Cat scared of touch reacts to love
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00:00 He wanted to be touched and loved,
00:02 but he didn't have anybody to trust
00:04 for the first two years of his life.
00:07 I'm Bethany, and this is the chicken story for GeoBeats.
00:11 He's the chicken, this little ball of skin
00:14 rescued from a hoarding situation.
00:16 He was in foster care for six months
00:18 before they put him up for adoption,
00:20 and that's when he came into our life.
00:22 Wendell, leave the chicken alone.
00:25 We have five cats of our own,
00:27 and then we have fosters in and out all year round.
00:30 And he was quiet.
00:31 Chicken.
00:33 I wasn't able to touch his stomach.
00:35 And just even rubbing him in a certain way,
00:37 you could tell he just was like,
00:38 "I don't know about that."
00:40 He was constantly itching his ears,
00:42 scratching his body, licking constantly.
00:45 You cold?
00:46 I started researching Sphinx cats
00:48 because I didn't even know what that breed entailed
00:51 normally for care and maintenance.
00:53 Ooh, what's that?
00:54 He required a special diet, medication, and frequent baths.
00:59 Are we done?
01:00 His vet bills within the first four to six months
01:03 were thousands of dollars.
01:05 We stopped going out to dinner for a little while.
01:07 I look at it as that I don't buy fancy coffees.
01:10 I use that money,
01:11 and it goes towards their monthly medications.
01:13 I see a chicken.
01:14 And looking at him now to see how healthy he is,
01:16 it was worth it.
01:17 We saw more of his personality.
01:20 He started playing more.
01:21 [clicking]
01:24 And running around and wanting to interact
01:28 with the other cats.
01:29 And now he's a social butterfly of the house.
01:32 Anytime new cats come in, he immediately is there.
01:34 And he especially wants to see what food they have
01:36 'cause he wants to try it.
01:37 Leave the chicken alone.
01:38 Just in the almost year that we've had him,
01:41 we've seen a change in how he interacts with humans.
01:45 Chicken, what are you doing?
01:48 [gentle music]
01:51 He seeks attention.
01:54 And I think initially when people come over,
01:56 they're a little nervous to touch him.
01:58 What are you doing, you weirdo?
01:59 Did the bath go as we planned?
02:01 They don't know what he's gonna feel like.
02:04 Don't taste the chicken.
02:06 I think he's gonna be like slimy or sticky.
02:08 Once you get the courage to touch him, you don't stop.
02:12 He's almost like addictive.
02:13 He feels so soft.
02:15 Chicken.
02:16 One of his favorite places to sit
02:17 is we have heating vents on the floor
02:19 and we called it grilled chicken.
02:21 So I'm gonna say, where's the chicken?
02:22 Oh, he's getting grilled.
02:23 This cat licks everything and we don't understand why.
02:26 Like he licks glasses, he licks tables,
02:29 he licks windows, walls.
02:31 The chicken watches what's going on and studies everything.
02:35 Does that make him taste your window?
02:37 I'd like to see, say he's plotting to take over the world
02:40 or at least the house.
02:41 Oh, express.
02:45 He watches the dynamics between our other cats
02:47 and then he'll take advantage of if a treat was left
02:51 or he'll take advantage if a cat gets up
02:53 and left a warm blanket.
02:54 He'll be the first one there.
02:56 The chicken takes advantage of when I'm scolding
02:58 the other cats for doing who knows what.
03:00 He comes over and just sits pretty and says,
03:03 look at me, I'm perfect.
03:04 There's something about the way the chicken looks at you.
03:07 He's looking like into your soul
03:09 and you kind of feel like he just really wants
03:11 to get to know you.
03:13 He's safe and he knows it and he's being taken care of.
03:17 We've peeled back all of those bad layers
03:19 from his previous life and we've discovered this amazing cat.
03:24 (upbeat music)
03:27 (indistinct)
03:30 (upbeat music)
03:33 (upbeat music)
03:35 (upbeat music)
03:38 (upbeat music)
03:40 [Music]