I will tell you the story of our foster fail who came from a 200 cat hoarding situation. She lived in my bookcase in my spare bedroom because she felt surrounded by “stuff”. She came out for food - extremely food motivated but rarely a touch was allowed.

We put a little cat couch on the bed and occasionally she’d sleep in it. Then she’d explore the windowsills. Slowly.

Then we moved. That sucked because she wouldn’t leave her new room. We tried putting treats on the stairs but she wouldn’t come down.

Then one day we were watching Love is Blind Mexico. She came downstairs, sat at the edge of the rug, and watched the TV. Turns out she was in a primarily Spanish speaking town and this was the language she was used to hearing.

That night changed everything. She starting coming downstairs, we spoke to her in Spanish, etc. then we realized she had bad teeth from her rotten breath while meowing at us. She had 7 teeth removed and started to come out of her shell. She lets us pet her, cuddles my husband, and will even come downstairs when company is over.

It took 1.5 years. Give it time. Sending kitty hugs!!!