Stages of change

The stray cat and the carrier, watched across five visits. 1. Cat sniffs the air near its food bowl; the carrier isn't even on its radar -> precontemplation: no intention to change, problem not yet recognised. 2. Cat side-eyes the carrier from across the room, torn between curiosity and staying put -> contemplation: aware of the issue, ambivalent, weighing whether to change. 3. Cat sniffs right at the carrier door, tail twitching, about to step in -> preparation: intending to act soon, taking initial steps. 4. Cat is going in and out of the carrier on its own every day -> action: actively practising the new behaviour. 5. Cat naps inside the carrier for weeks without being coaxed -> maintenance: sustaining the change, guarding against relapse. 6. A slammed door sends the cat bolting back under the bed -> relapse: an expected loop back to an earlier stage, not a failure of the process. 7. Shoving the cat toward the carrier while it's still hiding under the bed only makes it bolt further -> matching the intervention to the patient's actual stage (e.g. motivational interviewing) is what works; a mismatched, wrong-stage push backfires.