We're making progress

Xena, the Amazon Warrior cat, is still with us.

BUT...we are making progress. We can now pet her with a pencil or a newspaper, and early in the morning, when I catch her still half asleep, I can scratch the very top of her head and she almost, almost purrs.

This morning I gave her some rubs on the exact spot she likes the most, and she leaned her head back and meowed nastily again and again, but the claws stayed tucked away and her paws sat extended on the chair, relaxed and peaceful.

Last night was, perhaps, the biggest success when she rubbed against me as I worked on the computer. With her moms, she loves to extend herself on their left (yes, left) shoulders, held like a baby or perhaps a large coiled rope. At one point, while she paced the desk rubbing against my elbow, she stopped, turned, and reached her right paw to my left shoulder. Ann was standing next to me and we both gasped, "She almost got up on my shoulder!" The gasp, I think, stopped her, and she continued to pace on the desk and then, eventually, the tender moment gone, jumped down and ran into the kitchen to demand a feeding.

Progress. One paw at a time.

Although, way back in the beginning, after I'd spent a day with horses and my students, Xena actually sat, curled up and purring, in my lap. I think she was attracted more to the smell of horses than to my open hearted attempts to love her, but still, progress can come in many forms however deceptive they may first appear.