I'm autistic and generally do things by instruction. I read all the books and all the websites and follow the knowledge. My partner has the instinct. Last night, Katrina pulled Shadow from under the futon and sat her down in the box with the wet food. I hadn't seen Shadow all day, but it worked! The above video is from the beginning of that night in the safe room with the cats. We were in there for a long time after this, petting Shadow, convincing Shadow to nurse Kismet, and (for Katrina) cutting the mats out of Shadow's fur. Shadow was a sweetheart and an attention hog through all of it. Before we set them nursing, if I went to pay attention to Kismet she came over demanding my attention instead. Shadow wouldn't nurse Kismet unless we were also petting her; if we stopped, she would get up and Kismet would start to cry. It was a long night in the safe room, but it was worth it for all the progress we made.

This morning when I came into the room Shadow was hiding again. When I opened a can of food and went to weigh Kismet, Shadow came out. I don't know if it was the food or the kitten crying, but I managed to weigh Kismet and put hir back down and Shadow went to eat.

Then, miracle of miracles, I got to see Shadow being motherly! Last night we found out that Shadow's preferred place to nurse is on the futon, which we're fine with as long as we're in the room because it's easy enough to clean. I brought Kismet out onto the futon and Shadow jumped up, got some pets, and settled down to nurse. Above is just three minutes of that process. Kismet nurses for a long time - about 45 minutes - and Shadow wasn't this patient the whole time this morning, but it was good to see it at the start!