The beginning of this story is not really mine to tell. A very compassionate friend of mine takes incredible care of the feral, and stray cats that find their way to her yard. They are so lucky she does. And, so are we.

On February 17, we brought our new kitten home. We knew she was no ordinary kitten. She was so small, and so frightened, and not at all accustomed to human interaction. We had installed a crate outfitted with everything a new kitten would need. As I spilled her from her carrier into her crate, we saw a tiny little lion (her fur had been shaved into a “lion” cut due to extreme matting) move quickly into her new sleeping box.

It would be an understatement to say this kitten was frightened. As one would expect, she cowered as far back as the sleeping cube would allow. When offered a small piece of chicken (on a skewer for safety!), she lashed out with lightning speed, and very sharp kitten claws. We wondered if we were in over our heads. Would ever be able to teach this tiny, two pound floof to trust us…maybe even…love us?

After some discussion, it was decided that all of our efforts would be “kitten led”. Due to the strategic placement of a trail cam, we knew that she came out at night to eat, drink, and use the litter box. For our part, we decided to just spend as much time near the crate as possible. We thought getting her used to our voices, and movements would be a positive first step. Also, she seemed to light up when Katrina the Helper Cat came into the room. After the first day, our version of “clicker training” began. And, our kitten had a name.

Deezle Abigail Powder-Puffington was still a frightened little kit-cat, but loved treats, and loved chicken more. Clicker training went something like this: Have chicken, make cat-attracting noise, attract cat, give chicken, repeat. We did this with chicken on a skewer, through the closed crate. We sometimes dropped treats in front of her hiding box, so she’d have to poke her head out to get them. Always making our cat-attracting sound. The idea was for her to associate the sound with tasty goodness. It wasn’t long before she began coming out of her cube when she heard the noise.

During this time, the trail cam caught Deezle playing with a her toys. We wondered if she might play with us…from a distance, of course. We decided to try a few “chase” type toys. She seemed to like feathers, so we tried jingling the fake bird through the crate’s wall. It took a bit of coaxing, but before long Deezle was enjoying playing with us! After the first week we wondered what would happen if we tried playing with the crate door open…

It was near the end of the first week when we tried to give Deezle chicken by hand. The cat-attracting noise was made, but this time instead of a skewer, I held the chicken in my hand. Uh oh! She was a little nervous, but (much to my relief!) she very gently took the piece of chicken from my fingers. Phew! After a few successful hand feedings, we decided all delicious treats would be given by hand. Again, the goal was for Deezle to associate the tasty goodness not only with the cat-attracting noise, but with us. And she did.

We were somewhat surprised when Deezle decided to venture out of the relative safety of her crate. She explored her room with more than a bit of caution. She enjoyed sleeping on a fuzzy blanket that was lying on the futon. We were thrilled she felt comfortable enough to sleep out in the open. She began meowing to get our attention. After the first couple weeks, she still didn’t want to accept pets, but she was really happy to enjoy the delicious chicken offered every day. Until…

Not quite 3 weeks after she came to us, Deezle made a huge leap. As usual, I sat of the floor to give Deezle her morning chicken. She came over to me with great anticipation, ate her treat, and then…AND THEN…she started rubbing her little kitty cat body up and down my leg! She circled me over, and over just purring, and rubbing. To say my heart was happy, oh boy! She didn’t want to be pet, but she sure wanted to love us. In her way, in her time.

I was so hoping this was not a fluke! It wasn’t. Every day after, Deezle would purr at full speed. It was almost too much for her. Being feral, she really didn’t know how to act when faced with this sort of excitement. Thus began our lessons in good manners for kittens.

Coming soon: Deezle learns the finer points of feline etiquette

We’ll see where this takes us…