Help with older terrified kitty

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Haynesaj1

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ME TOOOOO! I've started to let him roam around the office a little when I'm in here. He still keeps his distance but he gets more relaxed all the time. He’s eating and drinking and doing his business just fine so I’ll hold off on freaking him out with a trip to the vet! I’m so glad he had all his shots already when I got him.

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Haynesaj1

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Harry update: I now let him out to roam the office and play a couple times a day. He comes out and stretches, rolls around and chills, as long as I’m not too close. He will walk right up to me to lick Churu treats, and he’ll reach with a paw to try to pull my hand closer if he can but then backs away immediately when he’s done. He loves to play and impresses me with his ability to snag the end of a wand toy from mid air. He seems to be getting more relaxed all the time, in the context of our routine. But when he’s in the cage he still hides immediately when he hears me coming down the hall. I guess he’s been in there for about 3 weeks now.

My question now is what next? I’m not sure he’s quite ready yet but in the event he seems to be, I’m not sure how to introduce him to the rest of the house without ending up with a cat hiding in the basement again. Our main floor outside the office is pretty open so it’s not like I can limit him to one room at a time. I can bring the whole cage out to the kitchen/living room area for awhile and see if he gets comfortable with that. But as I’ve read on many, many other threads here.... maybe he will always be skittish. How do I know if/when he’s ready?

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Haynesaj1

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I went ahead and opened up the door of the office so Harry could join the family. I shut the basement door so he couldn’t fully retreat down there and he’s doing really well. Sometimes he will hide under my daughter’s bed upstairs during the day but he still comes down to the kitchen for food and uses the litter box on the main floor. Most of the time he hangs out in the cat condo in the living room. He loves the Churu cat treats and will come and eat them out of my hand. Last night he jumped up on the couch next to me and batted at my hand. It seemed more like a curiosity thing than an attack or anything.

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