Progress

This one's for Tata, who always chastises me when I miss Friday Cat Blogging.

In addition to our blogiversary, another milestone was reached in the Brilliant household yesterday. For the first time since she came to live with us on December 24, 2000, Miss Jenny allowed me to clip the claws on one of her front paws.



This is a truly amazing feat. Here's a cat who spent the first three days with us crouched behind the toilet, then the next three months huddled under a chair, emerging only to eat and use the litter box. She'd been a stray for over a year, came into the Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge with a litter of kittens, was in isolation for 10 months before she was even able to be with the "general population", and lived in a cage another three months before we brought her home. We knew that this was a very sweet cat under all the fear, because there was no aggression in her fear; just sheer terror.

She's been with us over four years now, and every day she still makes progress. When a cat like this starts to come around, it's an amazing feat. I'm not sure I'd want to do this again, certainly not right after losing a beloved cat of 15 years, but there's something gratifying about it. The last milestones are being able to pick her up and to clip her front claws. Yesterday I managed to get one paw. I don't know if she'll let me do it again, but I felt an amazing sense of accomplishment.

These days setting small goals has to suffice.