Have I broken him?

[Alakazam7]

Hi got first of what is likely to be many young visitors to stay with me. He is 15 and quite quiet and spends most of the time in his room. My cat (nearly 2) has reacted quite badly to this, more hiding, not wanting to come inside and not coming to sit with me in evenings as he always does. Two questions for the more experienced (than me) amongst you, Will he gradually get used to visitors?
Have given him space, allowed him to hide under the bed and given him extra attention. Put Feliway in the bedroom as his safe space.

Have I broken him? Will he continue this behaviour when the visitor leaves in a weeks time or have I just upset him too much by this change. (Really hope I haven't cos he is usually my constant companion and am really missing him! )
Any advice and reassurance, or not really appreciated!

Should be really appreciated (not not appreciated) don't know what happened there !

Cats are so unpredictable. He's obviously reacting to this invasion of his territory, one of mine does exactly the same. She's a very timid cat, scared of nearly everything, but recovers very quickly and is back to her normal self before long. I'd say you'll just have to see how he behaves going forward. Maybe entice him back to your lap with a few treats and some playtime.

That's good to hear that your cat recovers quickly. I hope it's the same with mine. He's so lovely but so shy with other people! We have had a little snuggle on the sofa with lots of strokes and purrs, just for 2 mins but it's a start and he's had some of the treats I left for him.

Do you know if they gradually learn that visitors are nothing to worry about or is that a bit beyond them?

That's great that he came back in and spent some time with you. I suppose just reassuring him will help a lot. My scaredy cat needs a little bit of time to warm to visitors. After a couple of days I think she realises all is well and she starts to ventures out a little, but she's very shy and has always been very scared of everything, so she'll never be "normal" and super friendly.

I'm usually the visitor and I find that food bribes help in showing that I'm trustworthy :)

The trouble with that is my visitors are not always friendly or able to engage with a cat! Today my visitor went out and cat was back to normal so don't think he's permanently broken just a little malfunction!

Shamelessly bumping for more advice rather than starting a new thread. I'm still struggling with this and may contact my vet if can't work it out myself. Cat has refused to come out of hiding spot this evening even though my visitor isn't in.
Breaks my heart a lot cos I loved our sofa cuddles in an evening.
Can't persuade him out at all. I don't want to stress him if that's his safe spot but would people just leave him on his own or try to persuade him out or close off his hiding space? What would be best to do going forward.
His routine was fed at 4, stroll and sit in garden till 6 ish, at 6 -9 pm have cuddles on sofa with me. I could change this if that would help. Happy to alter things I'm doing if I can get my little companion back. Thanks for any advice

At first I read your post that you were fostering cats and resident cat didn't care for the other cat Still, the good news is it's easier (ime) for cats to accept a human. Especially if you can encourage human to be calm and not make loud noises or sudden moves around cat.

I see visitor not down with cat cuddling etc., but might they be persuaded to flick a fishing rod toy about or offer a treat or 2? Try to stick with your usual routine to help cat feel secure.

Not fostering cats sorry! Just the one cat, I have guests in and out and periods without them as well.
I have kept as much as possible to my usual routine and spent extra time with him. The current human is quite calm but others may not be. This morning we have had a little cuddle and purr which was great. He is sat next to me in the garden as I write this too and I'm telling him how wonderful he is!
I hate to think of him suffering as a result of what I'm doing but maybe he is happy spending a few hours under the bed each evening and I'm being selfish!