Jinx the aggressive kitty who lost his nose to cancer now is pettable; Bambino the terrorist cat is no longer slamming himself against the cage…he’s accepting baby food on the end of a wand and will allow the wand to then be gently stroked on his back; Audrey who could be downright nasty is now soliciting pets and eats treats from a hand…and on it goes, breakthroughs and bright horizons.

Class is in Session at Miss Sherry’s Finishing School for Felines

The Great Kitty Rescue may have ended in the Nevada desert, but the work of helping frightened and undersocialized cats continues at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.

Best Friends animal behavior consultant Sherry Woodard and the team of staff and volunteers at the rescue in Pahrump, used observations of cat behavior and sometimes outright hunches, to come up with a series of steps that have consistently helped many of the terrified cats overcome their fears of humans and gain the confidence to become members of the family, and many of them have been adopted.

The socialization techniques developed during the rescue in Pahrump are now known as “Miss Sherry’s Finishing School for Felines,” and the first class of 26 cats have started their intensive study in Housecat 101 at the sanctuary. They are living in a yurt with sections divided off for “classroom,” “playroom,” and the “real life room.” Terri Gonzalez, who was a star volunteer at The Great Kitty Rescue, is now the instructor in charge at Miss Sherry’s.

Terri Gonzalez is pictured with Snoopy, the first time he felt comfortable being held outside of the cage



“We discovered how to take cats that were clearly terrified and who could possibly hurt people — out of fear — and give them an opportunity to develop social skills. So far, with our encouragement, and by starting out with limiting the cats’ space, not a single cat has declined our offer to learn how to be a housecat -- again or for the first time,” team leader Sherry said.

The cats start in cages that, similar to crate training for dogs, become safe zones for the cats, almost like bedrooms. “Among the discoveries we made in developing the techniques, limiting space was the single most important one,” Sherry said.

As they progress through the steps, and learn to allow touch, then being held inside the cage, then progressing to be held on a lap, the cats gain confidence and clearly show when they are comfortable with each step.



Jinx the cat who lost his nose to skin cancer is still leery of being out of the cage, but has given up aggressive behavior for the most part. Team member Shelley Thayer begin intensive work with him as part of The Baker’s Dozen, the last 13 cats at the rescue site .Now he is accepting touch from other people too.

Each cat has interactions with people six to eight times per day and they are allowed to progress at their own pace.

Terri said, “If we see that a kitty is not ready to progress, we back up a step and allow them more time. They need to be comfortable and confident every step of the way, this isn’t a race. Cats are individuals and they each respond differently.”



Dice decides not only is licking baby food off a human hand really nice, but it even tastes better when sitting on a lap

Once the kitties repeatedly show they are okay with being held on a lap, then they are given time in the playroom where they can move about freely and socialize with other cats.

“The rules are they can’t run from us and they have to be nice to the other cats,” Terri said. And a cat who is very scared of the freedom of the playroom, like Angelina for instance, make progress each time they are allowed in the playroom.”

Snoopy, Carson and Gus in Snuggle Central inside the Playroom



At night the kitties who have progressed to the playroom go back to their “bedrooms” for a good night’s sleep. And then class is back in session the next day.

Once they are doing well in the playroom, then the kitties are given sessions in the real life room where there is furniture and laptops….and little dogs sometimes! The idea here is to expose them to an environment similar to what they would find in a home. The professors of “Dogology” have so far been Sherry’s little dog Miles, and team member Shelley Thayer’s little dog Beignet who are very comfortable with cats.

So far, Jasper and Ziplock are leading the class and you would never be able to guess how frightened they were at one time. Carson, Snoopy, Milkmouth, Gus and Dweezil have the whole playroom routine figured out and enjoy lolling about, happy to be role models for the more scared cats who can only handle the play room in small doses so far.

Now the suspense is which kitty will be the first one to graduate. The class enrollees are:

Angelina
Audrey
Bagara
Bambino
Bubbles
Bunny
Carson
Dice
Dolly
Dweezil
Gus
Hugo
Isis
Jasper
Jinx
Joker
Kermit
Lexy
Mags
Milkmouth
Polo
Snoopy
Sylvester
Tazo
Zappa
Ziplock

Jasper the Class President is pictured with the founder of Miss Sherry’s Finishing School for Felines, Sherry Woodard



Volunteers welcome!

Anyone interested in learning the socialization techniques developed during The Great Kitty Rescue is invited to apply to volunteer at Miss Sherry’s Finishing School for Felines at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Please contact our volunteer coordinator, Kalene Craddock at 435-644-2001, ext. 4119 or email volunteer@bestfriends.org and help these special kitties get ready to go home.

To adopt one of these cats, please email our Cat Adoption team at catadoption@bestfriends.org

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