My nervous rescue tom’s behaviour has changed - am I doing something wrong?

Hi everyone,

I’m not sure if this is the right place to post but just looking for some help.

I rescued my lovely boy about 3-4 months ago. We got him from a vet practice who received him as a ‘stray’, and they were urgently looking for a home for him otherwise they were going to have to look at alternative options...

He was very nervous at first, hid under the sofa for about a week, only came out when we weren’t in the room, but was eating and drinking and using the litter tray when we weren’t around.

Slowly, he started getting adventurous. Would purr when we looked under sofa, came closer for pets and scratches and would accept treats and soon after he came out from under the sofa and straight away sat on our laps and purred and cuddled. That took about 2-3 weeks.

He’s very anxious. Doesn’t like load noises, and will often scarper at great speed if someone knocks on the door/leaves the room/enters the room/sneezes/ you name it. But we’re very patient with him!

Up until about 2 weeks ago he hadn’t been up the stairs, but recently he has found his way into our bedroom, and has found a nice spot under the bed. He is now up there most of the time, and doesn’t come out to sit with us on the sofa, which was a nightly routine.He doesn’t come straight down for his dinner or breakfast, which he is normally very excited for! And I’ve noticed when cleaning out his litter tray he hasn’t had a bowel movement for almost two days, but this has happened before and friends with cats have said it’s nothing too much to worry about.

He also has started swiping me if I look under the bed or put my hand under to stroke him, which he never used to mind!

I’m sorry for my rambly post. I had cats growing up but never one of my own, and I love this little guy so much and I just want to make sure I’m doing everything right. Should I just give him some space? Does he need to seethe vets? Any advice appreciated!