strange cat behavior

My friend recently got a cat (Orion) from a shelter. He's had him for a few weeks and the cat is always hiding under the table. If my friend puts his hand under the table the cat will rub against it wanting to be petted but he won't leave from under the table. I recently brought the cat to my house for a day because my friends apartment was being fumagated. The cat didn't hide at all! Why do you think this could be? We thought maybe the cat just didn't like my friend, but when he came to pick him up Orion jumped on his lap and rubbed his head on my friends face and seemed to be very loving towards my friend. What could make a cat act so shy in his home and so social in a new enviornment?

Wow! You got me on that one :confused:
The only thing I can think of is: does your friend have other animals? or maybe there used to be other animals that the cat can smell? Maybe even a certain noise close by he can hear tha t bothers him? I know one of my cats does not like the sound of the gas weed eater (even if it's the neighbor), and he runs to hide behind the stereo :eek:

Other than that, I don't know :confused:

Hmmm. This is a hard one. I agree with yorkster in that the cat might be smelling other pet smells or if there are other pets he/she might be afraid of them. Are there a lot of people that live there? Some cats are afraid of large groups of people. Mine are that way. This would also cause more noise which would frighten the cat. Good luck. Please keep us posted.

My friend lives by himself and it's pretty quiet around the apartment. I know hs old roommate had a ferret, it's been gone around over 6 months now. Maybe that could be it. When he was at my house all he smelled was other cats and I think he was used to other cat smells since his former foster family had almost 20 foster cats in the house. He's moving into a new apartment in about a week, maybe he'll like the new place better.

When we got Yum Yum from the shelter she was 2 months and very scared. She would hide behind the sofa or under it for a week or so..then she decided that this was home and would start sitting with us..maybe that is it. :)

That's it !!!!
On the same day our Sydney got "fixed" , there was also a ferret for the same operation . The vet told me afterwards that all the cats that day were acting so scared and weird , because the very pertruding odour of that ferret !! Even Sydney , who is a very calm and relaxed "boy" , was acting weird !! The whole vets office had a terrible smell ; even the vet herself was complaining about it ...
Your cat will change its attitude as time runs by ... just be patient .

http://community.webshots.com/user/sydneybilliepets

A ferret!! You know, when I read that it seemed really familiar. Somewhere I had read/heard that a ferret's odor is quite offensive to a cat :(
I am sure that the odor will linger for A LONG TIME (even if you can't smell it, your cat can :eek: ). I would find out what to do to get the ferret-smell out of the carpet/floor/curtians, etc. If it's already been quite awhile, I don't think it will go away on it's own. :confused:

Along with the ferret smell, Orion may also be missing other kitties...You mentioned his foster home had about 20, and that you had lots of kitty smells, too. Maybe he's not used to being without other kitties, much less smelling ferrets! Having no fuzzy friends can be traumatic, too. :(

Maybe he needs another cat to feel more secure. Please keep us posted. Tell your friend good luck.http://www.smilies.nl/groot/bluesbrother.gif