I Think My Cat Hates Me

[traveil]

Hi all, I recently adopted a stray which I picked up from the streets (well I’ve been feeding her for almost a year till I adopted her because she got sick). She is living in my room for a month now and lately I feel she’s getting more and more restless. She’s a tortie about 7yrs old and reacts strongly to feather wand. I bought her various toys to keep her interested but she’s only likes the wand. I bought a cat ceiling and she doesn’t use at all. Then i removed the cat ceiling and replaced with a cat condo...and she still doesn’t use it. She keeps staring at the door...I do let her out time to time but seems like it’s not enough... nowadays she keeps meowing at the door whole day and I can’t stop it. It’s draining me inside out..help... I also recently changed her litter type and she doesn’t want to use at all. So I bought back the same litter...AND she doesn’t use it and rather pee on the ground. Does she wants to be outside again? I do not want that... Her meows always make me so guilty like I’m imprisoning her. She just got vaccinated and dewormed today, she shows no signs of illness or fever..so what’s wrong with her? Nowadays I can feel her meowing ringing on my ear all the time even if I’m not near her..I am so stressed up. Why is she so temperamental now..it makes me so worried..

 

[neely]

Welcome to TCS! Thank you for bringing in your Tortie girl from being a stray on the streets. We had a similar situation with our last cat who by the way was a Torbie, (part tortie & part tabby). She had what I like to refer to as "Tortitude."

I think you need to give her time and be patient. Every cat is an individual and she is not accustomed to living in a house or being confined. I'm sure that is part of the reason for her peeing on the ground as well. Have you tried placing more than one litter box in the house for her to use? Obviously she realizes there is something going on outside the room where she is confined. I completely understand you feeling guilty about keeping her in a separate room. Regarding toys, these are new to her also so once again it will take time and patience.

The good news is that our Torbie girl became my shadow eventually and I found unusual items she liked rather than the conventional cat toys. I thought one or more of these Articles might offer some helpful suggestions:
14 Cat Experts Reveal: How To Get A Cat To Like Me
Here's an Article that discusses how to help a cat adjust to your home:
How To Help A New Cat Adjust To Your Home
And how to bring an outdoor cat inside:
The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside
Regarding tips on playing with your cat:
Playing With Your Cat: 10 Things You Need To Know
This Article should answer some of your questions regarding the litter box:
How To Solve Litterbox Problems In Cats: The Ultimate Guide

Please try to give yourself and your Tortie time. BTW, what's her name? You have done a kind act by rescuing this girl and in time it is my hope the two of you will make a great team.

 

[Furballsmom]

Everything that Neely said

 

[Azazel]

I think a single room is too small a space for a cat who used to have free reign. Can you give her regular access to the rest of the house?

 

[Luc]

Hello, maybe you could try taking her out on a leash ? it should help if you take her to the same places she used to be before you took her in.

 

[traveil]

Hi, thanks for all the advices! It’s weird but I am unable to let her gain access on all the rooms...my granny has dementia and I am afraid she will let her out of the house when I’m at work. My granny doesn’t like cats too.. My tortie hates to be caged and leashed, even I had troubles taking her to vet. Ever since she got back from the vet she has been grumbling a lot wanting to get out... I tried playing with her toys and she doesn’t response lol. Oh god...may I know what does she really want??

 

[RenM]

T traveil

Oh man. I’ve been there. Just a week and a half-ago I had a meltdown and posted on here while crying. (I’m Crying. I’m So Stressed About My New Cat. I Think I’m Failing At Adopting.)

I will say it’s been almost two weeks since I brought my Sparrow home and he’s gotten better, but he is still iffy about me and his new home.

One thing I found that helped a lot was a pheromone diffuser. It really did help him settle. I use Thunderease, but I know lots of people recommend Feliway. Also, I used a litter attractant that seemed to work because he’s only used the box so far.

As to toys, I found it trial and error, which isn’t cheap I admit. My guy liked the Yeoww Catnip Banana and the Kitty Kick Stick. The rest of the toys I’ve gotten he could live without I think.

Can you open a window when you are around for your kitty to cat some air? My guy seems to enjoy listening to the outside.

Keep it up! I understand how stressful it is! I cried twice over the stress. You just have to remind yourself they are much safer now and will acclimate in time. Best of luck!

 

[traveil]

T traveil

Oh man. I’ve been there. Just a week and a half-ago I had a meltdown and posted on here while crying. (I’m Crying. I’m So Stressed About My New Cat. I Think I’m Failing At Adopting.)

I will say it’s been almost two weeks since I brought my Sparrow home and he’s gotten better, but he is still iffy about me and his new home.

One thing I found that helped a lot was a pheromone diffuser. It really did help him settle. I use Thunderease, but I know lots of people recommend Feliway. Also, I used a litter attractant that seemed to work because he’s only used the box so far.

As to toys, I found it trial and error, which isn’t cheap I admit. My guy liked the Yeoww Catnip Banana and the Kitty Kick Stick. The rest of the toys I’ve gotten he could live without I think.

Can you open a window when you are around for your kitty to cat some air? My guy seems to enjoy listening to the outside.

Keep it up! I understand how stressful it is! I cried twice over the stress. You just have to remind yourself they are much safer now and will acclimate in time. Best of luck!

Hey! My window is opened and has been cat proofed. She just didn't want to look outside using the cat condo but instead she keeps looking at the door.. I shall buy the pheromone diffuser and try on her tonight! I've noticed her jumping on the door too...she's really unstoppable. Trust me, i've spent a lot of money in just buying her toys and i wouldn't mind to spend even more just to keep her interested. I'm glad someone's in the same situation as me..it just feel so much reassuring. I often doubt myself whether it's a right thing to keep her back home but thinking of the day i found her shivering and didn't want to move scares me even more.. :'(

 

[recurringecho]

Not much to offer, but when did the restlessness start? Is she spayed?

My cat has also gone through a phase where he refused to pee in his litter after discovering the great outdoors. He would keep meowing and scratching at the door begging to go out. It took Multo three months to come to terms with the fact that he couldn't go out all the time. He was indoors-only before then, so all factors considered, one month isn't long! Have hope!

As for her peeing on the ground, have you tried changing the shape of the litter pan and the depth of the litter too? Does she pee on a specific spot on the floor or does it seem random? You can try moving the pan over to the place she normally goes. Also put multiple litter boxes out if possible. During the early phase, I found leading Multo to the litter box and scratching it with a shovel first helped him get the point that he has to pee in the box again. Don't know if it will help with your cat, but it's worth a shot.

 

[Maria Bayote]

Is she already spayed?

 

[traveil]

She is spayed..that's why i have no idea what's the reason of her becoming so crazy.. I changed back the litter, she did use it back (phew). I think her restlessness started the moment i changed the litter lol. I have a timed feeder which has camera on it so I am monitoring her while i am at office. Our door doesn't have knob, so there's a hole in it. She kept jumping and latching on the hole on the door...but of course she didn't succeed in going out. Usually she would sleep throughout the day..but now she's trying all her means to get out of the room.

 

[Maria Bayote]

Aside from the good advices above, give her time. And provide her more toys, tunnels, etc. Cats usually bore at their toys as easily as human toddler does.

 

[recurringecho]

I'm glad she's using the litter again! How long are you usually at work? How much time do you spend with her? I saw from your previous thread that you keep her inside your room. Is that still the case? You also said you'll be catifying the house. How's that going? Is she still constantly meowing to go out when you are in the room with her?

Seeing as you are constantly going in and out of the room and she started doing this shortly after taking her to the vet, she might be bored and just realize that there is a whole other part of the house that she can explore. Is it possible for you to let her out of your room when you are not at work? Watch her and figure out if she's really trying to go outside or if she's just tired of being cramped in a room.

Since you have trouble getting her to play, I find putting something like a heavy blanket or a rug on the floor and dragging something under it catches their attention real quick. Or you can drag a string on the floor for her and see how that works! Multo also loves it when I go on the other side of a door/closet at make a toy peak out at him only to quickly "hide" back on the other side. Basically anything that mimics prey twitching/hiding seems to be fun with most cats I've worked with. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

 

[traveil]

I usually go for work from 9am-6pm. But i'm usually out from 8am-7pm. I will spend time with her morning when i wake up at 7am, and after work, at 7pm onwards till i go to sleep. She does meow at me when i am in the room. If i am using the laptop, she will follow me and jump on the table to catch my attention. If i go to the bed and lie down, she will follow me and jump on the bed to look for me. But now i feel that she has a short attention span. She does follow me but after 5 minutes, she will jump down from whenever she is and look and camp at the door and do her meowing.

I did catify the room, but not the house. But i do let her out occasionally to explore the other parts of the house. My family says its because i kept doing that that's why she became more and more curious of outside. I put a collar on her when she's out of the room, so that we can hear where she is. Whenever i feed her, i would open the door, so she would eat halfway and dash out of the room. She would explore the house to find that there's more doors blocking her way lol. And....her iconic meowing goes...

As said above, i have a granny that has dementia. Going out of the room when i am not at home is impossible. She'll possibly let her out of the house forever and that's horrifying.

The cat is getting more and more alert of the surroundings. Whenever we pass by or whenever we talk outside, she will camp at the door to wait. As i'm writing, i can see her for no movement for 2hours now. It's a good sign that she's sleeping away.

 

[recurringecho]

As said above, i have a granny that has dementia. Going out of the room when i am not at home is impossible. She'll possibly let her out of the house forever and that's horrifying.

I'm not sure if you misunderstood me, but I meant whether it's possible for you to let your cat explore the house whenever you are in the house with her and only bring her back in when it's time for bed. 11 hours alone in a bedroom does sound a bit much for a previously outdoor cat. Does anyone else besides your granny live with you? Can they go in the room and visit her for a bit once or twice when you are at work?

Regardless, it might help you and your cat to set up a routine so she can learn when it's time to go explore and when it's time to come back in. The key to this is to not let her out when she meows at any other time. This will take a while, especially since she used to be an outdoor cat, but be consistent and you'll get there!

Speaking of which, when you let her out, do you do it while she's meowing? If so, she might have associate meowing = outside. Try to let her out when she's not meowing. If she is meowing to go out, try distracting her with some toys and let her outside when she calms down.

 

[smosmosmo]

I've actually experienced something similar with my cat, who was mostly outdoors for the first several years of her life. Her old owner only brought her inside to sleep and let her out at 6am every day, so she was outside most of the time. I confined her to my room for about a month when she hurt her paw outdoors, and tried to get her used to being indoor only. It did not go over well. I think "wilder" cats (mine's not well socialized and yours is used to being outdoor only) don't take to toys that aren't interactive, so she'd get bored and restless being stuck in a room with just me. Obviously she knew I was going somewhere when I'd leave the room and would hate that she couldn't follow me.

Eventually I did transition her to indoor-only but had to keep her mostly in my room because of my living situation. What did help her blow off steam was letting her into an adjoining common area whenever I was around to supervise. It wasn't a perfect solution, but getting more space and a high window to look out of helped noticeably. We lived like this for probably 7 months and she adjusted pretty well. A few months ago my landlord knocked one of my bedroom walls out, so we had no choice but to let Smo roam the living room also. It seems like the more space I've given her, the happier she's been. I think a big part of what made her unhappy when she was stuck in the room was that she knew I was doing stuff without her very close by, and she was excluded. She'll still do things like yell at me from the living room when she hears me in the bathroom, where she's not allowed.

To the point though - can you let her into some other parts of the house when you're home with her? If there's some type of door or hallway that blocks access to your front and back doors, I'd install a motion-activated camera there. You can connect it to your phone and get alerts if the door's opened. The suggestion above to put a bell on her when you let her out is great also. If possible, maybe you could let her into the living room/dining areas when you get home from work and relax together. Just let her hang out while you're making dinner and unwinding, things like that. That way you're in the same room and not both confined to the bedroom.

 

[solomonar]

I used to walk my cat, for a couple of months. When I stopped, he got the habit of meowing to the entrance door. Hours! I am pretty sure that in time he would have learn to turn the keys to open the door. No joking.

He stopped after maybe 6 months or so. Patience is our friend. :-).

 

[traveil]

Wow thanks all. I’m back home and I’ve let her out of the room to roam. I’ve took a gamble and let her gain full access to every room...and with my granny being outside at the living room, she has noticed the cat for the first time. She had threatened me to throw away the cat and it just scares me.. I hope by the next day she will come to forget about her and get over it..especially when she’s at home with her most of the time. I think I have anxiety problems especially when the cat is mentioned. I do stressed myself over small things like her meowing constantly and if she would get depressed being coup up in the room. My sisters says I’m over reacting and just let her be and told me to let nature takes its flow but I could not do so. She likes to be out with us and she wouldn’t even look back into the room that she was constantly locked. I tried to lure her in but she still came outside within seconds. Lol. Afterwards, I will have to lock her for the night and she’ll probably meow like a mad cat during the night. I hope the cat will come terms with me and not meow when she is locked...this is the only way we can live with her peacefully.. *hoping for the best*

If cats have pheromone spray to keep them calm..I think I need something to keep myself calm too..

 

[Furballsmom]

You could try chamomile tea

 

[recurringecho]

Aww, gad she's enjoying being out with you guys!! I'm sorry you have to deal with your grandma's threats. My aunt had to deal with the same thing with my grandma when she got a dog, saying that she will kick the dog out and worse. With her, we knew it was just words though. After a year, they started to bond and they're like best friends now. I hope things get better for you. Keep us updated on how things are going!