Scardey cat

OK, joined here to hopefully get some answers. My cat Boomer is maybe 5/6. I had the pleasure of adopting him when he was 2. He's a handful though. My Himalayan Lynx buddy is afraid of everything and I'm at my wits end. This has been going on since I first brought him in my house. Is he friendly and open to me? Yes. Does that make up for him being stuck in 1 room all day and when he comes downstairs to eat his temperament completely changes? Hardly. I know I should have tried to fix the problem from the start but I didn't. Is this a hopeless cause? When he wants attention he meows and meows for me in his "special" room but when I try to bring him downstairs to where I am he just runs back upstairs. Now he's made a lot of progress, it took him about a year to fully trust me, but it's still disheartening that he feels the need to stay in this room and is afraid of so much including strangers.

of scaredy cats. Some have come round, some not. Do you live alone or are there children that perhaps intimidate him? I know some like the Feliway plug in. It emitts a pheremone (sp) that calms cats down. I am sure someone will come along with some good ideas. I found time was the only solution. When you think of it, you really can't force it. Cats aren't made that way. To give you hope, I rescued a mom and her baby last September. He was so scared of me, if I blinked an eye, he was gone! We lost his mom this past February. He has bonded with me so that he sleeps upside down on my lap. On our bed at night too. So there is hope. I never would have believed it. You have come to the right place for help!

Originally Posted by farleyv

Do you live alone or are there children that perhaps intimidate him?

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I'm a college student living with my Mom and step dad. It's just the 3 of us, nobody intimidates him.

I adopted Speck from the animal shelter when he was a kitten. Marshmallow and Daisy were semi-feral strays, with Daisy being almost completely wild. Ironically, it's Speck who is afraid of everything, including strangers. Daisy walked right up to the man who installed our heat pump - I was kind of worried about what she was thinking about doing to him. She's quite aggressive. Speck hides under the bed when anyone even rings the doorbell. I wish I had some good advice for you, but I don't. I agree with the suggestion for Feliway, though.

My family took in 3 semi-feral kittens about 4 years ago. My younger brother was about 7 or 8 at the time and he played a little too roughly with them; he broke Kipper's leg and Klein's tail. All three of them were always very frightened, not only of him but of virtually everything, even long after little brother outgrew that phase. About 3 months ago, my parents brought Kipper and Klein to live with me. They were even more afraid at first but it only took about 2 weeks before they were more relaxed than I had ever seen them. Klein has since passed away but Kipper is doing very well. He doesn't hide at all anymore, he isn't frightened by sudden movements or loud noises, and he will even run to greet strangers, despite being around new cats and having many more visitors than he is used to. I don't know what did it, maybe the change in environment or simply being away from my brother (though Kipper isn't afraid of even him now when he comes to visit me), I'm not sure. No doubt, there are some cats that will be afraid their whole lives, but don't give up hope!