Hello - I've had my cats for about 4-1/2 years - I got them from a rescue at 6 months. I don't know their exact history before I adopted them, but they were possibly born feral or outdoors or taken from their mother too soon. They were super skittish and it took months of working with them to bring them around and earn their trust. They still have their quirks, but are otherwise pretty pleasant house cats to have around. Both like to sit in laps, accept love/attention/pets and enjoy being around us. Navi, the girl, is still fearful and hides when strangers are around. And she is also hyper food focused. We can't leave food out on the counter or she will try to snatch it - even if it's something she doesn't really like.
My question is about Link, the boy. He's actually the more social of the two. He's very tactile - he's apt to put out a paw when you walk by - sort of to say hi. (He's learned to keep his claws in most of the time) He'll "dolphin" up to your hand for a pet if you put your hand out and after you give him a pet I can pick him up with him facing away from me and he'll stretch his whole body out with his front legs stretched to the sky. The one thing that he hasn't gotten over is a hand directly in front of his face. If you try to pet him from the front - he'll likely nip. Or if he's in your lap, despite being a total cuddly guy who settles in and loves being cuddled - if you somehow get your hand/arm in front of his face he'll try to bite. The cats sleep with us at night and a few times I thought he was Navi and reached out to pet him and got a bite. (I don't do that anymore lol).
Is it too late to help cure him of this trait? If it's possible to still work with him on this, what would the experts here suggest?
My question is about Link, the boy. He's actually the more social of the two. He's very tactile - he's apt to put out a paw when you walk by - sort of to say hi. (He's learned to keep his claws in most of the time) He'll "dolphin" up to your hand for a pet if you put your hand out and after you give him a pet I can pick him up with him facing away from me and he'll stretch his whole body out with his front legs stretched to the sky. The one thing that he hasn't gotten over is a hand directly in front of his face. If you try to pet him from the front - he'll likely nip. Or if he's in your lap, despite being a total cuddly guy who settles in and loves being cuddled - if you somehow get your hand/arm in front of his face he'll try to bite. The cats sleep with us at night and a few times I thought he was Navi and reached out to pet him and got a bite. (I don't do that anymore lol).
Is it too late to help cure him of this trait? If it's possible to still work with him on this, what would the experts here suggest?
