Animals go through a series of behavioral tests when they’re in a shelter. These help the workers to determine if they will make a good pet or if there could be issues, such as attacking their adopters or other pets.
In Barbara’s case, she failed the test. The people at the shelter simply didn’t think she had the potential to make a good pet. She was too much of a safety risk and wasn’t warming up to people. In fact, she spent most of her time hiding.
Thankfully, there was one person who didn’t let that get in the way.
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Bringing “grumpy Barbara” home
The new pet owner knew that taking care of Barbara was not going to be an easy task. She realized that it would take a lot of patience and time. She also knew it would be worth it. She saw a hint of something in Barbara that the workers at the animal shelter had missed.
She saw hope.
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Still hiding
When Barbara arrived at her new home, there wasn’t an immediate change. She still spent most of her time hiding.
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When she finally stopped hiding…well, things didn’t get immediately better then either. Instead, she moved on to chasing and attacking her new mom’s feet, with all of her claws in full action.
Her new mom decided to wear boots and gloves in the house for a while to avoid the scratches. This wasn’t going to be easy!
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Hints of change
Eventually, there were moments when Barbara started to do something else. She would walk right up to her adopter and nudge or sniff her. No claws were involved. Her human even managed to pet her a few times in those moments.
Then, the cat would quickly go back to her old ways of attacking and hiding.
That’s when the woman caring for her realized that what Barbara needed most of all was time. So, she quit trying to shower affection on the cat. She knew that Barbara would come to her eventually when she felt comfortable enough to.
It was time to have patience and simply wait.
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Getting there
Barbara was given her space. When she wasn’t hiding or chasing after feet, she would spend it exploring.
Her new mom would get comfortable on the floor and place a few treats on her chest, waiting for Barbara to come by and snag one. Eventually, the cat would grab a treat before running away again.
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A real treat
One day, Barbara’s human mom woke up to find the cat on her chest. Barbara wasn’t after treats – there weren’t any there. Instead, she was rubbing up against her adopter’s face, purring, and just hanging out on her chest.
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This was nothing like the “unadoptable” cat she had met a month before. This was the cat she had always known was hiding inside until it was safe to come out.
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They have been the best of friends ever since. Now, Barbara spends time close to her mom, rubs against her, and gives all the signs of a purr-fectly adoptable cat.
All it took was love. Well, love and a lot of patience.
Would you like to hear more about Barbara? Check out the video below. You won’t regret it!
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