wilko, continued

A few weeks ago I wrote about my new used cat, Wilko. I figure we're due for an update.

Wilko still needs more time to fully integrate herself into the family, but she's making progress. To put things in context, I picked her up from her prior home on May 5, and posted about it on May 6.

In the few weeks since, we've spent a lot of energy trying to get her comfortable. She quickly found the basement, and for the longest time she didn't want to leave it. She spent most of her time hiding behind the boiler. It became clear that wants attention but is scared. Sharon could coax her out for pats, and she would occasionally relax enough to truly play. She would also let Blair pet her, but not as much. She was much slower to warm up to me, though I could coax her out with Friskies Party Mix. But with all of us, any sudden move would startle her back into hiding.

By now, she will sometimes come out of the basement to explore or to watch us, but she's still very cautious, and ready to run away if anything startles her. And she startles easily.

On the plus side, she's not hurting anybody or urinating anywhere inappropriate. Her fear is only hurting her. So I guess we can deal with it as she slowly warms up to us. I just with she would warm up faster.