suspicious of cat

Question
Hi,
  I live in the country where people drop off unwanted cats.  My neighbor was going to dispose of a wild young cat that was living in his tree and stealing his cat's food.  I didn't want to see it killed and it was a real pretty cat, it looks like a Tiger but with spots, so I took it home and let it live in our garage,(it instantly went to litter box)then basement and now it has the run of the house.  It had a huge change in behavior.  First I was scared of it, it hissed and wouldn't let you touch it or even get close.  But when I started feeding it it became very affectionate and nice.  I heard cats were sneaky and I'm suspicious of it but it is very intelligent and will not scratch.  It got up on the counter and I just looked at it and it ran in the basement knowing it did something wrong. It was like it knew what I was thinking.  A friend saw it and said it is an Egyptian Mew.  It is very intelligent, small has a huge appetite.
  My question is that my wife and I, especially her, are very suspicious wondering why the huge change in behavior and don't know if we want it to go from an "it" to a house pet.  Can you give us pointers?

Answer
Hi
Do forgive me but this is a funny question. I dont mean this in a bad way at all it's just that i do find it funny when we humans treat animals as if they posses the same emotions and thinking patterns as us devious humans. I guess it can be very difficult to understand another animals behavior when they are living so close to us in our homes.

It does sound like this cat may be an exotic breed and if this is the case they can be very intelligent and may even look ma little scary as they can be very muscular and a little more wild looking. However at the end of the day they are cats and they are driven by the same things. ie, food, shelter, comfort and instinct.

Basically the cat is probably feeling feeling highly nervous of you and is trying to adapt to his new surroundings. routines, people, smells etc.

Cats can be very adaptable and they do change their behaviors frequently mainly as they try to adapt to situations etc.

Please do not feel suspicious of your cat, treat him like a member of the family. Adapt to his behavior but make sure you create routines and boundaries for your cat. this will help them to feel secure and settle down.

Also if he was a feral cat then he will always be a little more scatty and sometime unpredictable but they can become fabulous family pets, you just have to except them for who they are. remember they will have many life experiences which can make them very weary etc.

I wish you every happiness with your cat, its great that you rescued him. He sounds like a very beautiful cat.

best wishes Kate