Hello everyone:
We plucked a cat out of an alley a week ago; since then, he's been to the vet's, neutered, de-flead, de-wormed, and we're still working on his bowel movements with medication and probiotics (started with liquid diarrhea, and we're now at the cow patty stage). We named him Griffin, and he's a year old. When we brought him to the vet's, you'd think he would have been wild with fear; after a general exam and 2 blood draws, he literally fell asleep in my arms. Just so you don't think this is my first time around, we had a wonderful girl cat for 21 years who passed away 2 years ago.
When we first brought Griffin home after all the vet stuff, we kept him in our guest bedroom for 3 days (with food, water, litter box, a few toys and as much company as he would tolerate). When we let him loose in our small house, he acclimated very quickly and found his happy spots. Overall, he's very mellow, and doesn't bite, scratch or hide. He uses his litter box very well, and loves his food (special stuff for his bowels from the vet).
Although he wasn't chipped or neutered, I know he must have lived with someone at some point; he's not wild, he used the litter box at the vet's right away, and when he first walked into my kitchen, he started counter surfing for food. Obviously, there's no telling how long he's been on the street.
Here's where we don't know what to do for him: he doesn't like to be touched or picked up. He'll come around to be petted (only by me, and I guess that's because I work from home and take care of him the most), sit on my lap for a few minutes, maximum, then move away. For those few minutes when he lets me pet him, he purrs like mad. If we go to touch him, he protests every time (not a hiss, growl or swat, but an irritated sound). We try to engage him in play 2-3 times a day, and sometimes he's interested, other times he'll just sit and watch us. When I talk to him, he gives me that sweet, cat blink. Mostly, though, he keeps to himself and doesn't enjoy human contact much.
Is this typical behavior for an alley cat? Is there something more I could be doing? Is this aloofness related to not trusting humans? Any help from you would be GREATLY appreciated!
We plucked a cat out of an alley a week ago; since then, he's been to the vet's, neutered, de-flead, de-wormed, and we're still working on his bowel movements with medication and probiotics (started with liquid diarrhea, and we're now at the cow patty stage). We named him Griffin, and he's a year old. When we brought him to the vet's, you'd think he would have been wild with fear; after a general exam and 2 blood draws, he literally fell asleep in my arms. Just so you don't think this is my first time around, we had a wonderful girl cat for 21 years who passed away 2 years ago.
When we first brought Griffin home after all the vet stuff, we kept him in our guest bedroom for 3 days (with food, water, litter box, a few toys and as much company as he would tolerate). When we let him loose in our small house, he acclimated very quickly and found his happy spots. Overall, he's very mellow, and doesn't bite, scratch or hide. He uses his litter box very well, and loves his food (special stuff for his bowels from the vet).
Although he wasn't chipped or neutered, I know he must have lived with someone at some point; he's not wild, he used the litter box at the vet's right away, and when he first walked into my kitchen, he started counter surfing for food. Obviously, there's no telling how long he's been on the street.
Here's where we don't know what to do for him: he doesn't like to be touched or picked up. He'll come around to be petted (only by me, and I guess that's because I work from home and take care of him the most), sit on my lap for a few minutes, maximum, then move away. For those few minutes when he lets me pet him, he purrs like mad. If we go to touch him, he protests every time (not a hiss, growl or swat, but an irritated sound). We try to engage him in play 2-3 times a day, and sometimes he's interested, other times he'll just sit and watch us. When I talk to him, he gives me that sweet, cat blink. Mostly, though, he keeps to himself and doesn't enjoy human contact much.
Is this typical behavior for an alley cat? Is there something more I could be doing? Is this aloofness related to not trusting humans? Any help from you would be GREATLY appreciated!