- Joined
- Dec 7, 2023
- Messages
- 69
- Purraise
- 219
I took in a sweet 4-year-old girl named Maisie last week. While doing site-swapping, she is becoming more and more confident in my apartment, and now seems to feel secure almost anywhere in it.
However, my apartment is in an older building with three other units. We don't have shared walls, but we do share our ceiling with the upstairs neighbor, and we all share a hallway that leads to the staircase and to the outside.
When neighbors are in the hallway, it is very loud--and one of our neighbors has lead feet and stomps up the staircase, which is EXTREMELY noisy. Same with when the mailman comes or Amazon is dropping off packages. It is only ever for a few seconds, but Maisie gets freaked out and runs off every time it happens.
My other cat, Rory, was similarly freaked out at first, but quickly acclimated to the sound. (Except now, when Mr. Stompy brings his kids over to his place... which is how I learned Rory is NOT a fan of kids!)
Other than waiting for her to get used to it and/or trying to distract her with treats or play when it happens, does anyone have any ideas on how I can get her used to the noise so she doesn't startle every time? Playing music or white noise to mask the sound doesn't help, as it also causes vibrations in the wood. I am assuming it's just a matter of time and comfort, but if anyone has any crazy ideas, please let me know!
It goes without saying, but we are running Feliway, and other than this she seems to be a more confident cat, so I'm hoping it'll be surmountable with time.
Picture of the pretty girl for cat tax.
However, my apartment is in an older building with three other units. We don't have shared walls, but we do share our ceiling with the upstairs neighbor, and we all share a hallway that leads to the staircase and to the outside.
When neighbors are in the hallway, it is very loud--and one of our neighbors has lead feet and stomps up the staircase, which is EXTREMELY noisy. Same with when the mailman comes or Amazon is dropping off packages. It is only ever for a few seconds, but Maisie gets freaked out and runs off every time it happens.
My other cat, Rory, was similarly freaked out at first, but quickly acclimated to the sound. (Except now, when Mr. Stompy brings his kids over to his place... which is how I learned Rory is NOT a fan of kids!)
Other than waiting for her to get used to it and/or trying to distract her with treats or play when it happens, does anyone have any ideas on how I can get her used to the noise so she doesn't startle every time? Playing music or white noise to mask the sound doesn't help, as it also causes vibrations in the wood. I am assuming it's just a matter of time and comfort, but if anyone has any crazy ideas, please let me know!
It goes without saying, but we are running Feliway, and other than this she seems to be a more confident cat, so I'm hoping it'll be surmountable with time.
Picture of the pretty girl for cat tax.
