I visited her 3 times so far. She warmed up to me extremely quickly. During the last visit, she chose to sit on my thighs with her back towards me. The shelter people say she’s never this nice to them. However, during the last visit, while she sat on my lap, I pet her on the head and she hissed and attacked. Not to kill, but she obviously was annoyed. I talked to the vet and she mentioned the cat came in 3 months ago with a wound on her neck. Perhaps this is a boundary for her.

My concern is that I’m a new pet parent, though I sat and borded cats many times with great success. I’m also stressed at the moment with a major shift in my life. I’m worried I won’t be able to take care of her. The shelter says she’s very difficult to have anyone adopt her and their amazement at her warmth towards me makes me think she needs me as much as I need her. I guess I’m just trying to plan as well as I can to avoid a situation where I take her back to the shelter if she’s unhappy in my home.

Any tips or resources? I already contacted 3 sitters nearby who can support. Also, I’m learning a lot about cats and challenging behaviors on YouTube ( the channel that was recommended here ). Any other recommendations are welcome.