My question is about Sweetie, the cat I adopted from a very small shelter located inside a vet clinic in May last year. Sweetie was rescued as an intact tom who was very cold and thin two years ago. He was considered a stray and after being neutered was adopted by a family where he interacted with one or two people in the evenings when the house was quite. During the day he hid from the family's kids. He was with this family for only a year since they were no longer able to care for him due to a very serious human illness in the family.
After being back in the shelter for four months, Sweetie came to live with me. When he's alone with me, he's a normal cat, he's sweet, affectionate, and enjoys attention. The problem is that he's scared to death of other people, and hides as soon as he knows anyone else is around. After Sweetie was with me for 2 months, two family members with a key to my house came in when I was at work. They found Sweetie, and I was told when one person tried to hold him, he started to struggle more and more, and finally bit and scratched enough to draw blood. When he was finally released, he ran to a closed window and tried to escape.
These two family members consider Sweetie a semi-feral, and I consider him to be a normal cat who probably wasn't well socialized as a kitten. I would like your opinions about the semi-feral issue, and also, how do I socialize a cat who's so terrified of people? I would like others to be able to enjoy interacting with Sweetie too.
BTW, the vet clinic had Sweetie's birthdate listed as 1/1/06, so he's about 4 years old now.
Thanks
After being back in the shelter for four months, Sweetie came to live with me. When he's alone with me, he's a normal cat, he's sweet, affectionate, and enjoys attention. The problem is that he's scared to death of other people, and hides as soon as he knows anyone else is around. After Sweetie was with me for 2 months, two family members with a key to my house came in when I was at work. They found Sweetie, and I was told when one person tried to hold him, he started to struggle more and more, and finally bit and scratched enough to draw blood. When he was finally released, he ran to a closed window and tried to escape.
These two family members consider Sweetie a semi-feral, and I consider him to be a normal cat who probably wasn't well socialized as a kitten. I would like your opinions about the semi-feral issue, and also, how do I socialize a cat who's so terrified of people? I would like others to be able to enjoy interacting with Sweetie too.
BTW, the vet clinic had Sweetie's birthdate listed as 1/1/06, so he's about 4 years old now.
Thanks