For all those with shy or fearful kitties.......

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Never give up.

Today, after almost two and a half years in the house, Hissy flirted with the idea of crawling onto my lap. She spent her first few months hiding, only emerging to use the litterboxes,, ahd would eat only when I stuffed a small dish of food towards her hiding spots. She graduated to allowing herself to be seen, although never far from a hidey hole, next came full on exposure and sitting happily on the stepladder. Now she eats mostly with the other cats, no longer requiring special feeding.
 

I managed this by simply talking to her whenever I saw her and slowly progressed to stroking her when she allowed it. Never stopped the talking and her next step was to allow all over scratching on her terms and where she was comfortable. Today, she came looking for attention and next thing I knew, there she was, half on my knee and between my side and elbow. After drooling all over me and a few loud purrs, she headed to her drawer for a nap. .

tried to fix the title.......can't type today............blech

 

[larussa]

Autumn is very fearful of people and me at times.  She still does not completely trust me.  She does sit on my lap quite often every day and sleeps with me but if I linger to long after putting her food bowl down, she waits till I walk away before eating.  She has been me  for close to 4 years but for some reason she still doesn't trust me completely.  She was almost 3 years old when I adopted her and had been in another home when she was younger.  Don't know if that is why she doesn't trust people.  I don't know enough about her past.

 

[AbbysMom]

I'll fix the title.

That's so sweet. We'll have had Abby for eight years next month and only recently has she become a bit of a lap cat. She also doesn't run all the time now when a stranger comes in the house.

 

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AbbysMom, thanks for fixing the title

Hissy is sitting beside me right now, bumping my elbow and staring at me. She is also 8, was born in the barn, was wild, and only came close at feeding time. I'll never know what possessed her to come inside but she's worth it.  

 

[spudsmom]

Never give up.

Today, after almost two and a half years in the house, Hissy flirted with the idea of crawling onto my lap. She spent her first few months hiding, only emerging to use the litterboxes,, ahd would eat only when I stuffed a small dish of food towards her hiding spots. She graduated to allowing herself to be seen, although never far from a hidey hole, next came full on exposure and sitting happily on the stepladder. Now she eats mostly with the other cats, no longer requiring special feeding.
 

I managed this by simply talking to her whenever I saw her and slowly progressed to stroking her when she allowed it. Never stopped the talking and her next step was to allow all over scratching on her terms and where she was comfortable. Today, she came looking for attention and next thing I knew, there she was, half on my knee and between my side and elbow. After drooling all over me and a few loud purrs, she headed to her drawer for a nap. .

tried to fix the title.......can't type today............blech

Awww! How sweet! I bet your heart was feeling full from that!

 

[lorie d.]

Sweetie is a shy kitty too. He was about 3 years old when I adopted him and he was terrified of my son and other people who came to visit. In the last year Sweetie started warming up to my son when he came home to visit. He now allows my son to pet him and enjoys the interaction, but also still gets nervous and skittish especially when my son is moving around the room.

 

[minka]

This warms my heart :-)

 

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This morning, Hissy sat beside me, purring loudly then reared up and put her front paws on my shoulder and licked my hair (ICK). For the record, she was completely wild and unapproachable, even with food until she was two-ish and finally quit running from me when she was around four, and started following the other barn cats to the house for summer feeding and I think that was simply because she trusted Jack implicity and if he said it was fine, it was. . .