I'm on my third (and last) day of catsitting for my friends' two
cats, one of whom is a former feral and very shy. Yesterday, he
allowed me to brush him - his humans had told me that if he lets me
near him, I should try brushing him because he LOVES it - and they
were right! Today, I brushed him some more and he purred up a storm.
He's actually quite affectionate when he's not scrambling to get away
from you. We touched noses a few times, he head-butted me, let me pet
and scratch him along his spine and on top of his head, and of course,
lots and lots of brushing. A couple of times, when I stopped brushing
and started petting, he let me do that for a few minutes, and then he
would touch the brush and move it a bit, as though to say, "OK, enough
of that - back to the brush!" That was *so* cute.

He still runs away if I approach him in any but a couple of very
controlled situations. If he's lying on the floor and I walk toward
him, even very slowly and talking soothingly, he'll run off. But if
he's on the couch, I can now sit down next to him and pet (or brush!)
him and he'll enjoy it. (Note: I think he knows I'm writing this,
because he just walked into the computer room. I reached out my hand
toward him and he touched my fingertips with his nose.)

Anyway, I think we have a bit of a bond here, so I feel successful.
The humans will be so pleased. They've told me that, aside from the two
of them, I'm the only person he's allowed to come near him. I feel so
privileged!

Joyce