that we are, we will answer their every call, see to their every need. That is, we will do so until the happiest day of each cat’s days when they are danced out the doors of Tabby’s Place and into homes. There they will lord it over their very own forever families, and we will begin again with the next cats whose hopes need to be restored.