Originally Posted by
Bah Humbug
Since we're sharing stories and the OP doesn't seem to mind, I got Toby when he was about five years old (but who knows...) from a coworker of my then-girlfriend. Apparently they had gotten him for the kids, who went off to college and then they just didn't want him any more. They had no idea how to treat him, either - his signals for things like "I'd like to be left alone now" were ignored and even I had a hard time identifying them when he bothered to give them, since he mostly stopped bothering by the time I had him. He was affectionate though, but scared to show it - I had to slowly convince him that it was ok to sleep with us on the bed because he expected to be yelled at as soon as I saw. I had to train him by first noticing that he was up there with us, then ignore him as he tensed up expecting to be yelled at and shooed away. It took months for him to let me pet him in bed.
After I broke up with that GF and moved to Boulder, he was a strictly one-person kitty and didn't understand why anyone else came over, ever. Guy friend, date, it didn't matter: he would see someone came over and go hole up under the bed until they left, even if they liked cats. This meant he was particularly non-plussed when I moved in with my now-wife, no matter how nice she was to him, to her endless credit. Eventually though, as always happens, he succumbed to old age. I miss you buddy; I hope your days now are endless sunshiney naps like this.
That poor kitty. Glad to hear you gave him a great life and turned things around for him.
One of my two has the same kind of temperament. People come over, he hides under the bed. Actually now he hides above the cupboards and looks down like the Cheshire cat. Lately when I get a delivery they leave it at the door, knock, and then take off - he hears a knock and he runs and hides. I sneeze and he runs and hides. I pick something up and he looks like he thinks I'm going to beat him with it. As far as I know he's never been mistreated in his life. He was an ex girlfriend's cat, when she moved out she didn't really want him anymore and left him with me. She had a temper / anger problem, and he used to occasionally pee where he's not supposed to - that stopped when she moved out. So maybe she lost it on him when I wasn't around.
Now he hangs out in front of the building like a Walmart greeter, showing everybody who lives here his belly when they come home. Still hides when those same people come in though. Let's just say he isn't the smartest cat in the world, and leave it at that.