We adopted a cat from a friend of a friend. The cat, Mitzi, was a neighborhood stray - an older woman in the neighborhood was taking care of her. Then that older woman stopped and then our friend took her in, taught her to use the litter box, etc... Mitzi would sit in our friend's lap while she was watching TV and knead on her stomach. She seemed to be adjusting to domestic life.
When Mitzi arrived in our home (a small two bedroom apartment, just me and my teen daughter, no other animals), she ran behind the entertainment center and stayed there all day and night. That is the last time we saw her. On that first night, she squeezed into a 4 inch gap beneath our lower kitchen cabinets, and she is hiding behind those cabinets. It's an L shaped space, so even if I shine a light in there to look for her, I can't see her. She's on the other side of the L.
We are four weeks in, and we still have never seen the cat, never been in the same room with the cat, never touched the cat. The cat ONLY comes out when no one is home, or in the middle of the night. About 2 weeks ago, she peed or pooped in her hiding space, which is completely inaccessible to me. It smelled AWFUL. it seems to have been only a one-time thing... so far. But I can't get into the space to clean it. I can't see her. I don't know if she's hurt or sick. She still is eating and drinking and using the litter box. But, I go to bed every night wondering if she's sick, injured, or dead. This poor cat is miserable or terrified or both - she spends 20+ hours per day in a dark, dirty, cramped space. I am miserable and stressed out, which I know isn't helping the situation.
Last night I slept on the couch so I could try to get up and block off the hole to her hiding space while she was eating (she typically eats in the middle of the night). She heard me and BOLTED across the apartment, into the space. There's no way I'll be fast enough to catch her. She hasn't pooped in the litter box in 4 days.
Here's a list of everything I've done to try to lure her out of this unsafe, inaccessible hiding space, so she can find another safer space to hide and hopefully acclimate:
* Used Feliway Spray and Feliway diffuser
* Put Rescue Remedy drops in her water
* Built alternate hiding spots (a box with holes cut out and treats inside, a small table with a dark cloth draped over it and treats inside, a "cat cave" that I bought on Chewy.com with treats inside)
* Leave treats just outside the hole: cat treats, tuna, sardines
* Put catnip around the apartment - she didn't even touch it
* Moved her food and water from directly across from her hiding space to the spot in the apartment that is furthest away from the hiding space; I thought if she was eating there I might have time to go over and quickly block the hole, but that hasn't worked. She's too fast.
* Left out some old tshirts of my daughter's and mine, near where she's hiding and where she used to eat
* Sit on the kitchen floor for a few minutes throughout the day and talk to her, read to her, etc.
* Put on classical music when no one is home
* I stopped leaving food out for her all the time - now, there's only food out when people are home.
* Stopped leaving the full amount food out for her in the middle of the night, and stopped leaving her (preferred) wet food out at night. There are a few pieces of dry food in her usual food bowl spot (so she'll still associate that spot with food) and inside the cat cave I bought her (which I hoped would become a good alternative hiding space for her). Wet food is only out during the day, and only when people are home.
* I made a flap to put over the hole. When she pushes the flap, she touches cardboard, but when she lifts the flap to go back inside the hole/hiding spot, she would have to touch scrunchy aluminum foil (which I know cats don't like). It hasn't deterred her. The first time I did this, she just ripped off the whole flap! And the second time, she went in and out. So I've removed the flap.
* Had my handyman come over to see if we could just remove the wood beneath our kitchen cabinets (it's called a "toe kick" - it's like baseboards) so I could get to her or at least see her. It won't work. The only way to get to her would be to remove our kitchen countertops and rip out the kitchen cabinets. A $10,000 kitchen renovation is not in the cards!
* Blew air from the lowest, coolest setting of a hair dryer into the hole. I read that cats don't like this. She didn't budge.
* I just bought a bunch of tiny "jingle bells." I'm thinking I'm going to hang some in front of the hole, so when she exits I'll hear her - she'll have to brush against them. So, even if it's 4 a.m., I can try again to dash into the kitchen (on the other side of the apartment) to quickly block the hole. I'm willing to sacrifice my own sleep to get this done!
Someone has suggested putting a rag with a smell cats don't like, such as vinegar or peppermint, in the hole, to drive her out. I'm concerned that that would just drive her further in.
I know she's scared. I know she needs to hide, and I'm fine with that. I just want to get her out of this particular hiding spot. I can't see her. I can't tell if she's hurt or sick. I can't clean the spot of she pees or poops in there. I go to bed every night wondering if she's still alive. This is a miserable situation. HELP!
When Mitzi arrived in our home (a small two bedroom apartment, just me and my teen daughter, no other animals), she ran behind the entertainment center and stayed there all day and night. That is the last time we saw her. On that first night, she squeezed into a 4 inch gap beneath our lower kitchen cabinets, and she is hiding behind those cabinets. It's an L shaped space, so even if I shine a light in there to look for her, I can't see her. She's on the other side of the L.
We are four weeks in, and we still have never seen the cat, never been in the same room with the cat, never touched the cat. The cat ONLY comes out when no one is home, or in the middle of the night. About 2 weeks ago, she peed or pooped in her hiding space, which is completely inaccessible to me. It smelled AWFUL. it seems to have been only a one-time thing... so far. But I can't get into the space to clean it. I can't see her. I don't know if she's hurt or sick. She still is eating and drinking and using the litter box. But, I go to bed every night wondering if she's sick, injured, or dead. This poor cat is miserable or terrified or both - she spends 20+ hours per day in a dark, dirty, cramped space. I am miserable and stressed out, which I know isn't helping the situation.
Last night I slept on the couch so I could try to get up and block off the hole to her hiding space while she was eating (she typically eats in the middle of the night). She heard me and BOLTED across the apartment, into the space. There's no way I'll be fast enough to catch her. She hasn't pooped in the litter box in 4 days.
Here's a list of everything I've done to try to lure her out of this unsafe, inaccessible hiding space, so she can find another safer space to hide and hopefully acclimate:
* Used Feliway Spray and Feliway diffuser
* Put Rescue Remedy drops in her water
* Built alternate hiding spots (a box with holes cut out and treats inside, a small table with a dark cloth draped over it and treats inside, a "cat cave" that I bought on Chewy.com with treats inside)
* Leave treats just outside the hole: cat treats, tuna, sardines
* Put catnip around the apartment - she didn't even touch it
* Moved her food and water from directly across from her hiding space to the spot in the apartment that is furthest away from the hiding space; I thought if she was eating there I might have time to go over and quickly block the hole, but that hasn't worked. She's too fast.
* Left out some old tshirts of my daughter's and mine, near where she's hiding and where she used to eat
* Sit on the kitchen floor for a few minutes throughout the day and talk to her, read to her, etc.
* Put on classical music when no one is home
* I stopped leaving food out for her all the time - now, there's only food out when people are home.
* Stopped leaving the full amount food out for her in the middle of the night, and stopped leaving her (preferred) wet food out at night. There are a few pieces of dry food in her usual food bowl spot (so she'll still associate that spot with food) and inside the cat cave I bought her (which I hoped would become a good alternative hiding space for her). Wet food is only out during the day, and only when people are home.
* I made a flap to put over the hole. When she pushes the flap, she touches cardboard, but when she lifts the flap to go back inside the hole/hiding spot, she would have to touch scrunchy aluminum foil (which I know cats don't like). It hasn't deterred her. The first time I did this, she just ripped off the whole flap! And the second time, she went in and out. So I've removed the flap.
* Had my handyman come over to see if we could just remove the wood beneath our kitchen cabinets (it's called a "toe kick" - it's like baseboards) so I could get to her or at least see her. It won't work. The only way to get to her would be to remove our kitchen countertops and rip out the kitchen cabinets. A $10,000 kitchen renovation is not in the cards!
* Blew air from the lowest, coolest setting of a hair dryer into the hole. I read that cats don't like this. She didn't budge.
* I just bought a bunch of tiny "jingle bells." I'm thinking I'm going to hang some in front of the hole, so when she exits I'll hear her - she'll have to brush against them. So, even if it's 4 a.m., I can try again to dash into the kitchen (on the other side of the apartment) to quickly block the hole. I'm willing to sacrifice my own sleep to get this done!
Someone has suggested putting a rag with a smell cats don't like, such as vinegar or peppermint, in the hole, to drive her out. I'm concerned that that would just drive her further in.
I know she's scared. I know she needs to hide, and I'm fine with that. I just want to get her out of this particular hiding spot. I can't see her. I can't tell if she's hurt or sick. I can't clean the spot of she pees or poops in there. I go to bed every night wondering if she's still alive. This is a miserable situation. HELP!
