At My Wits' End With My New Cat

reixrin

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I adopted a 1 year old male cat on Sunday. He was recommended to me by my aunt who saw on Facebook that this cat needed a new home. As I was looking for a new cat, I thought "why not?" and went to the foster home to get him.

When I took him from the foster home, the foster mom told me that she didn't see any behavioural problems. I took her word for it and left with the new cat. However, it took my 10 minutes to see that my new cat is not normal.

He yowls non-stop and paces around my room in circles. He startles whenever there is a noise or a sudden movement. He is extremely needy, and if I leave my room for a minute, his yowling intensifies. However, when I return to him, he will be afraid and he will hide under my bed again.

His toilet habits are strange as well. He uses his litter box but what I noticed was that he doesn't go to the toilet for the whole day and would suddenly relieve himself repeatedly in quick succession. While he uses his litter box, he has also poo-ed outside of the litter box in various parts of my room. It is also worrying to me that his feces smells so bad and that they are also really runny. Almost like pee.

That might be due to his strange eating habits as well. He eats and drinks a lot and at a very fast speed. He drinks one whole bowl of water at one go.

I contacted the rescuer as the foster mom was pretty insistent she didn't know anything about him. The rescuer was pretty rude, to be honest. When I asked her if the cat had any problems that I should know about, she just told me off and said "Can't you be more patient? Don't you know how to introduce a cat to a new household? He doesn't have any problems." I tried telling her what I said above but she just said that it is only the third day since I got him and that I should just be patient.

I am really at my wits' end as I am trying really hard to be patient but to be honest, I feel like I did not sign up for this. If I had known that he had anxiety issues that are this bad, I wouldn't have taken him. I have taken care of cats my whole life, and I think I know what normal cat behaviour looks like. This cat is not normal and as much as I really want to be patient and commit to caring for him unconditionally, I simply can't. I do not have the time or energy to take care of a needy cat, whose constant yowling had disrupted my sleep, as well as my neighbours. I had to physically remove myself from the cat when he was yowling today because I was afraid of what I would do to him.

I cannot put him outside in the living room because I have another cat who is frightened of my new cat. I also have no other rooms available to quarantine him in. So he is stuck in my room.

Is there any way I can improve the situation? Or should I return him to the rescuer?

Really hoping for some advice. Thanks.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi!
Try music for both cats, try a calming product, and some chamomile tea for you as you go through this. I believe he mostly needs time to adjust to an environment where he is loved and fed :).

You might want to take him to the vet if you haven't already. If he is basically healthy, then a very gradual food change should help decrease the stink.

Are you feeding him both wet food and kibble? Is it the same as he was getting before? Even if the food is the same, the new changes might be enough to upset his system.

I'm not saying he was abused, but there might be something to help;

How To Help An Abused Cat Recover

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide

How To Help A New Cat Adjust To Your Home

This one has tips for gobblers;

18 Awesome Cat Feeding Tips By Thecatsite Staff Members

16 Top Cat Experts Share Tips For Dealing With Timid Cats
 
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Furballsmom

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Only Natural Pet has a calming product called Just Relax Calming spray with essential oil (catnip oil).

There's this one, be sure and scroll all the way down the page;
Bach Flower Remedies - Rescue Remedy Pets Dogs Cats Horses Birds

Richard's Organics Pet Calm-this one is drops that you put on the tip of the tongue. Also, HomeoPet Anxiety Relief, Head to Tail Calming, Relaxivet Quiet Moments Cat treats, GNC Calming formula, and there is Calm-o-mile, Sentry calming collar, Natures Miracle calming spray, Vetri-Science's Composure is another item to look at, Pet Remedy - UK (it has valerian) is yet another, as is Essential Pet Pet-eze, Pet Organics No Stress, Only Natural Pet (brand and website) has other calming products, Pet Naturals also has one I believe, and there are others.

Also Thunderease has diffusers as does Sentry, Comfort Zone and feliway, although diffusers are expensive and not always an answer.

Lambert Vet Supply is a website to look at, and of course chewy, also there's Petwishpros, animaleo, 1-800-petmeds, Petco and PetSmart, and other pet stores.

There is also a product called a lickimat which could be helpful, as cats can be calmed by the process of licking. The LickiMat - Food Puzzles for Cats

This post talks about some other products;
Calming Treats For A Very Picky Cat
 

Furballsmom

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Also, try sitting on the floor with him and reading happy things to him for a few minutes a couple times a day. I realize he's a year old, but you might even try a heartbeat toy.
 
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reixrin

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Thank you for your advice! Unfortunately, I have tried most of the tips you gave... I play classical music for him; I tried Feliway spray; and I play with him whenever I am home as well.

All of those did not work on him. He is still pacing and yowling. When I try to entice him with toys, he would be interested for a short while but would go back to his yowling and pacing.

The rescuer mentioned that he had been moved from one foster home to the next and that he had fought a lot with the other foster cats. Perhaps those experiences had caused him to be this way.

I'm really hoping that he would get better soon. My brothers had been complaining about the yowling and my neighbours had noticed something was up but they have not confronted me about it.

I really do want to keep him but the stress of caring for him has been preventing me from feeling any emotional connection with him.
 

DreamerRose

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I think he's under stress from the new environment and frequent rehoming. Try to be patient and continue with the reading, music, and playing with him. You will need to earn his trust.
 

Furballsmom

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Take a closer look at the calming products list and try something from there. Feliway doesn't always work, for example it has no effect at all on my boy.

Also, he needs to be seen by a vet to double-check his overall health.
 
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