“I do the clicker training now sometimes just to keep her familiar with it,” Ashley explains, “but she’s not as food-motivated anymore. In almost no time at all, she had surpassed Ashley’s first- and second-month goals.
#Peridot hiss full#
Soon, they had moved on to full head-to-tail strokes in return for a treat. Not only was the little touch nice on its own, but more pats also meant more snacks. It didn’t take Peridot long to figure that out. Occasionally as she was talking, Ashley held out her hand, and if Peridot rubbed against it or touched it politely, she got a click and a treat. “She’s a really smart cat,” says Ashley, “and she’s really treat-motivated, which is good.” With a pocket full of yummy snacks and a clicker in hand, Ashley and Peridot’s quiet sit-downs became perfect opportunities to build those positive interactions. Then, once Peridot was feeling OK with that, it was time to introduce the clicker. There was no pressure for Peridot to come close or be approached at all - just quiet company and a chance for her to observe at her leisure the person in her space. I just wanted her to get used to me.” (Sometimes she played relaxing music to fill the silence.) “I would just go into her room, sit down, talk with her for 10 minutes and then leave.
“When I first started working with her, I couldn’t touch her,” Ashley says. She set up monthly goals, but everything would be on Peridot’s own timeline. And caregiver Ashley McDaniel was determined to encourage those moments, build on them and get Peridot to a place where that was her norm rather than her exception.Īshley wrote up a plan for Peridot: She’d work with her every day, slowly building up their bond and showing the little black cat that spending more time with people was good and enjoyable. When it was on her own terms, she wanted the attention. On the other hand, sometimes she would seek out affection - lightly head-butting an outstretched hand or winding around someone’s ankles. While caregivers cleaned, she went after their feet, and if anyone tried to touch her she would still hiss and bat them away. She had hiding spots and places where she could climb up to get away from visitors, but sometimes interaction was inevitable. The private space helped (not having to worry about other cats), but she still wasn’t sure about people. At Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, she was set up in a quiet room with her own catio and no roommates. What she needed was space and time to unwind, along with people who could help her feel safe again so that she would have the best chance at finding a new home. It was stressful for everyone involved, especially Peridot herself. And she didn’t like having other cats around her at all, and she made that perfectly clear by screaming, yowling and hissing at them. Confined and scared, she started lashing out at people. But when her people were no longer able to care for her, she suddenly found herself in a shelter with sights, sounds and smells she was completely unfamiliar with. Humans were the only family she’d ever really known. Orphaned at a very young age, Peridot the kitten had to be bottle-fed.
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