As you've probably read on Helena's page, she came to us just before Christmas in 2003. She was esconced in my bedroom to settle in and to bond with me without distractions. Unhappily I was unable to form a bond with her as I normally do with new kittens and though she didn't seem frightened of me she would never meet my eyes with hers and so I brought Hrokka in to see if she would bond with another cat rather than me. To a great extent this worked with Helena and she was much happier in herself . I continued to try and make contact with her and hoped that her seeing how Hrokka was with me (Hrokka formed a very strong bond with me within a week of arriving from Sweden) would help by giving her an example, but this didn't work at all and Helena just bonded with Hrokka. At eight months old Helena was a very big girl who was happiest when snuggled up with one of the other cats....yes you've guessed it, she bonded with all the cats but none of the humans in the house.

She would let us stroke her and pick her up but it was as if she didn't take any notice of us, just a hindrance to her life so to speak. Helena has over the last few years mellowed out and formed a bond of tolerance with us all but if anyone she didn't know came into the house she would be out the window and into the pen like a flash, leaving us with only the sight of her tail disappearing. She often seemed to wonder what we were going to do with her when we stroked or made a fuss of her. Her relationship with me grew stronger over time with persistance and whenever she was concerned or anxious she would automatically make eye contact with me with a huge-eyed look, maintaining this until she was sure of what was going on, she would do that even as she was running away from whatever had worried her...funny girl. She was always more trusting when pregnant but we fondly named her scary cat because she just didn't have the confidence or trust that our other cats had with us.

This all changed in February 2006 when I started a Feline Behaviour Course at a local Open University. At one of the lectures we were learning about the ways that cats communicate with one another and my tutor suggested trying the slow blinking on Helena, I laughed and said that I'd give it a go as she would almost certainly be staring at me all open eyed when I entered the house as she usually does. I went home and there she was all big eyed and staring at me so I gave her two slow blinks whilst looking at her. Well I was just amazed at her response, her eyes returned to normal shape and her whole body relaxed, she jumped off the sofa and came over to me for a fuss. You could have knocked me down with a feather and I was so excited the following day to tell my fellow students and tutor the response Helena had given me. Needless to say, this is always the way that I great Helena nowadays and it gave me a lot of hope where she was concerned. As I learned about positive reinforcement on my course I realised that not only Helena but all the cats and kittens could benefit from this sort of interaction. Basically I now do Treat-based training with all of them and it still amazes me now how much it changes them and Helena the most! Helena is now a confident girl who spends huge amounts of time in the cat village that we call our pens and walkway system, whereas in the past she would make very infrequent trips out there. Even in the rain she will stay there enjoying the Spring. The first time that Helena actually sat on my lap surprised her even more than me, she put her paws up on my lap to get my attention and when I stopped stroking her she just jumped up and straight down again as if to say....I'm not sure I should have done that :-) Helena now frequently jumps on my lap and settles down for a good session of stroking and talking together, she is much more vocal nowadays and talks to me in her gentle croaky voice.

The ultimate proof of her confidence came when people visited to see Lexi's babies. Helena was asleep on the sofa when they arrived and she opened an eye to see what was going on but stayed settled in her comfortable place. As everyone was introduced to Hrokka and Callista, Helena decided that she wanted in on the interaction and got down to greet everyone. I held my breath when she was petted and stroked but she just enjoyed the contact and said hello in her gentle way and got back on the sofa to snuggle down again. I felt so overwhelmed with gratitude for this transformation as everyone now gets to see what a special girl she is and it all started with two slow blinks!

Helena obviously had special needs that had to be overcome for her to be happier in herself, but the simplicity of the training meant that it took so very little time to help her. She was always a very gentle tactile and sweet natured cat, she just needed the confidence to be able to show us how truly wonderful she could be. All the other cats have a much richer life, and though I wouldn't have believed it possible, a much stronger bond with us all. The only setback that I've had with this is that it became very hard to get the kittens not all lined up on the sofa ready for their training session as once they got the hang of it, they wanted to do it all the time!