- Joined
- Aug 3, 2022
- Messages
- 11
- Purraise
- 32
We are at 3 weeks with our newest family member, 8-yo Katniss, who was in a shelter for 2 months. We are making progress, though her behavior is quite unpredictable from one day to the next still. We have established routines with feeding and also play times, and she interacts and is affectionate a bit more as time goes on. So that's all good, though all that still goes on just in my bedroom, where she has been headquartered since her arrival.
What I'd like is some feedback on is helping her adjust to the rhythms of our household. She lived with a single senior woman, and then was in a top story room at the shelter by herself, and the shelter was small and fairly quiet…no radio playing or anything.
Not surprisingly, she is very reactive to noise and movement in our house. There's just two of us retirees, and an old border collie, but we live on property and are active; we come and go throughout the day. Doors open and close, there is activity in the kitchen, bathrooms, living room, etc. I also have music playing routinely throughout at least part of each day.
When she first got here I had music playing softly in my bedroom part of the day. I realized after a while that she seemed calmer when there was no music, so I stopped using it. When she was confined to my bedroom for the first 7-10 days much of the house noise was a bit muffled to her. Now the bedroom door has been open for a week, she sometimes comes out to explore, but is easily spooked back into the bedroom.
I realize her adjustment will take however long it takes, but I'm debating whether to turn music on in my bedroom again to help acclimatize her to human noise. Would love to hear about anyone's experiences with helping a new adult kitty make the transition into a different household. Thanks!
What I'd like is some feedback on is helping her adjust to the rhythms of our household. She lived with a single senior woman, and then was in a top story room at the shelter by herself, and the shelter was small and fairly quiet…no radio playing or anything.
Not surprisingly, she is very reactive to noise and movement in our house. There's just two of us retirees, and an old border collie, but we live on property and are active; we come and go throughout the day. Doors open and close, there is activity in the kitchen, bathrooms, living room, etc. I also have music playing routinely throughout at least part of each day.
When she first got here I had music playing softly in my bedroom part of the day. I realized after a while that she seemed calmer when there was no music, so I stopped using it. When she was confined to my bedroom for the first 7-10 days much of the house noise was a bit muffled to her. Now the bedroom door has been open for a week, she sometimes comes out to explore, but is easily spooked back into the bedroom.
I realize her adjustment will take however long it takes, but I'm debating whether to turn music on in my bedroom again to help acclimatize her to human noise. Would love to hear about anyone's experiences with helping a new adult kitty make the transition into a different household. Thanks!
Thank you for the links, I had only caught one of those so heading off to read the other two.
