My Katana is a little over a year old. She was an adopted stray from an organization in our local petsmart. We know nothing about her history and she was about 4 months old when we brought her home. We can pet her...when she is high enough and in a good mood. But if we move wrong or make any sound she bolts. Currently she spends most of the day hidden inside our couch in the family room. I get home from work and by around 6:30 she pops out the from under our seats. She does love our older cat Ninja and will play with him mostly at night when we are asleep. I've read all kinds of websites re cat behavior and none of the desensetising suggestions have worked. Is there any hope....or should I just continue loving her as the terrified kitty that she is??

I'm no expert but maybe you should leave her alone and see if eventually she'll come to you. I've had the same kuind of situation with some of my pets. I figured when they were ready they would come to me. I would talk to them, feed them, and love them from a distance. Good luck I really hope your kitty comes around.

Leaving her alone is kinda not an option. We had to take her to the vet for a check up and shots update and it was a nightmare!!! She used teeth claws and I think she may have thrown a rock at us!!!   After 2 hours, some blood loss (from us) and a pillow case, we got her there. The vet told us she would have to be given a little 'gas' to calm her down for the shots...otherwise she was going to do some serious damage to the Dr. I love her dearly, and accept her the way she is. I was kinda hopping someone would have like a magic word or potion that would turn her friendly

My cat Franklin was like that when I first got him from a rescue group. He had been born to a mother who was in the rescue facility and I suspect mostly kept caged for the first 8 months of his life except to be taken to adoptions. He was really skittish and so he didn't get adopted. I took him in as a foster and despite his skittish nature, fell in love with him immediately. I have been his pet mom for about 3 years now, and he is still very jumpy. But time has helped a ton. I would say that he didn't start hanging out next to me regularly until about a year. Now he will jump on my lap all the time, sleeps on my bed, etc. He definitely warmed up to my other cat faster than he did to me, or than he ever does with company. My advice would be to keep things as calm as possible, give him healthy treats now and then, and love him for his quirks. If he is misbehaving (outside of a trip to the vet), and becomes dangerous by biting, clawing, etc., you may want to ask your vet about antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication. Btw, you didn't mention your cat's breed. Franklin is part bengal, and they are known to have more difficulty socializing with humans, ostensibly because they are closer to wildcats in lineage. Good luck, and keep us posted. " src="/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/AnimalAttraction/emoticons/smile.gif" />

Hi-just another story of hope for your situation.  I have a cat who is around 11 years old.  She came to us as a pregnant cat, along with another cat, also pregnant.  The two looked the same age, had kittens one day apart and were exactly the same color, so we assume someone got two cats from the same litter, they both went into heat at the same time, and when became pregnant their owners dropped them off.  We live in a rural area, with an animal shelter just around the corner, and so have many, many drop offs.  Anyway, they both had kittens in our garage and would not let us touch them, but allowed us to be near the kittens.  We ended up giving away all of the kittens except one, which we kept.  We tried and tried to tame the mothers, but eventually one left (not sure what happened to her).  The other stayed around, but remained "wild".  We fed her and she slept in our garage, and subsequently, each spring she had a litter of kittens.  Each year we gave the kittens away, and the cat got a little more tame as the years went by.  To make a long story short, we finally were able to tame her to be picked up.  When I found a vet who would agree to spay her and give her her shots (it took a lot of looking, because of her age and tempermant) we had to keep her dry and warm for a few days after the surgery.  We ended up locking her on our porch.  After  a few days of being on the porch her picked her up and brought her in the house for a few minutes at a time and she would just sit by the door the whole time waiting for it to open so she could bolt out.  We would just sit there with her and talk to her and pet her.  She then began exploring the food and water dishes (about three feet away).  Now, a year later she comes in our house, but her whole world is solely our living room.  She goes from the front door to the computer chair, about 6 feet away, to the couch, beside that and the food dish, also only a few feet away.  She loves to be held and cuddled, though, and we laugh that she needs her 5:50 hug in the morning.  Each morning before we leave for work, my husband sits in the chair to put on his boots and she is right there to rub against his legs and be picked up for her hug.