Quote Originally Posted by Pia Guerra View Post
Sounds like you're making great progress! The first six months with Augie it was just her (Charlie arrived at around the 7 month mark) and she spent the entire time under the bed. She would run out to use the litter box at night when I was asleep. Some nights when I was working late and I could see her peeking out desperately, I'd hop into bed, turn out the lights and pretend to fall asleep. She would then run out, use the box and run back. After, I could turn on the lights again and get some more work done. She didn't know how to vocalise, only hiss, but not an angry hiss, she'd hiss as if she were meowing. She never got aggressive, when confronted she would just freeze up and go rigid. I gave her lots of leeway and occasionally reached under the bed to pet her head to get her used to that.
thanks, Pia! Your answer gave me hope for my little guy to turn into a friendly cat. He was about a year old when we got him--we trapped him in a humane trap. We were trying to get the female cat who kept breeding to at least spay and release but she wouldn't come near it. He did, though, and we took him to get checked out. Poor guy, he never got nasty, just scared. If he'd been completely violent and nasty, we might have had to release him back outside. But at least then he'd have had his shots, been neutered, and all that.

I love how he meows from down the hallway. Cracks me up.

I've spent more than $1200 in one go on our dog. She had cancerous tumors to be removed. We set up a payment plan for the vet. Unfortunately, the cancer was a nasty strain and the last time, it became clear that it had spread, so we nixed a scheduled surgery. At that point, the cancer had come back 3 times, so even if we had $5,000 for chemo and such, the chances of it working were slim. She made it another six months on steroid pills which cut down the inflammation and the pain. It's too bad we lost her at nine. Our first three cats lasted until 22, 19, and 14. (The last one was diabetic.) I wish the dog had made it another five years.

But we're not getting another one. We really can't afford it.