I have a weird little cat named Reno (4M).

Reno is very childish despite his age and seems to lack a lot of cat social skills. A cat will be hissing at him and he’ll just stand there confused. He doesn’t engage with group grooming sessions and prefers to groom his humans instead. As a result, he’s incredibly dependent on human contact and has separation anxiety even when he’s left alone with the other cats.

He’s also very picky. Reno doesn’t really like a lot of human or cat foods and it took me a while to find something he’ll eat. He has very strict play protocols that he always reminds me of (no toys outside, must be on the floor, only certain toys, etc).

He’s also sensitive to touch. It’s not that he gets overstimulated I think, but he gets rather uncomfortable when anyone holds his paw or hugs him or picks him up. It’s almost like he doesn’t like being restrained. Normal petting is fine though (regardless of location).

This is all to say that Reno is (probably) autistic.

I’ve been working around his restrictions and trying my best to accommodate them (for example, his aversion to being held makes claw trimming an interesting affair), but I’m worried it might be problematic if I ever needed to carry him during a fire drill or hold him to clean his face.

What can I do to help him accept being held? My goal is 10 seconds and I currently get about 2 seconds before he tries to wiggle out. The only thing I can think of is exposure therapy, but he’s smart enough to know when I’m trying to do it and will just avoid me.