Adopted Cat Behavior Issues

Hi everyone! Bit of a complicated one here, I would appreciate any advice!

So recently my sister has moved out and has left her two cats. I am now responsible for them, which I never asked for, but seeing as I also have a cat, it is left to me. Her cats (Delilah and Rosie) were cats we found as kittens in a storm drain and saved. Rosie was the runt, and never seemed to develop properly. Delilah, is lovely if a bit food obsessed.

My issue is with Rosie. She is severely anxious, and always has been. She won’t let anyone touch her or look at her, she will run at any noise. She had slept in my sisters room with her sister until my sister started taking trips for periods of time, or staying at her partners house over the weekend. Rosie then started to pee on my sisters bed. This lead to my sister locking all the cats out of the room.

Now that the cats have access to my room, as I would like for them to stay with me, Rosie has started to pee on my carpet and bed. Rosie refuses to use the litter box, we have tried al kinda of litter, with a cover, semi covered and open, we have tried inside and out, and she refuses to use it. She will poop on the dirt in their cats run, but that’s the only signal we have of her until she pees on my bed. She has a significantly smaller head for her body, and has a tendency to throw up often or if we change the food.

She is only 4 years old, so I need guidance for what to do with her. I can’t go dry cleaning my sheets and quilt every week, and I can’t catch her to take her to the vet. I am very scared that this will be my life for the next few years, as my sister has no intention of taking her cats back, but I can’t give them away.

Please give me any advice???

Hi!
Try Kentucky fried chicken in a trap or carrier, she needs to go to the vet.

Also try some unfertilized potting soil in a litter box, and there's also a litter called Cat Attract. If you aren't already, use an Enzymatic cleaner and you might remove the quilt and also use a tarp or already used shower curtain (new ones have fumes initially) until things get squared away.

First the Delilah and Rosie's world has just collapsed. They are fortunate you are there to catch them, but when your sister left she took a huge hunk of their stable reality with her. Think of it as if your parents just up and left without an explanation when you were 5 years old.

It is quite likely that in time with you, Rosie will calm down. Cats are very sensitive to what people are thinking and feeling. There is no doubt that she picked up on your sister's willingness to abandon them. This would make Rosie insecure and frightened before your sister left. Then it happened.

Treat Rosie with patience and love. The fear will subside as she realizes you will not abandon her.

You don't need to dry clean your sheets. Throw them in the wash with your usual detergent, then put a half a cup of white vinegar in the rinse water.

You may want to cover your mattress with a shower curtain, under your sheet and another over your top sheet until Rosie moves passed this phase.

The more time you spend with her in your room, just sitting reading, doing anything quiet the calmer she'll become.

Does she have enough hiding spaces in your room? Good hiding places will help see her through this difficult time. Cats are smart. She'll figure out who is there for her. It may take a couple of months because she is in shock right now.

Thank you so much for the advice so far!!!

Apparently she did this with my sister a lot too so I suspect it is something deeply rooted in her anxiety.

Rosie spends a lot of time hiding in the study, in one of my sisters fabric boxes. She has a run that she goes out into, and she has a fair few places she can hide. So far anything I have left for her to cuddle into (blankets, cat beds) in my room she has peed on.

I am planning on spending time in the study (which was perviously Locke’s away for my sister and the cats) to try to get my smell around her more, so she isn’t just walking out of the study and into a room that smells full blast of me. She might also be scared cause her sister transitioned very well into my space, and is always sleeping on the bed, and Rosie doesn’t get to cuddle with her much?

I’m also planning on trying to get her to associate me with good food, as she never had wet food with my sister, and I’m planning on giving them wet food, so maybe that will help?

Thanks for the advice so far!!

If someone already said this, apologies, but it's possible that she's claiming the stuff she pees on. Keep cleaning with enzyme cleaner and washing fabrics in the machine with a white vinegar rinse ( I use a good two or three gruggles from the half gallon/ or gallon bottle). Your stability and love will win out in the end.

Zebethel said:

I’m planning on giving them wet food, so maybe that will help?

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It will, absolutely, good for you

Kflowers said:

Your stability and love will win out in the end.

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exactly!

Also, try some music, there's classical harp music, MusicForCats . com, and also there's an app called Relax My Cat

Kflowers said:

two or three gruggles from the half gallon/ or gallon bottle

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I LOVE that word gruggle!