Please help me with new cat

[Swatter1]

I adopted a new cat a month ago, it was a 'home to home' delivery via a rescue centre. She is a young cat (aged 2) and the previous owner was moving and needed to rehome the cat due to it not being well integrated with their others, said it was 'shy'. Obv the rescue centre (a small local one) didn't know the cat themselves.

I have had her a month and she's grown in confidence from hiding initially, to being happy to wander round the house and happily eats food. She gets on with my other (12 years old) cat who is friendly and gentle.

The issue is that she won't let me touch her or stroke her. If I try to she runs and hides, or meows quietly and then swats my hand with her paw. Once or twice she's drawn blood but mostly I feel she's just telling me to back off (which I do).

I suspect she was the same with the previous owner. I'm pretty sad that I can't seem to build a bond with her so asking you all for advice please? Are there ways to build trust and be able to stroke? As it stands, if I needed to take her to the vet it would probably be impossible. Thanks in advance.

Poor thing. She’s obviously afraid of human hands. Have you tried getting down low with her? One of ours is nervous of strokes except when we are lying down. He’s very affectionate and welcomes strokes if he visits us in bed or if we lie down on the floor and just wait for him to come to us. It might just take time to build trust.

Hands can be dangerous but if she associates your hand with nice things like licky sticks and Dreamies she’ll come to have a positive association with hands and should eventually start to allow you to stroke her.

Takes time and a lot of patience.

Also you didn’t pay the cat tax

Cats hate change and a month is no time at all to settle in. Don’t do anything, just give it time and wait for her to come to you. It might take a few months but she will get curious and start checking you out from a distance, then she will cautiously hop on the sofa and eventually one day she will climb on your lap. You need to be patient.

Took me over 2 years to be able to stroke Tobias without getting swiped at, he'd been thrown on the streets as a kitten & had 2 years fending for himself bless him. Now he demands strokes at certain times.

Similar with Girlcat & Boycat when they came home; ex-ferals and VERY shy, 6 months to touch Girlcat & about a year to touch Boycat. Boycat turned into a total cuddle monster, and Girlcat is now very demanding about her fusses & strokes.

Thanks for the replies! Yes have tried laying down, she still swipes me. I'll try the treats idea so she starts having positive associations, thanks! Interestingly she wandered up to the bath tub last night whilst I was in it (not close enough to be stroked!) and she has wandered near me (two feet or so) a few times today, but only when I'm firmly in my seat and don't try to touch her!

I'm happy to be patient, just hope that she's likely to welcome some strokes eventually.

It can take a long time so be patient and let her adjust at her own pace.

My cat was semi-feral and had never been treated as a pet. It took a month for her just to come out from under the bed and be in the same room as me, a year for her to sleep on the furniture and 3 years before she sat on me.

As a previous poster said, lickysticks and churus will help the process and hopefully save you from swipes.
Good luck!