plz help me

Question
hi my name is kelsea and my cat she just turned a year old in august...well one day i was at school and my dad and me come home and we heard this faint meow constantly i thought buttons which is my cats name was just welcoming us back home and that she missed us...well i don't know what happened that day cause ever since that day she just is so skiddish...like for instants we move our foot really little amount she will jump backwards even if she knows ur foot is there...and if she gets scared and she knows who accidently scared she will back off and not let u touch her at all...she started acting like this back in late august early september...my dad cant figure out y she is this way???can u help us????but when we got her from the pet  shelter they told us that she was abandon at the age of 6 weeks...but they had her calmed again and getting use to humans...so when we got her she was never skiddish but she started being skiddish all of a sudden...its weird...and im worried..but ifu cna help us plz help????????? thank you so much...
                      Kelsea

Answer
Hi Kelsea.  Sorry to hear there has been such a change in your kitty!  It sounds like there was some specific event that scared Buttons.  It could have been a loud noise, such as a dish that shattered or construction that went on outside the house, a trip to the vet, a visitor to the home, or perhaps she had her tail stepped on?  You may want to try using a product called Feliway to calm her anxiety.  It's a little expensive, but many families find the results are worth it, and I use it in my own home.  You can learn more about how it works at www.feliway.com

You can also try to earn her trust back by hand-feeding her special treats.  Boiled chicken breast works best for me.  You can give her a few bites several times a day.  This encourages the most skittish cats to open up.

I you like, you can also use flower essences to help calm her.  I like Spirit Essences (www.spiritessences.com), because they were developed by a respected holistic vet and a behaviorist.  If you contact them about which formula is right for your situation, I'm sure they'll get right back to you, as they have always been very helpful with me.

Best of luck!

Jessica