Help with socializing male....

I wasn't sure if this belonged here or in behavior....

I took in a almost 2 year old male lynx point siamese because the people who had him before we just going to dump him out into the street.

I've had him for almost a month and he's very obviously been abused in the past and acts very feral. No human can get near him. I got close once and he tried to bite me.

I need to rehome him, but I need to get him socialized better first. Could anyone offer me any advice on how to deal with getting close and get him to be ok with humans?

Patience and time is the only way to socialize this poor baby. I don't have a lot of advice, but wanted to bump this up to make sure one of our resident experts sees it.
Good luck with him, and please keep us posted on his progress.

Thank you.

I'm feeling so sad for this boy. I don't want to risk taking him to the SPCA around here because I know he wouldn't pass the behavior tests and more likely than not be PTS.

He is a gorgous cat and I KNOW he would be purfect for a single cat home where the owner could give him a lot of TLC and saftey.

I'm trying to hold on to him for as long as I possibly can, but I have these two pregnant females that will be having kittens at the end of the month and (I don't mean to sound cold) but I don't have the space for everyone.

Bless you for taking on this poor kitty! Here is the thread that I posted at the beginning of the summer: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88493 Hissy and the others gave me such great advice and it has worked wonderfully
Please let us know how it's going with your guy! I'm sending {{{prayers and vibes}}} that he gets a second chance and that he comes around before the new kittens arrive. So many kitties, and so few homes

It is wonderful that you are taking care of him.
It will take more than a month to get him socialized though and future adopters need to be prepared that he might fall back in his old behavior a while after the move, even if he gets social with you.
We also have more cats than we actuallly have space for and when we realized it would take a lot longer than planned to get our feral family socialized we finally adapted to the situation and somehow it works.
One of our domestic cats was abused before she came to us and it took about six month before she stopped being afraid of our hands. She can still react with fear if we approach her to fast and she is very shy to strangers. I don't think that it will ever disappear completely.
As advice I reccomend candy. Something he loves to eat. And too much of it. Spoil him. Once you can touch him and he finds out that it is nice it will go fast.

Originally Posted by IloveSiamese

I wasn't sure if this belonged here or in behavior....

I took in a almost 2 year old male lynx point siamese because the people who had him before we just going to dump him out into the street.

I've had him for almost a month and he's very obviously been abused in the past and acts very feral. No human can get near him. I got close once and he tried to bite me.

I need to rehome him, but I need to get him socialized better first. Could anyone offer me any advice on how to deal with getting close and get him to be ok with humans?

Click to expand...

Depending on the amount of abuse...it could be months before he comes around. Definately give him space and let him come to you. However, I would be realistic about the timeline. If you cannot work with him....then I would try to find someone who has worked with socializing feral cats to see if they would be willing to work with this boy.

Katie

Yes, I totallly realize that it will take wayyyy more than a month to get this guy socialized. I've been at it for a month and a half and this is my progress so far:

When we first got him, he went straight to the laundry room and hid behind the water heater and won't come out, so he just stays in the laundry room. He would only come out once everyone was gone and the door shut. Oh yea and he'd hiss and growl if anyone went into the room.

3 weeks later: He moved out from the farthest corner, but still hidden when we go into the room. He's definately been watching me. Still hissing.

6 weeks: He still tends to hide, but won't dash for it if we come in. He occassionally will stay out in the open if we're in the room replentishing water and food. Occassionally will hiss.

I got close enough one time when I was putting more food into his bowl to slowly reach out and just about touch his head, but he recoiled and hissed and tried to bite me.


Thanks for the responses. This boy is precious and I know there is a soft and kind heart underneathe the fear. He's just trying to protect himself. I don't blame him at all.

I joined a animal group in my city and I'm looking for some help within that group to either get me to socialize him a little bit or find a person who is better equipped to help him.