Question about a cat
My friend adopted 2 cats (litter brothers) from a rescue center basically 2 years ago. The rescue center claimed they had the cats when they had been 10 weeks old. They were feral. The rescue center had them for 1 year and yet these 2 cats were afraid of human touch.
My friend has work 2 years to gain the cats' trust. The one boy is finally acting like a cat has even become a lap cat. His brother only allows My friend to pet him when she sits on the couch. He will wait for her to sit on the couch and come over to get Pet.
Now here is the question: What does it mean when the cat's tail is only raise (in the happy confident up curve.) when he comes to her and is getting pet by her. as soon as he walks away the tail lowers. What else can she do to build his confidence?
The cat is finally comfortable to be in the living room and look out the French doors but she can't pick him up they can't get them in the carrier to a vet yet (his brother has been and chipped. ) When she got him from the rescue center they had him and his brother in the carrier already.
She does want to get him to a vet check but the last time they tried her husband got scratch. (rescue center did get him fix and first set of shots.)
She is convinced those they were abused at the center. They wouldn't allow the cat anything to hide in.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I too adopted two feral cats that are brothers from the local shelter when they were 8 weeks old. I watched them wrestle for abt. 4 months straight non-stop 
.
They are now 5+ years old and they do not go outside.
One of them will bite you if he gets the least bit pissed. He gives you this "look" and wow, if you don't disappear real fast you will get bit.
His very big 18 lb. brother is a big big baby and yowls something fierce. He was sick and had to go to the vet and wow, what a job it was to get him into a carrier!
After getting him there, the vet started spraying this stuff around the room (pheromones) to calm him down but it made it worse as the spraying frightened him horribly. I managed to get home with him and got a round of antibiotics down him for a week and he is fine today.
As for his very healthy, very compact smaller brother, he is in good health too but, he bites due to PTSD from the poison that killed another cat I had when I adopted them. It was very sad (the death that is) but, it also sickened him. He thinks you are going to put those drops on his back and wow, BITE if you touch/comb him in the wrong way or at a bad time for him. He is very unpredictable and finding a vet that believes your cat has PTSD is difficult to find, believe me!
I don't know what advice to give to a person that has a cat that will bite.
One thing is for sure, if something happens to me, I doubt there will be any takers for him.
This is what we get when we adopt and do not shop. We do the best we can for these animals that otherwise would have likely been put down as they are feral and from a kill shelter.
As for tranquilizers for cats, I wish there were some you could easily obtain. They sold me TWO gabapentins for the one I took to the vet that was sick, TWO. We have not gone back since (no reason to go back) and I have the TWO pills (expired likely -- what a rip $27 for TWO of them!). 
As for trust, I've found that cat treats work pretty good most of the time. The biter loves the new ones made by Friskies called "Gravylicious". Do not ever hit the cat or scream at the cat. It angers and frightens them so please do not do this because they DO NOT FORGET.
My cats have the run of the house and are not confined in any way. They just love this cat furniture I buy for them to work out on. It is sold by Sisal Direct and the one with a ramp is great fun for them and the big tall 40" claw post I have for them does the job so they don't go after the furniture ever as they strongly prefer the cat nip scented cat furniture I've been purchasing from Sisal Direct. A piece of it will last about one year and will need to be replaced if its been used a lot like mine are. The cost is less than $100 per piece; the posts run about $50.
It can take a couple of years for a cat to "adjust" to a new/different situation. I adopted a black kitten from the same kill shelter 2 years ago and the big guy that yowls was not happy about it. It was a complicated situation as the kitten was very sick and there were many veterinary appointments. Today she is just fine however and not a real feral type of cat like the two brothers are. Mr. Big Yowler was green with envy and very jealous. Finally after two years, he is beginning to play with her, TWO YEARS.
As for the tail thing, well Mr. Big Guy that yowls came with a broken tail. It bends in an odd fashion but he knows it is broken and he uses it as a pointer oddly. When he sneaks by often all you see is the end of his broken tail go by pointing in a specific direction. Very weird! 
Please keep these few things in mind and again thank you for adopting them! 
Maybe the situation here would be better had they had more interaction with the people at the shelter, however they were not there very long (a couple of weeks at the most).
Difficult to know really.
The kitten I adopted from the place had been there her whole life of 5 months and they were going to be rid of her the next day but ... along came I!
They get lots of petting and touches here. Its just the one with the PTSD that is difficult.
Another idea is to use a flea comb on them.
The one that bites just loves to be flea combed! He'll come and get you and give you that "look" as to say, "Comb me now!". I responded to the little dictator at once after I get that "look".
If I say the word "Comb" he comes a running! That is how much he enjoys being combed (plus the added benefit associated with it: no fleas, hairballs in check, etc.).
Definitely worth a try and the comb you can buy for a few bucks at the most!
Best of luck!!
such a sweet kitty. So lucky to have you.