Wow

I just petted our semi-feral cat.

I thought this might happen soon because I saw him watching me petting his foster sister last week. She was purring and obviously enjoying herself, and it looked as though he were wishing he were brave enough to do the same. Aha, I thought--it's time to start working on socializing him again, because I think he's ready. (This is how we socialized his foster sister, so I've been waiting for the moment.) Just now I found him lounging on the bed. He looked up at me, I slowly extended my hand, and he didn't dart away. So I slowly, slowly began to stroke him--and he looked away and even relaxed as I was petting him. When I stopped, he looked back up at me, so I stretched my hand back out and stroked him again. I stopped after a few pets so as to keep him from feeling insecure. But I think we may have hit a new milestone with him. I hope so.

His coat is really soft, too. Our sweet, brave Philip.