I was so excited about this, I have to share. Norman is the newest member to our Tribe. We saved him from being tossed out last year by our neighbor in CT. Her husband (the cat lover in the family) died 2 years ago and he had talked her into saving 5 cats. They had these cats for almost 5 years, but when he died, she decided she couldn't deal with them anymore. Norm and his housemates lived in a 7x10 porch addition to her house - she barely cared for them and was gone all the time for work anyway. I would cat-sit during the week and came to know the individual cats very well. When she decided she didn't want them anymore, she basically told me that if I didn't find a shelter that would take them, she was going to open the back door and kick them out.
I was able to get 4 of them placed in a shelter (they were all adopted eventually), but Norm was the most unfriendly. But I knew he wasn't feral, so he became our 5th cat. We figured he would just be a scaredy cat, but we weren't about to let her toss him out to fend for himself.
Anyway, within 3-4 weeks, he was no longer hissing at us and letting us pet him (very briefly)and was getting along with the other guys pretty well. The boys all play a little rough with each other, so Norm still isn't sure if it's play or a fight, but he does wrestle with Pippin for fun. Then we moved across the country and he regressed a little, so we started over with the treats and sweet talk and playing feather. FINALLY YESTERDAY, HE PURRED WHILE I WAS PETTING HIM. Its a big leap for Normy and makes us feel like he's on his way to a normal, un-stressed life. Here's some photos of him - I just had to share the breakthrough!
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