For instance, when I first started staying with Ana, I really wanted to chase Pirate. I would stare at her and whine, but Ana would distract me and she made sure to keep us separate and safe. If Pirate was out, I would be in a crate where I couldn't see (so as not to stare), but I could smell her. If I was out, then Pirate would be in a crate right next to me. I could sniff her but wasn't allowed to fixate. Over the course of a few weeks, her presence became very normal to me and we began spending supervised time together.
Nowadays it's like we're old friends. I've proven myself trustworthy so Ana lets me sleep on the couch overnight and guess who my cuddle buddy is? That's right, it's Pirate!
It helps that Pirate is a very tolerant cat and barely flinches if I play bow to her. She tolerates all sorts of rude behavior from me and isn't afraid to give me a stern reminder if I cross a line. That said, Ana also takes it upon herself to moderate our interactions so Pirate never feels threatened. It's worked, and now we're pretty tight pals. "My" cat has gotten so boring, in fact, that now I'd rather play with her brush over her like in this video (and notice how gentle I am around her now... hard to tell in a phone video but you get the picture).
