Rico is neurotic because of a traumatic experience that happened when he first came to live with me.

Rico came from the local shelter.  My daughter wanted a lap cat;  a cat that would lay on your lap for hours and be happy to do so.  Fred is not a lap cat.  He will come over and demand that his ears be rubbed but that is the extent of his loving nature.

So, I went to the shelter.  I picked up and handled various cats.  Rico was the only one that snuggled into my arms and tried to hug me.  So he came home with me.  It also helped that he was a very attractive grey and white tabby.  

For the first six months or so, he was affectionate, non-aggressive and perfect.  In the fall, a maintenance furnace man came to clean my furnace.  He entered the house, stomped down the stairs in his boots and over the course of an hour and more banged around the basement. The noise reverberated through the entire house.

The kitty litter boxes are in the corner behind the furnace.  I believe now that Rico was  tending to his business when all the noise began.  It scared him out of his wits and his wits have never returned.

 For almost two years after the furnace man's visit, Rico would run and hide whenever the doorbell rang.  It was like a signal to him that bad things were about to happen.   However, he still responds to his name when it was called.  He answers and comes out from wherever he was hiding.

Over the past five years, he has gotten better, he no longer hides when people come to the house.   He will come out but he does not like loud noises.  He is afraid to go outside sometimes, I have to push his butt to make him cross the threshold.  When he first started to go into the backyard, he would jump at the slightest sound and movement.  Now, he can tolerate it and has even spent the occasional night outside though he is always waiting at the door to rush inside.

I do not believe that he will ever lose his skittishness but he is still an affectionate if neurotic cat.