Just adopted a 1 year old cat and I think I'm as stressed out as he is! Any insight on why he would deliberately seek out my shoe to pee in? And then poop on the opposite side of the room to the litterbox (all of this right in front of me while I am watching him in disbelief)??
I've only had him since Sunday and he did use the litterbox normally on the 2nd day. I've been keeping him in a "safe room" (my bedroom) with calming music, lots of toys, comfy places to sleep, window to look out. He has been eating and drinking (crappy dry food but I'll deal with diet changes later).
I've been spending as much time as possible hanging out in the room with him and he's not shown any signs of aggression, not hiding under the bed and likes to play and be petted. The first night he even lay on me the whole night!
That's why I'm so confused why he made this "statement" yesterday with his pee and poop. I can only guess that maybe I left him alone for too long that night (around 1.5 hours) and that made him more anxious? Or can he smell my previous cat who recently died?
Or is this just normal anxiety behaviour due to the change in his living situation? He was surrendered by his past owner and in the past few weeks has been at a couple different homes including foster care as well as the vets where he only just got neutered at 1 year 4 months. I don't know if the rescue org adopted him out too soon or what.
Today he did go pee and poop in his box, but his poops seem almost like diarrhea. I put a new litterbox down where he made the "statement" and got Dr. Elsey's Attract litter and that's what he used - hasn't gone back to the other box. I also got Feliway diffuser to help calm him.
Now I'm anxious and doubting myself - I don't know now if I'm spending too much time monitoring him or too little, and really worried about ongoing soiling issues... I'm dreading introducing him to the rest of the house. Not to mention I don't want him to feel so stressed out! Any insights or advice would be much appreciated!
I've only had him since Sunday and he did use the litterbox normally on the 2nd day. I've been keeping him in a "safe room" (my bedroom) with calming music, lots of toys, comfy places to sleep, window to look out. He has been eating and drinking (crappy dry food but I'll deal with diet changes later).
I've been spending as much time as possible hanging out in the room with him and he's not shown any signs of aggression, not hiding under the bed and likes to play and be petted. The first night he even lay on me the whole night!
That's why I'm so confused why he made this "statement" yesterday with his pee and poop. I can only guess that maybe I left him alone for too long that night (around 1.5 hours) and that made him more anxious? Or can he smell my previous cat who recently died?
Or is this just normal anxiety behaviour due to the change in his living situation? He was surrendered by his past owner and in the past few weeks has been at a couple different homes including foster care as well as the vets where he only just got neutered at 1 year 4 months. I don't know if the rescue org adopted him out too soon or what.
Today he did go pee and poop in his box, but his poops seem almost like diarrhea. I put a new litterbox down where he made the "statement" and got Dr. Elsey's Attract litter and that's what he used - hasn't gone back to the other box. I also got Feliway diffuser to help calm him.
Now I'm anxious and doubting myself - I don't know now if I'm spending too much time monitoring him or too little, and really worried about ongoing soiling issues... I'm dreading introducing him to the rest of the house. Not to mention I don't want him to feel so stressed out! Any insights or advice would be much appreciated!
Please do keep is updated.
