Hello,
I got a cat roughly one month ago-- a 6 year old shy rescue from another country. He was living on the streets for a while (they don't know how long) before he came to the shelter. Even with the volunteers there, he was shy and hissing at them though he lets them touch him and loves being pet.
For the entire 4 weeks I have had him, he has been hiding under the bed. At the beginning of the second week, he had an eye infection that I had to take him to the vet on bonqat for (even then he was terrified). I had to block off access to under the bed to give him eyedrops 3x a day (though he managed to somehow claw and bite and push his way through every barrier I put up) but his eye infection cleared up after a week and I let him back under the bed. I always gave him a churu treat every time and he was generally never really aggressive, only scared but let me pet him and give him the eyedrops but the interaction would take place with him pushed into a corner, trying to literally merge with the wall. When I took him home from the vet visit when he was on bonqat, he let me pet him and was even making air biscuits whilst I was petting him
but then when he was off it, he was terrified again.
I feed him at 11am (wet food) and 8pm (wet food) and some dry food over night. I didn't get any information to what wet food he was fed at the shelter and trying some brands, he seems rather picky and leaves most of his wet food (except for tuna lol) though he still came out to eat at 11am and 8pm respectively. Since a few days, he has not been doing this though and I had to offer him the food later. Is this okay though or should I stick to my feeding times, so if he doesnt want to eat at 11am, I don't feed him until 8pm? He generally seems to prefer dry food a lot more than wet food and he drinks a lot, should I just feed him wet food once a day and for the rest I give him dry food? I'm a little lost.
During the first few days of being here he climbed onto things and just checked everything out but would meow nearly the entire night. Now he comes out to sleep in a bed I got him and recently he has been sleeping on a runner carpet right in front of my bed (both only when I go to bed), so he has definitely been making progress. Also when I clean his litterbox, he comes really close and just watches me.I understand that he will probably take a lot of time to settle in but is there anything I can do to help him settle in more? I tried virtually everything, sitting or laying near him when he's under the bed and just reading or doing similar stuff, gently speaking to him, playing (he doesn't really seem interested in playing. I tried like 6 different toys at least), Feliway diffusers, just to name a few. I'm honestly worried about him skipping food, like he sniffs it and goes "nope", yesterday I had to push it under the bed for him to eat-- which confuses me, as he usually always came out to eat? I tried adding different toppings-- dried fish, freeze dried chicken hearts, etc but he just doesn't seem interested. He has no problem eating the dry food I put down for him though, so I think it's nothing serious (or at least, I hope so). I'm also worried about him potentially being bored since he doesn't want to engage in anything but looking out the window.
Sorry if this seems a little over the top, it's my first cat lol. I love him a lot.
I got a cat roughly one month ago-- a 6 year old shy rescue from another country. He was living on the streets for a while (they don't know how long) before he came to the shelter. Even with the volunteers there, he was shy and hissing at them though he lets them touch him and loves being pet.
For the entire 4 weeks I have had him, he has been hiding under the bed. At the beginning of the second week, he had an eye infection that I had to take him to the vet on bonqat for (even then he was terrified). I had to block off access to under the bed to give him eyedrops 3x a day (though he managed to somehow claw and bite and push his way through every barrier I put up) but his eye infection cleared up after a week and I let him back under the bed. I always gave him a churu treat every time and he was generally never really aggressive, only scared but let me pet him and give him the eyedrops but the interaction would take place with him pushed into a corner, trying to literally merge with the wall. When I took him home from the vet visit when he was on bonqat, he let me pet him and was even making air biscuits whilst I was petting him
but then when he was off it, he was terrified again.I feed him at 11am (wet food) and 8pm (wet food) and some dry food over night. I didn't get any information to what wet food he was fed at the shelter and trying some brands, he seems rather picky and leaves most of his wet food (except for tuna lol) though he still came out to eat at 11am and 8pm respectively. Since a few days, he has not been doing this though and I had to offer him the food later. Is this okay though or should I stick to my feeding times, so if he doesnt want to eat at 11am, I don't feed him until 8pm? He generally seems to prefer dry food a lot more than wet food and he drinks a lot, should I just feed him wet food once a day and for the rest I give him dry food? I'm a little lost.
During the first few days of being here he climbed onto things and just checked everything out but would meow nearly the entire night. Now he comes out to sleep in a bed I got him and recently he has been sleeping on a runner carpet right in front of my bed (both only when I go to bed), so he has definitely been making progress. Also when I clean his litterbox, he comes really close and just watches me.I understand that he will probably take a lot of time to settle in but is there anything I can do to help him settle in more? I tried virtually everything, sitting or laying near him when he's under the bed and just reading or doing similar stuff, gently speaking to him, playing (he doesn't really seem interested in playing. I tried like 6 different toys at least), Feliway diffusers, just to name a few. I'm honestly worried about him skipping food, like he sniffs it and goes "nope", yesterday I had to push it under the bed for him to eat-- which confuses me, as he usually always came out to eat? I tried adding different toppings-- dried fish, freeze dried chicken hearts, etc but he just doesn't seem interested. He has no problem eating the dry food I put down for him though, so I think it's nothing serious (or at least, I hope so). I'm also worried about him potentially being bored since he doesn't want to engage in anything but looking out the window.
Sorry if this seems a little over the top, it's my first cat lol. I love him a lot.
And congrats on being a first time cat parent. 
Hopefully in time your boy will be more confident and want to give and receive affection.
