Do skittish cats ever become better?

[Alpaca]

So I've had Cap'n Jack for approx a year and a few months now. At first, he was so skittish things like putting on a coat in front of him frightened the bejezus out of him. Naturally, I had to work a long time b4 I could touch him, pick him up etc. I only got him to accept nail trimming in the recent months. He's only started to accept my mother (who's constantly at home with him) touching him within the last half year or so.

I don't have ppl over because of his skittishness but last week I had a friend over who sat in the living room. He was so frightened that although he needed to poop, he didn't use his litterbox in the connecting dining room. Instead, he hid in the basement and pooped on the carpeting ...right next to the litterbox. It was a bit runny. (He had severe diarrhea when I first got him. Probably out of fright.)

My mom told me after I left with my friend, he came right out of hiding and acted like nothing happened so that's an improvement. He used to hide for at least an hour or more.

I read on here how others have rescued strays or ferals and they've managed to adapt well within a few months. Do you think Cap'n Jack's going to be this way forever? I also wonder what his background is to make him this way. He didn't have any signs of physical abuse when I found him. What could have turned him into such a 'fraidy cat? Could it be he's just born this way?

[Nan]

Per your post, he has improved some.

I have Lily over a year and have been gone 4x when someone else took care of the cats & she still hides when anyone comes over. Lily isn't as terrified as Jack though.
Harli hides, too but I think it's because of Lily. Harli doesn't rush upstairs at the sight of someone different. I think they must have learned this from kittenhood. (Lily was 11 months & Harli was 1yr, 3 months when I got them.).

My prior cat Sophie was adopted as a kitten and was friendly to pretty much everyone.

Once last week, I came in from the garage with packages & my purse was hiding my face. Lily didn't recognize me and growled & was preparing to run away before I put everything down.

[CJinCA]

I think with some cats its just a personality thing. Lickorish is super-skittish and runs and hides whenever anyone comes over, which isn't too often. We've only had her for about 3 months now, so probably too soon to see if she'll get better. She did hide from my hubby for over 2 months, but is getting over that and now he can pet her if she's on a bed or perch with an escape route (but not on the floor). Part of it is making their home feel safe and secure and that they can get away if they need to. Lickorish feels much safer when she is up off the ground. When the housekeeping crew comes every other week, I move her little house into the closet and she'll hide in there until they leave. Squeek went into the closet too last time, but previous 2 times she stayed on the bed with her little ears dropped down looking like Yoda. So cute! Squeek will hide when someone comes to the door but then I see her peeking out to see who it is.

[catloverami]

I think skittishness is a learned behavior as well as may be genetic. Learned if the cat was born to a feral queen....to have a quick "startle response" is a good survivor trait. But I've had a couple of very shy cats in 18 yrs. of breeding that seemed to be born that way, even tho the stud and queen were calm outgoing cats. Their upbringing was the same as their litter mates who were outgoing and calm temperaments, but these two did have the startle response and would hide from strangers. As individual cats they were quite loving to me and my kids (not so much to hubby tho) but disappeared at the sound of the doorbell or a strange voice. Some people are high strung and jumpy and it could have a genetic base.

[Alpaca]

*slaps forehead* you're right! Duh. I should have realized it's just like ppl where it could just be a genetic thing.

In that case, I'm also wondering if I should 'push' him to accept ppl visiting so he may benefit from socialization or continue having a 'no guests over' policy. Not sure if it's the same with dogs and cats since I was able to socialize Rocky the dog and reduce his self-anxiety. But I don't want to cause him undue stress. Whenever I look at him lounging in his bed or being happy and comfortable enough to play with a toy, my heart melts and cries. I think of what his life must have been like out on the street and I just want to provide him with the most stress-free, comforting environment to live out the rest of his life.

[librarychick]

I don't think you should have no guests over, he'll never improve that way. But he does need to feel safe when they are over.

Torri is the same way, she doesn't like people over. She's ok with one or two, but any more than that and she gets upset. She likes watching guests when we have one or two over, but she doesn't want to be touched. I handled this by at first giving her a safe room. She would be in her room with the things she needs to be comfy for a while (litter box, water, toys, scratch post) and she could stay there. This way she could hear the guests voices, but have no fear of anyone looking at her (which shy cats don't like) or trying to touch her. I would go in and give her a snuggle once and hour or so, explaining to my guest what was going on, or sometimes just pretending I was going to the bathroom.

Once she showed no signs of nervousness I briefed one of my friends on what to do. I got lots of Torri's favorite treats, and went in to snuggle her. I had my friend come in with me, but she didn't look at Torri at all, and sat on the floor reading a book with her back towards us. I did this a few times until Torri was showing interest and sniffing her back. At this point I would have my friend hold treats in her hand, and still face another way. When Torri would eat the treats we would work up to petting.

Now Torri is ok with a few of my friends, but it's slow going. She does keep improving, but the big thing is trust. She trusts me to pay attention when she's out and guests are around, if she feels uncomfotable I put her back in her room. It works wonderfully. Now she even feels safe enough to show off her trick in front of a few of my friends!

[Milky's Mammy]

We've had Milky for 5 months now. He was always skittish since we got him. I wasn't sure if it was genetics or we frightened him or what, but he gets very skittish every night around the same times. Before bed time he just goes all freakish and takes to the hills the first chance he gets every single night. Some nights can be better but mostly every night he will do this. What's the reason???

[Muzby]

We've had Elliot since he was a 6 week old kitten. He is the most skittish, afraid kitty I have ever met!

He was well socialized as a baby, but just never got over his fear. He still hides/runs from noises, etc. He's almost 5 years old, and will just FINALLY start coming into our living room in the daytime (normally only an all lights out, midnight venture).

It does get better, I think - but I'm not sure how fast or how much. Each kitty is so different!

[Carmel]

Blaze was a feral kitten so he was skittish for a very long time, most of his life really, learned behaviours from kittenhood are hard to break - he lived on the couch for the first few months. However I think if we'd had more people over it would've helped him learn to socialize. He used to be scare of the sound coats make, plastic bags, and anyone he didn't know really well he'd hide from (it'd take several months of them visiting weekly for him to start coming around them). Blacky was a semiferal cat that I tamed, but her problem was that she didn't trust people due to her experiences with them I think so after learning to trust her home and the people in it (two years or so; the first time inside she bolted out a broken window!) she became trusting of anyone that came into the home. She still doesn't trust people outside except a select few.

Some cats can more ot less never change while others take several year, others may take a very short time. Sometimes it's just genetic. You've already made progress though so keep working at it, as long as he feels comfortable in the house without strangest then it's time to have people over more often. At first you will likely run into problems but in the long run he should get used to at least certain people and become a more wellrounded cat because of it.

[Susan]

Muffs has always been skittish, although she's much better now than she once was. When I first adopted her at 12 weeks, she would jump at every little noise and would hide under the coffee table when anyone came over.

She's now almost three. She's still a bit of a scaredy cat, but she's gotten a lot better. New or very loud noises still scare her, although she's fine with the regular noises these days. She tends to hang back when new people come over, although she no longer hides. But it's been baby steps all the way.

I wouldn't fail to have people over because of Jack, although I wouldn't force him to interact with new people or let them approach him either. Just let him set his own pace. That's essentially what I've done with Muffs.