Safari was originally named Holly. It occurred to me to call her Holly Safari, but that is a little too much. She is a scardy cat. The foster mom explained that when the kittens were just a few weeks old, another foster mom let them have the run of the house, which is not a good thing. The vet visited that foster mom to give them the shots, and called the shelter to say that these kittens should be removed to a home where they are confined to one room. So, they were moved to the next foster home, where we met them. They lived in a large room with five or so other kitties. Through all of this, Holly (Safari), became a scardy cat.

When we first met her, we had to try pretty hard to catch her and hold her in our arms. When you picked her up, she would sit quietly and purr lightly. It wasn't that she didn't want to be held, it was that she is afraid of those big hands coming to get her. We knew that in order to make her into a lovely house cat, we would have to work with her patiently and get her to trust us.

Today, Safari was laying quietly on the kitchen floor, and George reached down and petted her as she lay there. He didn't try to pick her up, he just reached out calmly and stroked her from head to tail several times. This is a big step for Safari. Holding her on your lap is no problem, and she will stay calm, and purr quietly, but laying there and not being afraid of his hand coming at her is a very very big step.

She is learning that we love her, and that even though she has a big brother who climbs higher, catches faster and purrs louder, she is every bit as important to us and we love her just as much.

I took this picture to show how beautiful her striped tail is. She has wonderful markings, a calm manner, a quiet ladylike purr, and she pays a lot of attention to details. We know now that only one in a thousand orange cats is female. It will be wonderful helping her not be a scardy cat.

Have a great night.