09/19/2021
This is Rose (first picture/she has the mostly white underside) and Estelle. They are both super sweet and have gone through the loss of a previous owner so they are still adjusting to their new life but they're doing great! I was told Estelle wouldn't come out for me or if she did, that she would hide. Here's what I do when I find out a cat or dog (though my process is slightly different for dogs) is skittish/shy/anxiety prone, etc. I go into the home and I purposely ignore the animal that is scared and I get the food ready, litter box scooped, or anything that needs to be done, really, and I basically go about my business and then I will sit quietly on a couch or chair and act like I'm busy on my phone (Most of the time I'm getting sneaky picturesππ€£). If the animal doesn't feel threatened (like if I were coming towards them trying to pet them), they become more comfortable and relaxed. She only hid during our first visit. The last two, she stayed out the entire time!!!! I did give Rose some pets and made sure to be loud enough when I praised her so Estelle would see/hear what I was doing. Rose is shy as well but Estelle is supposed to be the worse of the two when it comes to strangers. I let Rose check me out every time I come in. I'll walk by, let her sniff me and sometimes I pet her, sometimes I don't. You never want to make the animal feel threatened so by you ignoring them, they don't feel like all the focus is on them. I kind of equivalate it to stage fright in a way. If someone feels like they're on the spot and they have anxiety or stage fright, they'll freeze or go to hide. If they don't see an audience, or they audience isn't paying attention, the anxiety will lessen. Of course if the audience is present, some anxiety will be as well but not as severely as if all eyes are on them.