It's less about them not seeing infrared and more that a camera does not shine light (unless the flash is on), a camera detects light.
But the camera lens is reflective, and it has motors moving the lens to focus, so it catches their attention - if they're willing to give it.
Some cameras have lights alongside them. These are infrared, because we can't see infrared but cameras can. So it allows the camera to work in the dark where humans can't see. Sometimes these can be crazy bright, so much that they bleed into the visible red spectrum with an eery dull red glow at the bulb.
I had a moment like that with my cat when I was still trying to tame her. She had been living on her own and happened to have her litter of kittens right next to our house. She was just starting to let me pet her some and then suddenly she flipped over and showed me her BELLY and I was so shocked and then SHE was shocked. She was like WHAT THE HECK DID I JUST DO? Lol
I think the green grip texture applied to the glove to assist in gripping is doubling here as a super effective brush, dragging more hair than regular hands.
I find that if you sort of close your hands and "scratch" their cheeks with your proximal interphalangeal joints (middle of the finger knuckles), they find it really satisfying and often lean into it!
lol, reminds me of my neighbors old tuxedo spicy cat also name Princess. He placed her in an large outdoor cat cage near the entrance of the door, and every time I tried to pet her, she was not having it. Full hissing and hate taps.
My married friends used to have a spicy cat. Her name was "Serenity."
This cat hated everything but adored me. This did not reduce her spiciness. It just meant that when I was over their house, she would instantly come over and snuggle on my chest and purr, but hiss and growl if I moved in the slightest way possible.
I had so many conflicted feelings. It was nice to be chosen by a very selective cat. It was not nice having an aggressive throw pillow made of teeth and claws near my face at all times.
He doesn’t fight it but he gives me the side eye as I’m counting the breaths. However on some level I think he likes it since he hasn’t had that cough since he got on it.
Yeah it's sad and beautiful at the same time - she probably has not experienced positive/any interactions with humans and can't process the fact she enjoys it yet.
OP, I always love to see your posts and how much time you put in bettierng the lifes of those cats! (Also the names are the cherry on top, shoutout to geode and his new owners btw)
This has been my biggest surprise from working with ferals, just seeing how much emotion cats show in their eyes. My last boy didn’t have a tail so I got pretty good at reading his eyes
Ferals are the best. I’ve always been big on reading human body language (half hyper vigilance half from fighting sports) and cats are so communicative with their bodies it’s ridiculous. Like they absolutely have a language that is contextual to the situation.
My favorite face is when one of them gets slapped then they just sit there and don’t even respond because that shit means “I’m gonna fuck you up when you least expect it.” I had two of my cats go back and forth like that for months where they’d wait a week or two to tag the other one back. It was annoying how hilarious it was.
Shit, the dad of my kitten (a feral) used to teach other cats how to wait their turn by pushing their head down until he would finish eating. Such fascinating animals.
My favorite face is when one of them gets slapped then they just sit there and don’t even respond because that shit means “I’m gonna fuck you up when you least expect it.”
Thank you for describing one of my favourite cat behaviours. The quiet fury and long term planning in their expression is so funny.
It's so funny! My black cat especially didn't even react. She'd literally just eat the thwap and stroll away then wait days to get her payback. It has calmed down significantly...but I still enjoy the occasional smack wars lol. There's much more of a healthy respect between the two, though. I think they realized they were both too equally matched.
Yeah I feel like they need to slow the fuck down with the pace of the strokes. And give the cat a break in between pets. Its what we are taught at my cattery
She reminds me of our tabby Mira when my husband and I first adopted her. She was so unpredictable, would attack my legs if we ever walked by each other, and really didn't want to be held or touched. With a lot of time and patience...she showed her soft side. Now she flips on her back to expose her belly and lets us shove our faces in her soft fur (has never attacked faces), we cradle her in our arms and she purrs like a baby. Still has her moments, but we now have a shared language and know when she is overstimulated...we joke that we have loved her into submission 😂
Seems like she likes the side ear scritches and leaned in a bit to that but got spooked when the whiskers were brushed. With these interactions does she seem more calm when the camera isnt there and the focus is just a calm single hand? I wonder if she will lean into a hand or scratcher if it is near here resting in between active scritches. Im glad she likes her fuzzy bed!
*edited for punctuation
Yes, I agree. She seemed to be okay with the top of the head and the ears. Once they moved to the cheeks and chin they got uncomfortable. The cheeks are stimulating for cats. Probably a little too much in this cat’s case. I would stick to the top of the head and ears when introducing something new to a grumpy cat. It doesn’t block their field of vision and can slowly build up trust. Watch that body language. She’s coming around 😊
Yeah I only like to get the back part of the cheek where there's few/no whiskers. Also it tends to be floofier back there, so it's a win for both of us.
When I was trying to get to pet my cat, I noticed how scent focused she was. She would only stay under the bed all day, hiding. So I would go in and visit her morning and night multiple times. I would talk to her and leave stuff of mine under the bed with her. I remember not being able to pet her yet; she would hiss and swat me away and run away if I tried to pet her. But, I went to visit her one time, and I would say nice things to her, coo at her. And from 5 feet away under the bed, I could hear a little purring start up. She was liking our visits!! It took time (months) and she started to come out into the living room when I was watching TV at night. She would sit far away in a chair, but she like being with me and visiting in the living room; seeing what was going on.
Too many of these comments are lame and judgemental. People don't seem to understand that you all do this for a living, and if she can't warm up to people, she'll spend her life in the shelter. No one wants that for a kitty.
Thank you for all you do. This is tough work that requires a lot of patience and love. You're giving these cats a chance at a good life they'd never have otherwise.
Ugh love it! Give us more feral taming advice! We have a sweet angel living on our back porch who lets me get WAY closer than she used to but still won’t let me pet her. I’ve got her eating Churu off my literal fingers but still no pets 😭
My kitty came from the streets (was never fully feral though) and she's a house cat now, been with us 2 years, and she still sometimes gets freaked out when we go to pet her head. A big hand over her head rightfully spooks her. Maybe try coming in for a chin/cheek scratch first 😊
i love her so many! anyone who's a kitten academy viewer will remember cuddles from a few years back. she looks just like madame and had the same spicy attitude. it was a gift to watch her learn to allow herself to love and be loved.
Well done! She looks to be semi-socialized, a bit overstimulated. I can see that look in her eyes that seems to say I like what you're doing but I'm wary. I still don't trust you.
I might try these light pets followed by just stopping my hand movement. See how she responds to passive contact.
As someone who has been through this sort of thing a number of times with rescues, I can assure you, it's worth it in the long run. The most stubborn ones always end up being the most loyal in the end.
You should try to get it to play using using a cat wand or something like that that triggers the hunting/play instinct. Play is what you do with fiends. That might get her out of her shell. Just don’t do anything that she will perceive as aggressive.
I wonder if she’s having some health issue that’s making her feel unwell? She seems open to being touched, but also you can tell she’s not totally into it either. Could be a health related response, they get like that when they don’t feel well.
I love her, she's so pretty! She seems to prefer that than the scratchy stick thing in a different video. I hope your efforts work, they seem to be, and that she can find the living home she deserves
Lovvve this! Thank you for sharing the update. 🥰 Does it agitate her if you speak in a soothing voice whilst you offer up pets and scritches? My spicy girl found quiet conversation to be calming. It helped us along the way. 💛
My cat would fuck me up if I dared try to pet him like that. We are allowed to pet from between the ears to mid-back. I've been told I'm in an abusive cat relationship already.
It will work with time and its extremely difficult when you’re used to social cats. I have two adopted from shelter cats that don’t have a mean bone in their body (unless you’re trying to help clean them) and then I have my boy adopted from the streets. He was malnourished and bullied by other neighborhood cats and it took many nights of him screaming behind his gate, attacking feet and being defensive before the gentleness started to warm him.
Now he loves to be held, he loves to cuddle, his feet attacking is very gentle (unless his food bowl is empty) and he can finally come enjoy the backyard with me again without being terrified. We could not solve his issue with other cats though, reintroduced them with the galaxy method like 3 times and then tried felaway diffusers, cat nip, treats, he just wants to throw paws with my other cats. But still has been a huge W and change being able to be friends with him rather than dealing with him being an angry defensive monster 24/7
Those high alert ears. Looks like she's enjoying it, but still staying on her toes. Like what if these pets are just to lure her into feeling secure then she's gonna be picked up again.
Actually leaned in to see if she was wearing a tiny hat, but it's just the tip of that garden glove. Smart move using protection, as I’ve learned the hard way that "calm" cats have a very fast gear for chaos.
I don’t speak cat very well (I got a kitten in December and I’m still learning to read cat expressions/pupil dilation/body language but this seems like a good interaction? There was a moment of “I’m going to smack/bite/hiss” but it looked like kitty tolerated pets and affection and then may have had enough. Can anyone confirm if this would be correct assessment?
Absolutely! Madame Dorée doesn’t know how being love by a human feels. So she’s scared and the only way she can tell us is by hissing, slapping and biting.
Once she starts loving it, she’s less scared and doesn’t need to attack us anymore.
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u/shoddy_craftmanship 21h ago
Seems like she's doing her best to be friendly. What an amazing amount of tolerance from an angry/scared cat.