Bonded cats rescued from hoarder house finally let new pawrents pet them after full year of adoption and trust building, cat dad says: ‘We expect nothing from these cats which makes it so rewarding whenever we make even an inch of progress.’

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Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Apr 20, 2026 6:15 AM EDT

Often rescue cats who do not like cuddling will never allow their pawrents to love on them with touch. But sometimes, as in this story, with enough effort and trust building, anything is possible.

Though, as any cat pawrent will inevitably scoff your way, most of the time these things are impossible. You cannot convince a no touch kitty to suddenly turn into a cuddle machine. Just your presence within a three foot radius of their aura is enough to make them feel uncomfortable. So how in the heck can we expect them to be touched by us?

Well, the invested ones amongst us pawrents will, and do, spend day and night showering these no touch cattos with toys and treats. All in the hopes that one day they will be allowed a brief moment where the cat relents and allows for some form of contact. And no matter how minimal and short it might be, us pawrents will be overjoyed to receive that special gift. Which is exactly what happened to the pawrents in this story who waited over a year to get their first taste of cat child cuddling. Tough it should be noted that they had two other cats who did cuddle them to keep them company throughout that long lonely time. 
 

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    "She sniffed my hand as usual, and then I was scritching her cheek, and then her head, and then gave her back a closing stroke."
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    Last March my fiancé and I rescued 3 cats from a local shelter. 2 of them came from a hoarder house and were closely bonded. They were
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    in the shelter for 4 years. 2 years into that, a void came to the shelter and joined their bond so the shelter asked us to take him as well. They love other cats
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    Cheezburger Image 10615265024
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    but they are all very fearful of humans. (We have 2 other cats we can love on.) We've spent the year patiently respecting their space, spoiling them with toys and
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    treats as they've made slow but sure progress and grown more comfortable in our home. But the most physical contact we've gotten are nose boops with
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    the girl, who eats treats out of our hands and then nibbles our fingers looking for more. Her boyfriend sniffs our hands too but the void maintains his distance at high
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    speeds. (He might sit about 2 feet away if there's food involved.) We've accepted the possibility that they may never warm up
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  • Wowza, the hard work of composing yourself in front of cat children who do not want to be cuddly and comforting is hard. Really hard. As a cat pawrent all you want is to pick up your cat child, hug them, kiss them and make sure they know that no bad shall ever befall them again in their life. That they are safe and loved now for all times. However, in cases such as this doing so would end in a spicy ball of fury being held in your arms and months of hard earned trust flushed down the toilet. And so they are left to wait. 

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    to us and we've had no expectations. If the best case scenario is that we've done something good for them and the community, great.
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    Well, last night I found the original pair at the top of the stairs, slowly approached for hand sniffs, and then cautiously attempted to pet the creamsicle boy's
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    cheek. It wasn't the first attempt. I've gotten close but always stopped at the first sign of discomfort. But this was the first time he simply allowed it.
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    - ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED - I did it for maybe 10 seconds before he'd had enough. But it felt so rewarding and it was a major development in our story.
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  • Holy moly, that must have been the best ten seconds of this man’s life. We cannot even imagine what it was like to finally have that simple yet sensitive touch with the feline soul that you have been working on for the last year. All you have wanted, all you have dreamt of is getting to casually brush past your cat child’s face to show them that you care about them, and finally you have been gifted this grand albeit brief moment. What a rollercoaster of emotions. Not all cats come home ready and willing to cuddle, and those who do not often will never be ready. So when they show you any inkling that they might be open to the idea it is a big deal. 

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    It's been a year and a week since we brought home 3 very scared rescues who bonded in a shelter for 2-4 years. A month ago, I finally pet the
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    creamsicle boi, and two nights ago, I finally his girlfriend the floof! She's always been extra cautious around us. Even the nose boops catch
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    Kidding Pets
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    her off guard and any time we put a hand near her she withdraws. I especially thought we'd taken steps backwards after I took her to the vet
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    two weeks ago but maybe she's forgiven me because she's feeling much better now that we're treating her allergies & asthma. I don't know what
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    Kidding Pets
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    changed this week, but on Thursday night I just decided it was time. Maybe it was the year of trust building, maybe it was my confidence. She sniffed my hand
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    as usual, and then I was scritching her cheek, and then her head, and then gave her back a closing stroke. She didn't react at all. She just looked at me. I repeated the
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    process and she just allowed it. I also got a brief head scritch on Friday morning before she let me know she was done. So it's been a back & forth process with
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    both of these cats (Creamsicle Boi has his moments but continues to avoid us) as we encourage contact but give them all the space they require. My fiancé also got a
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    200000
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    couple of scritches with both of them while feeding them Churu, but CB gets so food aggressive that he likes to randomly claw me while I'm feeding
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    him and especially when I shift to his void boyfriend. He's such a funny little character. Speaking of Void Boi, aside from accidentally slicing
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    Absorba Absorba #FAMILYPOTRAIT 16:00 G600-> 16:00
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    my foot, he remains the most distant and fearful. Churu gets blobbed on the table in front of him. However, he also made a small step last month when my
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    fiancé outstretched his arm and got him to lick the Churu while it was in his hand. We expect nothing from these cats (our 2 others make this
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    Flintor
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    very easy) which makes it so rewarding whenever we make even an inch of progress.
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    Finfor
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hoarders house cat adoption reddit story years cat story cat dad pawrents trust Cats rescued bonded pairs
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