[beatnavy]

My wife volunteers for the county animal sheltering fostering kittens/cats. We've had more come through our house than I can possibly remember. Conventional wisdom is a kitten needs human contact before the age of about 6 weeks if it's going to learn to trust people and be very friendly with them.

My wife has done her utmost with many feral strays brought in to socialize them, and if they're over about 8-10 weeks, it's REALLY hard (maybe not impossible, but really hard). Some will tolerate human contact after a few weeks of trying to gain their trust. They may sit there with you while you stroke them, but they never seem to fully relax and will often retreat under a couch or bed as soon as you look away. Some won't even go that far. My wife ends up turning these cats back in to the shelter to become "barn cats" -- just trusting enough to not run away on sight but not enough to be lap or companion cat.

Contrast with a kitten my wife fostered and bottle-fed from about 6 days old earlier this summer. My neighbors have it now, and that cat is TOO friendly and dependent on people. It wants to be on you all the time. I actually prefer a cat that likes to be near but not on top of you. Or, as you say, a garage cat.

I think you're doing the right techniques to try to gain the cat's trust, to whatever degree it's possible. Time will tell, but again, it's largely up to the cat's personality at this point.