New Rescue Cat, Is She Just Settling In?

[Void-Kun]

So a little about the cat before I talk about some of the issues:

She was found as a stray when she was 4-6 months old and she has been in the shelter for the past 12 months. Shes a beautiful girl, she's been spayed and the behavioral problem she has (which the shelter said is the reason she hasn't been getting adopted) is that she will scratch when she plays (figured this was normal for a cat anyway), that she sometimes swipes at you or bites when she's done with the attention and she does not like being picked up at all.

The woman at the shelter said it's possible these reasons are because she doesn't like being in the cage as when she's out and about in the shelter she's lovely till it's time to go back in her cage.

She has been at my apartment for a week now; she's using the litter tray, she's eating and drinking, she's playing (2-3 times a day) and she's jumping and climbing everywhere, so I'd say she has settled in quite well.

In the last couple of days she's started to become a little more destructive, she's pulled 2 fabric murals off the wall, she's pulled down some string lights that were hanging up and she's been chewing wires (every wire is protected but she goes right near the plug socket where I can't fully protect).

I have been on time off whilst I have had her but I am going back to work soon (8 hours a day) and I'm worried because I wont be able to play with her as often the destructive behavior could get worse.

She is lovely and I already love her to bits don't get me wrong but I wonder whether I'm able to provide her with the right environment, maybe she needs somewhere bigger or somewhere that she has the option to be an outdoor cat?

Do I wait longer and see if it's just her settling in? Is this environment right for her? I just want to give her the best life but the destructiveness has stressed me out in the last couple of days which I cannot afford to be with my career.

 

[FeebysOwner]

It sounds like she might be a bit bored. What kind of cat perches and/or cat trees do you have? And, toys? She probably would do well with a few places she could climb up onto and perhaps even spend some time looking out a window or two.

Here are a few TCS articles about cat boredom and ways to deal with it.

Bored Cat? What Cat Owners Need To Know (including 10 Actionable Tips)

8 Superb Automated Cat Toys That You're Going To Love!

How To Choose The Best Toy For Your Cat

How To Make Your Home Bigger (at Least For Your Cats)

 

[Etarre]

I agree with FeebysOwner that she seems like an energetic adventurous little cat who needs more to keep her busy. It's great that you're playing with her regularly, but does she also have toys for independent play? Kickeroo toys are great, as are those ball tray toys. A nice window perch can be the very best entertainment for a cat, but if you don't have any interesting windows, you could try YouTube cat videos.

When you do play with her, toys that can get her running around a lot, like the laser pointer, can help get her tired. And a cat tree and other approved things to climb will also help work out some of her energy.

Congratulations on your new cat! Please share some pictures if you have them...

 

[Void-Kun]

It sounds like she might be a bit bored. What kind of cat perches and/or cat trees do you have? And, toys? She probably would do well with a few places she could climb up onto and perhaps even spend some time looking out a window or two.

Here are a few TCS articles about cat boredom and ways to deal with it.

Bored Cat? What Cat Owners Need To Know (including 10 Actionable Tips)

8 Superb Automated Cat Toys That You're Going To Love!

How To Choose The Best Toy For Your Cat

How To Make Your Home Bigger (at Least For Your Cats)

I agree with FeebysOwner that she seems like an energetic adventurous little cat who needs more to keep her busy. It's great that you're playing with her regularly, but does she also have toys for independent play? Kickeroo toys are great, as are those ball tray toys. A nice window perch can be the very best entertainment for a cat, but if you don't have any interesting windows, you could try YouTube cat videos.

When you do play with her, toys that can get her running around a lot, like the laser pointer, can help get her tired. And a cat tree and other approved things to climb will also help work out some of her energy.

Congratulations on your new cat! Please share some pictures if you have them...

I do have a cat tree, several perches (one in the living room and another in my bedroom), I play with a feather stick, a fishing rod type toy with a bait, several balls with bells in, I've hung toys by string around the place and she's got several small mice with bells in too.

I tried a couple cat nip toys, and a cat nip spray but she doesn't seem care about cat nip at all.

She definitely is high energy, but I physically don't have the time in the day to play with her myself for longer than I already am (1-2 hours a day split over 2-3 sessions). When I described my situation to the shelter and what I could do and I asked if they thought she'd match my situation they said she would.

She's absolutely adorable but now I'm more worried I can't give her what she needs.

 

[Void-Kun]

Just to add (sorry I couldn't find any way to edit my previous post). But I am making sure she's running around a lot, I get her running from room to room, jumping up and down surfaces and I can see she's breathing much faster by the time we're finished, at which point she stops being interested in playing.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Just to add (sorry I couldn't find any way to edit my previous post).

Editing allowances and other changes come from how many posts/days since membership began. Here is the basic 'rules':

Promotions and Benefits​

But I am making sure she's running around a lot, I get her running from room to room, jumping up and down surfaces and I can see she's breathing much faster by the time we're finished, at which point she stops being interested in playing.

These play times are good! But, tbh, you can bet in probably less than an hour, she would be ready to go again. So, the suggestions above are to fill in her possible 'bored' time in between your play sessions with her!! Not to mention, once you are not at home as much, she will need other forms of 'entertainment' to keep her from getting even more bored!!

A little more age on her and some of that will slow down a bit as well!!

 

[Jem]

I'm not sure if your situation would allow this, but if she is a social cat (likes other cats) possibly a neutered male cat close to her age (or a bit younger) would keep her entertained.
And I mention male, because (sometimes) females tend to not get along with other females.

When we adopted our cats (we got three at one time) we could only bring two of them home that day as the third had ringworm and the shelter wanted to make sure it was gone before we brought him home.
Well, our first male NEVER STOPPED. He would want to play all the time and he was not very good with independent play, so he did show some destructive behavior to get our attention. But when we were finally able to bring home the second male, he has been great. The boys chase each other around the house 24/7 but it's ALL play, and he is no longer destructive.

FYI - the little female (the third cat) was not a play mate as she was our little bonus kitty that we just could not leave behind, she was way to timid to play with our first boy. Thankfully she has blossomed and is starting to play with the boys a bit.

 

[Etarre]

Sometimes cats need a little encouragement to grasp the idea of independent play. If your cat isn't into catnip, it could help to incorporate 'independent' toys into your playtimes with your cat, just for a few minutes, so that she gets the idea that they're toys. For example, we toss Juniper's toys around in passing sometimes when she looks bored, and this can encourage her to bat them around a bit. We also made a game of placing them randomly all over her cat tree, which drives her nuts, and she'll often wake up from a nap, find a toy on her tree, and attack it with vigor! Super cute.

Does your cat like boxes? Juniper couldn't care less about them, but most cats love climbing into boxes, investigating them, etc. Bonus points for putting crumpled paper inside so that they can hide, pounce, etc. Our first cat, Gwen, was so obsessed with boxes that we had to keep a few empty ones on hand at all time, and we often found her inside.