This is Gregory.

Gregory used to have a human family, but they left him behind when they moved out 4 or 5 years ago. I’m pretty sure he still sleeps in the patio/garden area of that house.

I met Gregory maybe a year ago and started feeding him occasionally. Recently I started feeding him practically every day. This little asshole horked down almost a pound of tuna yesterday.

And then he ran away from me, and hissed at me when I followed him. The other day I was harassing him with a knit glove full of catnip and he lunged at my fucking leg.

Today he ran from me again, after I fed him. He hid under a neighbor’s car and hissed at me.

He only started doing this recently. Two theories:

  1. I know for a fact that someone got him high on meth a week ago. Meth is one hell of a psychostimulant, I tell ya hwat, and the comedown for an adult human lasts more than a week. So he’s probably a little bitchy. He started doing the cute mew mew headbutting my leg thing again, like he used to, but he still gets spooked and runs from me.
  2. I’ve had a problem my entire life, with going too far when I really like someone. It always results in them not wanting to be around me. Gregory isn’t a domestic cat anymore—he does his own thing, and I’ll sort of like, follow him around trying to get him to eat his fucking food. And the reason he’s never done this before is because I’ve only recently started obsessing over him.
  • InternetLefty [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    23·
    7 months ago

    If he was an indoor cat acting this way, I’d say he may be sick or injured. I would continue to feed him and put out clean water for him, and if possible I’d try to get him into a cat carrier and bring him in to the vet. In fact, better yet, if there’s one you trust then you can ask them for advice on what to do.

    Also, homie, c’mon. You are not scaring the cat away with your interest in them. You feed them tuna and care about them. For a cat, that is much more than enough. Ol Greg is just a little sick or hurt and is keeping to himself for that reason. I’m sure that when he goes back to normal, he will love to play catnip glove with you again cat-vibing

  • RNAi [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    22·
    7 months ago

    Some cats clutch to you immediately, some take years to have a favorite human. Constant positive interaction is the way. Try to play with him after feeding him but don’t be pushy.

    If you can give him a permanent indoor home, that would be the best for the cat longevity.

    But in any case, some cats are assholes who would butthead and mew mew you one second and bite you right after, can confirm. Some cats are like that.

    Also what kind of imbecile drugs a cat

  • Crazyblu
    21·
    7 months ago

    Hello, maybe he has troubles with humans since he was left behind, and he fears being left behind again. Imagine you have people that care for you and suddenly be left behind without notices, must be horrible. Thank you for being kind with him, poor thing

  • idkmybffjoeysteel [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    14·
    7 months ago

    I’ve had a problem my entire life, with going too far when I really like someone. It always results in them not wanting to be around me. Gregory isn’t a domestic cat anymore—he does his own thing, and I’ll sort of like, follow him around trying to get him to eat his fucking food. And the reason he’s never done this before is because I’ve only recently started obsessing over him.

    Kinda sounds like you know what the problem is, cats are very independent creatures, and like some people, they can be overwhelmed easily, especially considering you are many times larger than them

    Also just in case I hope that was fresh tuna not tinned because they can’t handle the level of salt in human food

    • UrsineApathy [any, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
      14·
      7 months ago

      I think this is the right answer. A combination of being drugged against your will with no comprehension of what’s happening and then a big creature (That you probably associate in some way with that bad experience) chasing you down. Cats are going to do what they want. Just be a nice person to Gregory and keep feeding him, but don’t force him to eat if he doesn’t want to or accept pets if he doesn’t want them. Let him make his own decisions and don’t chase him around.

      And if you’re going to keep feeding him, invest in a bag of dry food. Tuna is okay every once and a while, but the salt and mercury isn’t good for them to have as an everyday meal.

  • charly4994 [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    11·
    7 months ago

    I’d say you’re winning already with the cat coming up to you relatively close when getting food. My cats have a variety of personalities and quirks that just took a while to figure out. The one does not like to be touched or picked up unless she’s on one of her perches and even then you get like 5 strokes before she starts side eyeing you and getting ready to walk off. I’ve found that I tend to have decent success with them when I let them dictate the interactions and as I learn more of their cues I can pick up on when they’re done.

    Chasing them after they start running will usually just piss them off and make them more defensive since they’re more alarmed you’re going to hurt them. Ended up having a long road to repairing my relationship with the one after I had to chase her down and corner her because she needed to be bathed which made her avoid me for months after and she’s learned every trick I’ve used to trap her.

    Start out letting him sniff your finger and judge from there how he’s doing, it’s more just a greeting and if he’s not having it he’ll ignore it.