A Bad Cat - the Ultimate Irony

Meet Walter, a luxurious domestic long hair whom I am cat sitting for a couple of weeks.

I simply adore cats with long fur and he is very reminiscent of my old cat Scrappy, so he is especially appealing to me.

The problem is that he is a foster cat and displays a lot of ferrel cat behaviours. I have never seen him purr or rub his face to mark his scent. He often hides. He runs away if you are walking in his direction. He doesn't like being petted. He won't eat if you are nearby.

I think my friend is being too complacent with him and I feel he could have a better standard of living. I just bought him a pheromone collar, treats, honeysuckle, cat nip toys, and a feather fishing rod toy. I guess it can be a lot of work to socialize a stray but I would like to help the poor guy as much as possible while I have the chance.

If you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear them. Thanks!!

It will take a bit of time but eventually you can gain his trust.  Is he free to roam the house?  Maybe try isolating him in a "safe room" and start feeding him in there.  If he starts eating while you are in the room, that is a huge step.  Start interacting with him by playing with him with a toy.  It can take several months to get a cat to start trusting you.  I have a kitten that I got from the pound that was originally feral.  It took about a month before he stopped hissing at me if I approached him suddenly.  He is just now, after two months, really allowing me to pet him much and this morning he actually rubbed against my legs a bit.

Welcome to The Cat Site.  It is so generous, kind of you to want to socialize this scared cat.

 How many weeks are you cat sitting, and how old is the cat?

For starters, here is a link to Alley Cat Allies Socialized Cat Guide.  I don't know whether the cat is truly feral (never been around humans before) or a scared cat, but the principles in getting a cat more comfortable around you are the same.

Briefly:  play soft music; spend as much time with him as possible, while next to him (or as close as he will let you), work on your computer, read, study, etc.  Try feeding him baby food (meat & water only--Beechnut) with a long handle spoon, that will get him a little closer to you.  You could even leave treats when you see him (and only when you see him) so he associates something good (treats) with something scary (you a human).  Place something smelly of yours next to the food.  Get down on the floor to his level:  remember, to the cat you look like King Kong, you're much taller larger than him.

Finally, see if he will let you brush him.  That has a number of advantages--as a long haired cat, he NEEDS brushing, and some cats react more positively to being brushed then being petted.

The items you bought are GREAT.  Try playing with him with the wand toy, it's far enough from you the human that it shouldn't create too much of a threat to him.

Let us know how it is going.

I am glad to report that the pheromone collar had made an improvement! He's not spooked as easily. He lets me pet him and purrs. I've seen him rubbing his face now. He loves the toys and honeysuckle. He's now in my good cat book !