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- Jun 10, 2021
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Hi,
I recently received a cat from an acquaintance who could no longer care for her cat due to personal health reasons. Nevertheless, despite the context of the situation, I had been thinking about getting a cat for a long time, so I gladly accepted the offer when it came. The cat, Kimchi, is a beautiful 5-ish year old Ragdoll/Siamese mix, who according to my friend, was originally pretty shy, but became more and more friendly as she grew older. I would attach a photo, but I will explain why I didn't in the rest of the post.
On Kimchi's first day back, I had her in a bonding room (after doing some research on how to care for a new cat), and that went pretty well. At first she was very shy, hiding underneath the table in the room, but eventually warmed up to me, began brushing around my legs and sitting under the chair that I was sitting in; pretty good signs. However, during the night, she somehow escaped from that room, and I haven't seen her in person since. It's been 5 days since she got free, and I still haven't seen her anywhere. I know that she's in the house, since I've been scooping her litter and refilling her food and water, and I've seen her through some of the cameras I set up at night, but I have no idea where she hides; I've checked in every conceivable place.
I was just wondering, since Kimchi is my first cat, if this was a problem and if I should keep looking for her. From my research, it seems that it's pretty normal for cats to hide for the first 3-7 days in a new environment, but the solution that most of the materials suggest is to bait the cat out with food, play with the cat, or talk soothingly to them, all of which is problematic for my situation since I can't even seem to find her in the first place. And with that, I hope that I can get some advice from all of you experienced cat owners out there. Should I even bother to keep looking for her if she's hiding herself that well? Or should I just go on with my everyday life until she's ready to come out and show herself. Similarly, at what point should I start to see a red flag that maybe I will have a furry roommate that I won't see? I was also planning on getting a nice cat tree for her which I could put in my office, but in this case should I wait on that investment until she becomes more sociable?
Thanks in advance for your suggestions,
mrsora
I recently received a cat from an acquaintance who could no longer care for her cat due to personal health reasons. Nevertheless, despite the context of the situation, I had been thinking about getting a cat for a long time, so I gladly accepted the offer when it came. The cat, Kimchi, is a beautiful 5-ish year old Ragdoll/Siamese mix, who according to my friend, was originally pretty shy, but became more and more friendly as she grew older. I would attach a photo, but I will explain why I didn't in the rest of the post.
On Kimchi's first day back, I had her in a bonding room (after doing some research on how to care for a new cat), and that went pretty well. At first she was very shy, hiding underneath the table in the room, but eventually warmed up to me, began brushing around my legs and sitting under the chair that I was sitting in; pretty good signs. However, during the night, she somehow escaped from that room, and I haven't seen her in person since. It's been 5 days since she got free, and I still haven't seen her anywhere. I know that she's in the house, since I've been scooping her litter and refilling her food and water, and I've seen her through some of the cameras I set up at night, but I have no idea where she hides; I've checked in every conceivable place.
I was just wondering, since Kimchi is my first cat, if this was a problem and if I should keep looking for her. From my research, it seems that it's pretty normal for cats to hide for the first 3-7 days in a new environment, but the solution that most of the materials suggest is to bait the cat out with food, play with the cat, or talk soothingly to them, all of which is problematic for my situation since I can't even seem to find her in the first place. And with that, I hope that I can get some advice from all of you experienced cat owners out there. Should I even bother to keep looking for her if she's hiding herself that well? Or should I just go on with my everyday life until she's ready to come out and show herself. Similarly, at what point should I start to see a red flag that maybe I will have a furry roommate that I won't see? I was also planning on getting a nice cat tree for her which I could put in my office, but in this case should I wait on that investment until she becomes more sociable?
Thanks in advance for your suggestions,
mrsora