Cross Breeds

Help with a shy cat (timid & anxious)?

I've read a lot about helping calm and gain the trust of a shy cat but my situation doesn't seem to fit the situations I read about. We got our kitten 6 months ago, he was 5 months old. We let him adjust and he is definitely NOT overwhelmed by his surroundings.. he comes out and chases our other cats, lets them chase him, plays with toys. We use feliway and tempting him with treats used to work but now that he's past that bottomless-pit stage of kitten-hood he won't eat them from our hands. Basically, he's a happy cat as long as the humans stop bugging him. When we do manage to catch him, when he's too sleepy to notice us approaching and start petting him, he LOVES it... rolling around in extasy, purring, drooling etc. But the next time we so much as look at him or pause as we are near him, he darts off out of range. He loves being pet soooo much and we want to pet him and love him but just don't know how to get him to let us! Catching him is hard if not impossible, and we are barely get to touch him once a week! He's been with us long enough, and only hides from people, loves getting touched and held when we get the chance. I worry too that if we had to take him to the vet or evacuate (wildfires in the area) that we wouldn't be able to get him. He's a long-hair and needs combing...loves it when I get the chance to groom him but like I said, we almost never get the chance! He does not go outside, we tried him on a harness but being outside really freaked him out. We even tried putting him on birth control pills as my mother-in-law had success with one of her shy cats (it seemed to work like an anti-depressant and calmed his anxiety) but didn't do much for our cat.

Public Comments

1. there is no hope. put it down. its cruel to allow it to live. Really. One clean cut to the back of the head ota do it!!
2. tell your pusse not to be shy of c0ck
3. Don't listen to mercutio226. My sister adopted a abused cat 8 years ago, and she is still a little timid to people, but there's a bond between her and my sister. Time will tell. Try to approach him slowly and pet him every day and let him get to know you more. I'm sure he will come out.
4. he'll probably be fine in time. Just be very gentle with him. When you approach him keep low down, it must be very scary to have a big person looming over you. coax him with treats as you are. perhaps a toy of some sort to get him excited? It's weird that he likes it when your there but wont let you touch him again. I can only think of two reason for this: Either the first owner treated him badly and hes scared of humans. Or hes in pain somewer and doesnt want to risk you hurting him. ... however I would think this if he's fine with you touching him when you do. I'd say keep trying , but don't do it all the time (dont over whelm him) because you'll prbs just scare him more if everytime he lies down somebody 'pounces' on him. I think he'll be fine it will just take time. Good luck :)