Skittish rescue cat still afraid of my husband!

[CJinCA]

It took some time for Lickorish to trust me, and even now, we have some setbacks, like when I had to take her to the vet or trim her claws.

Important thing is not to try to force anything. Your fiance could try to get low and use a soothing voice so he's less scary.

We tried having my hubby give treats and such with mixed results. What does get her to respond is playing..he'll get out the dangle toy and start playing with Squeek, and suddenly, Lickorish is there. She doesn't play as confidently with my hubby, but at least she's out and playaing. It takes baby steps.

[CJinCA]

Last night I got them started playing, and hubby was sitting on the bed watching tv. I handed the wand to him and he continued playing. Lickorish jumped up on the bed where he was and continued playing!

Earlier she had hissed at him when he came down the stairs as she wanted to go up..not sure whats going on in her little head. She'll go near him if she's playing and he's sitting down and keeping his voice low, but seeing him walking or hearing his voice seems to frighten her. Probably doesn't help that he has a loud deep voice and since this is a 3 story townhome, he can be kind of loud just walking around.

[CJinCA]

Update:

Lickorish doesn't run and hide from hubby any more. She is still a little nervous when he approaches, but he's had a little learning curve now too so she doesn't see him as a threat. now he recognizes when she's nervous and lets her have her space. he can pet her when she's up on the bed or other furniture and she purrs! its only when she's on the floor when she's a little nervous. She doesn't jump down from the bed when he gets in it anymore either! Yaaay! She hasn't hissed at him for weeks! She even came into the living room last night when he was there.

[Lyndzo]

That's great news! You are giving me some hope for one of our kitties.

[CJinCA]

Thought I'd do an update: Today Lickorish and hubby are friends! She isn't nervous around him, will jump up on the couch and lay next to him, and shows no sign of all the fear she used to have. He even held her today while I trimmed her claws and she didn't get mad and run off afterward! So now we think she's happy and comfortable here with us. It all just took time, patience (hubby putting ego aside and learning she's not a dog and not here to please him), treats, and most of all, play.

[asrowley]

Oh that's good, I was beginning to wonder about this since I saw it months ago!