- Joined
- May 11, 2021
- Messages
- 6
- Purraise
- 10
Hey guys,
Looking for a little advice on the latest edition to our family. We recently adopted Victor (formally Prince, so ofcouse that makes his full title "the cat formally known as Prince") who, as you can see is a handsome chap. We adopted him from a family who had three cats but were unable to keep him. He has been a house cat all his life, and still is. He is un neutered, something we will take care of soon, but otherwise we were told he was affectionate and social. We asked the family to send us lots of videos before adopting and we could see from body language and behaviour that he is a very affectionate, food motivated cat.
Now i've done hours of reading about new cats, behaviours and great ways to get them set up in a new home and we have tried to implement as many as we could. We live in a large one bed flat but the options for settling him were the living room and bedroom. We opted for the living room because it is much larger than the bedroom and we felt the bedroom would become crowded with all of us in at night. In the living room he has his own corner we set up with a variety of cardboard box hide aways, a blanket that we drooped over to make more hiding spaces and his carrier with his blanket. We put the litter tray nearby and his food close to him but as far from the litter as possible. So far he is eating and using the litter tray, so thats a relief. We have put him on a really high quality diet of both dry and wet food and he eats the lot.
So far so good. He is wary of us and has in no way solicited affection from us at all. On the other hand he doesn't hiss or exhibit any signs of fear or aggression. Fine, he's settling in. We talk to him from a distance, try not to stare and when we move a little closer we lay on the floor and look the other way whilst talking. We also offer lots of slow blinks. But so far... nothing. We know to be patient and we are doing our best to be so.
One thing that I am a little concerned about is that he has found a hiding space behind the sofa where he spends all day, barely moving. When we take a look at him his body language seems fine and his ears are up but he just stares at us. We try enticing with toys, snacks (which he loves) or just offering company but he doesn't react at all. About 11pm he will slink out and move incredibly slowly around his corner, considering each step. At this point he may sit in his basket or snaffle some food but if we so much as blink he's ready to run for cover. It feels like he only comes out because he's hungry. We know he comes out when we've gone to bed because we can see the signs of him rolling on the carpet, playing with toys and exploring.
What I want to know is, is it slowing his integration for him to be hiding behind the sofa all day? He can't see us or what we're doing at all. He can only hear us. I'm thinking that if he cannot get a sense of us, our intentions or behaviour then he is just sat there, terrified of any noise. And because he cant see the source of the sounds of the house, how can he learn that this sounds are non threatening. Does that make sense? i.e. if you dont know what the sound is, how can you learn to be afraid or not afraid of it? Is hiding behind the sofa all day bad for him?
We have considered blocking the space behind the sofa and putting a box there so he still has a hideaway in a familiar spot but one from which he can observe us and integrate into daily life.
Thoughts and advice, greatly appreciated x
Looking for a little advice on the latest edition to our family. We recently adopted Victor (formally Prince, so ofcouse that makes his full title "the cat formally known as Prince") who, as you can see is a handsome chap. We adopted him from a family who had three cats but were unable to keep him. He has been a house cat all his life, and still is. He is un neutered, something we will take care of soon, but otherwise we were told he was affectionate and social. We asked the family to send us lots of videos before adopting and we could see from body language and behaviour that he is a very affectionate, food motivated cat.
Now i've done hours of reading about new cats, behaviours and great ways to get them set up in a new home and we have tried to implement as many as we could. We live in a large one bed flat but the options for settling him were the living room and bedroom. We opted for the living room because it is much larger than the bedroom and we felt the bedroom would become crowded with all of us in at night. In the living room he has his own corner we set up with a variety of cardboard box hide aways, a blanket that we drooped over to make more hiding spaces and his carrier with his blanket. We put the litter tray nearby and his food close to him but as far from the litter as possible. So far he is eating and using the litter tray, so thats a relief. We have put him on a really high quality diet of both dry and wet food and he eats the lot.
So far so good. He is wary of us and has in no way solicited affection from us at all. On the other hand he doesn't hiss or exhibit any signs of fear or aggression. Fine, he's settling in. We talk to him from a distance, try not to stare and when we move a little closer we lay on the floor and look the other way whilst talking. We also offer lots of slow blinks. But so far... nothing. We know to be patient and we are doing our best to be so.
One thing that I am a little concerned about is that he has found a hiding space behind the sofa where he spends all day, barely moving. When we take a look at him his body language seems fine and his ears are up but he just stares at us. We try enticing with toys, snacks (which he loves) or just offering company but he doesn't react at all. About 11pm he will slink out and move incredibly slowly around his corner, considering each step. At this point he may sit in his basket or snaffle some food but if we so much as blink he's ready to run for cover. It feels like he only comes out because he's hungry. We know he comes out when we've gone to bed because we can see the signs of him rolling on the carpet, playing with toys and exploring.
What I want to know is, is it slowing his integration for him to be hiding behind the sofa all day? He can't see us or what we're doing at all. He can only hear us. I'm thinking that if he cannot get a sense of us, our intentions or behaviour then he is just sat there, terrified of any noise. And because he cant see the source of the sounds of the house, how can he learn that this sounds are non threatening. Does that make sense? i.e. if you dont know what the sound is, how can you learn to be afraid or not afraid of it? Is hiding behind the sofa all day bad for him?
We have considered blocking the space behind the sofa and putting a box there so he still has a hideaway in a familiar spot but one from which he can observe us and integrate into daily life.
Thoughts and advice, greatly appreciated x
) is so adorable.
