Jen - I'm really sorry to hear about the pain and distress Nova went through in the past. He looks like such a love. Having a good reason for his fear of being picked up should help you make any future adopter understand why they may have to accept this behavior in him. People, in general, seem to assume that cats love being scooped up and can get frustrated with cats that very obviously can't handle it. He's so georgous, you'll find someone who can't resist him and will adjust to his needs.

I'll never forget past neighbors of mine ignoring their cat's limp for several days. When I went over to talk to them, the woman (who had been a nurse for years) told me that they'd seen their cat raped by another male cat the week before and thought it funny. Yes, they'd noticed he was limping. After pestering them for the rest of the day about taking the cat to a vet, I simply scooped him up and took him myself. He had a puncture wound that had created a fistula running into his anus and had emergency surgery. I simply could not, can never, understand how they could watch their cat limping and not do anything about it. How can you watch a sentient being suffer and shrug your shoulders? I knew that with such a mindset there was absolutely nothing I could say that would change the way they thought.