Okay, I've never posted on a forum of any type before, but we're desperate to help the newest family member, and articles and the vet don't seem to be getting us anywhere so here we go.
Just over 8 weeks ago my wife finally convinced me to get a cat after trying for 7 years. We agreed that an adult that hadnt had any potty training issues and was raised with dogs would be best for our new house with new carpet, and two small dogs.
We found her on Craigslist. She was reported to be a 2.5 year old fixed female. We called and asked all the questions we could think of, and the owner said they were getting rid of her because they had gotten a puppy about a year before , and had recently had a baby that was requiring all of their attention. The owner said the cat was loving and slept every night on the foot of the bed with her, and had never had an accident in the house.
We agreed to meet her the next night and began doing research on how to best prepare and help the cat adapt to a new home. When we went to meet the owner, we found that she had purchased a cardboard disposable pet carrier because she apparently had never used a carrier with her (aka traumatic event 1). The owner opened the cat carrier, and grabbed the cat by the scruff of the neck and lifted her straight up and held her there for a moment until the cat who obviously hated it, began to squirm at which point the owner who had grabbed her so tightly that her tongue was sticking out of her face, yanked her further into the air, and then shoved her hard and fast down into the cat carrier. (traumatic event 2 and signs of a possible bad or abusive pet owner).
We made sure to follow articles instructions we had found, and have been continuously reading through this whole process.
At this point I should point out that neither my wife nor I have had much experience with cats, and have learned A TON about them, but there may be some mistakes we've made, or some things we could have or can be doing differently that I hope someoen will kindly point out and help us with.
When we got her home, we made sure she had a small quiet room she could have to herself (the guest bedroom) and we had set it up before her arrival. We placed the self cleaning litter box as far away from the food as possible, placed a few toys around the room, and her bed and food near the place she had immediately ran under after being let out of her "carrier". we made sure for the first several days we gave her the same food she had been given at her previous home, before halfing it,and placed the cat scratching post near her with her smells on it.
On the morning of the 4th day, she had finally eaten and had some water. We have spent 20-30 minutes a day EVERY DAY talking to her, and petting her (under the blankets she hid under) on the bed.
After the first 10 days she had moved to being under the bed instead of under blankets. We left her alone underneath the bed, and continued talking to her, using her name, trying to get her to come out with treats and toys, and not making eye contact while laying down next to the bed to try and get her used to us.
After 3 weeks she finally started coming out for a minute or two at a time for my wife, but only in the mornings when she was alone. After 4 weeks of telling our vet we we're trying to hold off on bringing her in because she was struggling, our vet convinced us to bring her for her first check up. We had placed the REAL carrier we had purchased in the room and had been placing treats inside, and had been spraying it with the feliway nightly. We also placed the feliway diffuser in her room next to the carrier as well. My wife tried for a half an hour to get her to come out so we could place the her in the carrier, but we didn't have any luck. So we had to lift the bed in order to catch her and place her in the carrier (traumatic event 3.1) . At the Veterinary Clinic (traumatic event 3.2)she behaved very well she didn't try and Escape when we held her and seemed to settle down for the first time in a month. We brought her home after her shots and check up and let her go back into her room.
One week later and 5 weeks into having the cat we found out that my grandmother was coming to visit so we needed use of the spare bedroom as we only have two and one is currently occupied by my sibling. My grandmother was coming for a 2-week visit and has two dogs so we decided to build the cat a large structure that would not only contain her litter box underneath and keep it away from the dogs but also have a higher level that could contain a hideaway area for her to get up and away from the dogs. We built the structure ,covered it in carpet, andand feliway placed it in the spare bedroom and put treats all over it for the week before my grandmother arrived. during this time between the vet and my grandmother's arrival the cat still would only come out for my wife for a for a maximum of 1 to 2 minutes a few days a week. Two days before my grandmother's arrival we placed the cat on top of the structure to allow her to sniff around. This time she was out already and my wife was able to put her on top without terrifying her. The day before my grandmother's arrival we set the cat up in her hiding area and removed the bed from the bedroom while my wife kept her distracted as much as she could. The day of arrival we moved the kitty structure to the back corner of the living room in order to allow my grandmother to shut the door and give the kitty a chance to still explore at night. We are well aware that all of this was a change to what she was finally somewhat starting to show she was getting used to. And it was unfortunate timing.
A Week and a half into my grandmother's visit the cat stopped eating and drinking even though she was doing fine for the first 10 days of the visit. By fine of course I mean hiding inside of her little box on top of the structure in her bed and only coming out at night to eat and go to the bathroom. When she stopped eating we called the vet and asked if there was anything besides the feliway and the calming treats the vet had a given us that we could do. The vet recommended Xanax for the cat.
The cat has now been on Xanax for a little over a week and has come out a few times during the day at Quiet Moments to eat. She is still however only coming out to eat and go to the bathroom and spends all of her time inside of a small box. I cut a few slots in the Box she hides in when we built the structure so she could feel that she was seen but not being seen which is something we had read on an article. she is only coming out a few times a day to eat and go to the bathroom only when no one is around.
I apologize for the length of this post, I'm just trying to give all the information we have so that we can get back the best answers.
We know the new structure and moving her to a new room was stressful. But we are concerned that two months in she is not adapting and are wondering if there is anything we can do more 2 help her. The feliway is still plugged in near her structure in the back of the living room. She is getting Xanax twice a day from my wife via syringe shot down the throat which she freakishly doesn't seem to mind, and kitty calming treats as prescribed.
Is this just her personality where she will never come out or do we need to expect a lot more time before we see her? Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.
Just over 8 weeks ago my wife finally convinced me to get a cat after trying for 7 years. We agreed that an adult that hadnt had any potty training issues and was raised with dogs would be best for our new house with new carpet, and two small dogs.
We found her on Craigslist. She was reported to be a 2.5 year old fixed female. We called and asked all the questions we could think of, and the owner said they were getting rid of her because they had gotten a puppy about a year before , and had recently had a baby that was requiring all of their attention. The owner said the cat was loving and slept every night on the foot of the bed with her, and had never had an accident in the house.
We agreed to meet her the next night and began doing research on how to best prepare and help the cat adapt to a new home. When we went to meet the owner, we found that she had purchased a cardboard disposable pet carrier because she apparently had never used a carrier with her (aka traumatic event 1). The owner opened the cat carrier, and grabbed the cat by the scruff of the neck and lifted her straight up and held her there for a moment until the cat who obviously hated it, began to squirm at which point the owner who had grabbed her so tightly that her tongue was sticking out of her face, yanked her further into the air, and then shoved her hard and fast down into the cat carrier. (traumatic event 2 and signs of a possible bad or abusive pet owner).
We made sure to follow articles instructions we had found, and have been continuously reading through this whole process.
At this point I should point out that neither my wife nor I have had much experience with cats, and have learned A TON about them, but there may be some mistakes we've made, or some things we could have or can be doing differently that I hope someoen will kindly point out and help us with.
When we got her home, we made sure she had a small quiet room she could have to herself (the guest bedroom) and we had set it up before her arrival. We placed the self cleaning litter box as far away from the food as possible, placed a few toys around the room, and her bed and food near the place she had immediately ran under after being let out of her "carrier". we made sure for the first several days we gave her the same food she had been given at her previous home, before halfing it,and placed the cat scratching post near her with her smells on it.
On the morning of the 4th day, she had finally eaten and had some water. We have spent 20-30 minutes a day EVERY DAY talking to her, and petting her (under the blankets she hid under) on the bed.
After the first 10 days she had moved to being under the bed instead of under blankets. We left her alone underneath the bed, and continued talking to her, using her name, trying to get her to come out with treats and toys, and not making eye contact while laying down next to the bed to try and get her used to us.
After 3 weeks she finally started coming out for a minute or two at a time for my wife, but only in the mornings when she was alone. After 4 weeks of telling our vet we we're trying to hold off on bringing her in because she was struggling, our vet convinced us to bring her for her first check up. We had placed the REAL carrier we had purchased in the room and had been placing treats inside, and had been spraying it with the feliway nightly. We also placed the feliway diffuser in her room next to the carrier as well. My wife tried for a half an hour to get her to come out so we could place the her in the carrier, but we didn't have any luck. So we had to lift the bed in order to catch her and place her in the carrier (traumatic event 3.1) . At the Veterinary Clinic (traumatic event 3.2)she behaved very well she didn't try and Escape when we held her and seemed to settle down for the first time in a month. We brought her home after her shots and check up and let her go back into her room.
One week later and 5 weeks into having the cat we found out that my grandmother was coming to visit so we needed use of the spare bedroom as we only have two and one is currently occupied by my sibling. My grandmother was coming for a 2-week visit and has two dogs so we decided to build the cat a large structure that would not only contain her litter box underneath and keep it away from the dogs but also have a higher level that could contain a hideaway area for her to get up and away from the dogs. We built the structure ,covered it in carpet, andand feliway placed it in the spare bedroom and put treats all over it for the week before my grandmother arrived. during this time between the vet and my grandmother's arrival the cat still would only come out for my wife for a for a maximum of 1 to 2 minutes a few days a week. Two days before my grandmother's arrival we placed the cat on top of the structure to allow her to sniff around. This time she was out already and my wife was able to put her on top without terrifying her. The day before my grandmother's arrival we set the cat up in her hiding area and removed the bed from the bedroom while my wife kept her distracted as much as she could. The day of arrival we moved the kitty structure to the back corner of the living room in order to allow my grandmother to shut the door and give the kitty a chance to still explore at night. We are well aware that all of this was a change to what she was finally somewhat starting to show she was getting used to. And it was unfortunate timing.
A Week and a half into my grandmother's visit the cat stopped eating and drinking even though she was doing fine for the first 10 days of the visit. By fine of course I mean hiding inside of her little box on top of the structure in her bed and only coming out at night to eat and go to the bathroom. When she stopped eating we called the vet and asked if there was anything besides the feliway and the calming treats the vet had a given us that we could do. The vet recommended Xanax for the cat.
The cat has now been on Xanax for a little over a week and has come out a few times during the day at Quiet Moments to eat. She is still however only coming out to eat and go to the bathroom and spends all of her time inside of a small box. I cut a few slots in the Box she hides in when we built the structure so she could feel that she was seen but not being seen which is something we had read on an article. she is only coming out a few times a day to eat and go to the bathroom only when no one is around.
I apologize for the length of this post, I'm just trying to give all the information we have so that we can get back the best answers.
We know the new structure and moving her to a new room was stressful. But we are concerned that two months in she is not adapting and are wondering if there is anything we can do more 2 help her. The feliway is still plugged in near her structure in the back of the living room. She is getting Xanax twice a day from my wife via syringe shot down the throat which she freakishly doesn't seem to mind, and kitty calming treats as prescribed.
Is this just her personality where she will never come out or do we need to expect a lot more time before we see her? Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.
