Newbie with a rescue cat & I have some questions

[redvelvetone]

update on the situation with Magnus and my husband:

Brandon (DH) has been home more and spent more time with Magnus and now Magnus is  less timid with him. he slept on the bed with the both of us for the past few nights. I had Brandon feeding him at least some of his meals as well as give him treats and that seemed to do the trick. He's also been playing with him. We found this teaser type of toy (long plush tail with feathers on a wand) that he goes nuts over so we've been taking turns playing with him with it.

Magnus no longer hides under the bed (although he does occasionally still dart under there for a few seconds if startled), and has been exploring the house. He still favors the bedroom as "his" area but he also has a favorite window perch there so I guess that is not a big deal. 

We still have not had company but the few times someone came over the house (electrician or neighbor etc) for a few minutes, while he didn't go up to them, he did hang out in the hallway and look at them instead of hiding under the bed. When we do have company come over soon, I'll try and entice him over with some treats. He will do anything for food so that SHOULD work, knock on wood.

 

[jcat]

It certainly sounds as if Magnus is coming round and settling in just fine. What a gorgeous boy he is!

 

[kluchetta]

aw, it sounds like you are doing great with Magnus! He's certainly gorgeous, and I'm sure he will get more and more "kitteny" as time goes on, LOL

 

[redvelvetone]

Thanks guys  

I was reading online that if a black cat has some "rusting" or brownish-red hair on him that it could be due to a diet deficiency. I know Magnus has some brown/redish color fur ( as well as some grey and white hair at his roots and in his undercoat and ruff). I've had him six weeks and the rescue group had him for about ten days before I picked him up but prior to then he was a feral so he could have had a deficiency in his diet. Do you know what specifically is the deficiency? And if it was a deficiency, how long before his coat returns to black if he's getting the right diet now? His fur is glossy and does not seem like he's sick or anything.

 

[kluchetta]

Actually black cats rust in the sun. I always thought that was the primary reason. I hear it's really hard to keep a truly black show cat black because even the sun from the windows can rust them. Plus with that fluffy undercoat, he's probably showing it more.

Now, I am not a vet, nor do I play one on tv. So you could always call your vet. But I really wanted to allay your fears. Elsa gets very rusty, so I've got some personal experience with it.

 

[redvelvetone]

Ok thanks. It was something I had read, but there wasn't a lot of info on it so I wasn't sure if it was true or not.

 

[kluchetta]

There's actually been quite a few posts on here about it if I recall correctly.

 

[redvelvetone]

Update on Magnus He's completely comfy with my husband and I now, HOWEVER, we had our first guests over the other night and he was pretty timid with them.

He was out in the living room and then when the doorbell rang he ran under / behind the couch. The guests sat down on the couch and he stayed hidden. Then we went out to dinner and when I came back he was out again but hid in the bedroom when he saw the guests come in. 

So I put his dinner and some treats in a bowl in the living room and told the guests not to look at him and sure enough, he came sniffing out in the living room, warily, ate his food, but then ran back into the bedroom.

Anyway, any other tips on how to get him less shy around guests besides putting treats out when they come over? We don't have guests over a lot but probably every other month or so. I'm just glad he's comfortable around us now, but it would be an added bonus if he wasn't a scaredy cat every time somebody came over.

 

[rafm]

Treats will work, especially if the visitors give them to him.  But, I wouldn't force it too much, it's probably not a huge deal if he isn't a super social kitty. Out of 5, I have 2 that will come outdoor visitors,and of those two, one is getting old and usually sleeps through visitors soto the outside world' it looks like we only have one.

He is so handsome! Such an amazing looking fella 

 

[redvelvetone]

Ok that's what I figured. I know I have plenty of friends with cats and some of them run and hide when I come over (as does my mom and dad's cat, who hisses at visitors sometimes, and otherwise hides when they come over). At least he's not aggressive with anybody.