Very anxious and always hiding

sasha.mccartney2

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 13, 2020
Messages
23
Purraise
26
Location
Germany
Good Evening fellow cat-lovers!

Yesterday was finally the day! My little rescue cat from Bulgaria moved in, we named him Haku. But he is very anxious and keeps hiding. The moment the carrier box opened he ran out and searched for a hiding spot, quickly found it under our bed in the bedroom. I put some food and water nearby as well as the litter box.

We gave him some time, after some hours we tried to comfort him. After about an hour of talking to him he seemed to warm up a bit, he isn't scared of us much. Giving us slow blinks and also let me pet him. We tried getting him out from under the bed but he ran away and hid under the kitchen counter. We left him there, to once again give him some space.

This night I woke up and found him meowing in the hallway, when he saw me he ran into the living room and hid in the cat tree. This is where we found him this morning too and where he's staying ever since. I know he was in the bedroom at night and stepped into the litter box, but didnt use it. He also didn't seem to eat or drink anything.

I know he's scared but maybe you can give me some advice, how to make him a bit more comfortable about exploring our apartment? And how to get him to eat? I'm scared he will dehydrate or get hungry, this morning I gave him a new bowl of wet food and dry food and also moved the litter box to the living room close to the cat tree where he's hiding.

We have a feliway plugged in in the living room and also tried to get his attention with toys and treats. But he's too anxious to come out.

Since he had such a long way from Bulgaria to Germany he peed and pooped in the carrier. I already cleaned it out but it seems like he has some poop stuck to his tail and I cannot get to clean it. He accepts me touching him with a wet towel but it doesn't come off. Do I have to be worried? I don't want him to lick it and get sick or something.

Thank you all in advance for your help and support.
 

tabbytom

Happiness is being owned by a cat
Staff Member
Mentor
Joined
May 12, 2016
Messages
19,672
Purraise
36,868
Location
Lion City, Singa-purr
Yesterday was finally the day! My little rescue cat from Bulgaria moved in, we named him Haku. But he is very anxious and keeps hiding. The moment the carrier box opened he ran out and searched for a hiding spot, quickly found it under our bed in the bedroom.
:hellosmiley: and congrats on your getting a new cat from afar.

As to your concerns, this is very normal for new cats to arriving from another place as they are not use to or not familiar with the surroundings, sights and sounds and especially like yours that travelled from a long distance as all these will tire and stress out the cat. The first thing a cat would do is to hide to make sure they are safe and that's why they hide.

Give Haku some time to get use to the room and of course to you and your voice. Speak to him in a calm and soft tone and keep calling his name. He may not eat or drink or use the litterbox for a day or two. Just make sure that the room he's in has no other hiding place that he can get in can't get out.

Every time you go see him, call out his name lovingly before you breach the room and don't just walk straight in. Keep yourself low to ground and sit near him with a toy or food in your hand and try to coax him to come out. It may take a while before he completely trust you. Just repeat each time you go see him and go low so that you don't pose as a treat to him. Leave one or two of your clean unwashed non perfumed clothings and leave it in the room. where he lays as tis will help him get use to your scent.
Also get some towels and leave them where he is to soak up his scents and use the towels later to place around the house so that when he ventures out of the room, there will be familiar scents of himself.

Leave his food and water away from the litterbox (food and litterbox must not be next to each other. The further the better). He'll eat when he's hungry and most probably when he's alone and will use the litter box too.

As for cleaning his tail, it's good that he allows you to touch it and that means he has some trust in you already. Try cleaning the tail with a slightly warm damp towel till you get all the poop out. But I guess he's. groom himself and clean it and it's ok when he does that.

Let him explore the room or house at his own time. Once he's use to the place and people and sound around him, he'll slowly come out to explore, but leave a place for him to go back to hide if he's afraid. Get him a box which is good and cats like boxes.

All these will take some time but just don't rush him and just continue the routines and lower him with lots of love and patience.

Here are some articles for you to read :-

bringing-home-a-new-cat-the-complete-guide

help-new-cat-adjust-to-home

new-cat-checklist-what-you-need-to-get-before-bringing-kitty-home

first-time-cat-owners-guide

52-reasons-why-cats-must-get-inside-boxes

cats-lilies-avoid-the-danger-lurking-in-your-home

household-chemicals-and-your-cats

Have Haku neutered when the time is right:-

why-you-should-spay-and-neuter-your-cats

And there are many wonderful articles here in c

Feel free to ask questions and we'll try our best to help you as we have many experience members here that are willing to help out.
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

sasha.mccartney2

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 13, 2020
Messages
23
Purraise
26
Location
Germany
Thanks for your reply!

I put the food bowl next to his hiding spot, the litter box is on the other side of the room. We try our best to give him space. He seems a bit more calm (noticed him napping a bit and still returning our slow blinks). We talk to him but also make him get used to our presence and the kind of sounds that are happening in our apartment by sitting in the living room, doing our normal stuff (watching TV, eating, working on the laptop etc).

Haku already is neutered, got the full treatment with neutering, vaxxinating and overall vet care by the rescue in Bulgaria.

Also gave him a little plush toy for cats with valerian (?) but he doesn't care about the smell or the toy overall. Other toys don't get his attention either, but I think he likes that we speak to him. Right now he's napping again, must have been a long night for that poor little guy.
 

tabbytom

Happiness is being owned by a cat
Staff Member
Mentor
Joined
May 12, 2016
Messages
19,672
Purraise
36,868
Location
Lion City, Singa-purr
Thanks for your reply!
B23897A4-51D3-4BD3-9BCF-7803C930DEA6$L0$001~photo.GIF


Slow eye blinks are good. Slow blink with him and turn your head slowly to look away as this will show him that he is in command. After doing that for a few times throughout the day, see if he slow eye blink back to you. If he does, your bottle have been won.

Yes, leave the sound of they on and leave everything as usual for him to get use to. Good to hear that he's already neutered.

Cats are attracted to certain toys and not all cats response to catnips. Get a feather wand or a ball to entice hm to play. But since he's just arrived, give him time and don't rush him. Do everything at his pace and don't confuse him or let him loose his trust in you.

Do keep us updated.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

sasha.mccartney2

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 13, 2020
Messages
23
Purraise
26
Location
Germany
Actually just noticed that he in fact did poop last night. On the trashbag that was laying in the hallway with the pee pad and poop from his carrier box inside. I did take the scoop and placed the poop in the litter box to show him that this box filled with wood litter is in fact for pooping.

I tried it yesterday with one of those wand toys that has a squeaky toy and a long band attached to it, but he was still too anxious yesterday. Maybe we an try it later when he got some rest.
 

tabbytom

Happiness is being owned by a cat
Staff Member
Mentor
Joined
May 12, 2016
Messages
19,672
Purraise
36,868
Location
Lion City, Singa-purr
Actually just noticed that he in fact did poop last night. On the trashbag that was laying in the hallway with the pee pad and poop from his carrier box inside. I did take the scoop and placed the poop in the litter box to show him that this box filled with wood litter is in fact for pooping.
Yes, that's good to hear that he did poop and it's good thing to leave the poop buried for a day or two in the litterbox so that when he uses the litterbox, he can smell his own poop and use it the next time round.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

sasha.mccartney2

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 13, 2020
Messages
23
Purraise
26
Location
Germany
Mayor breakthrough! He let me pet him, he was very comfy and purred, even booped my hand with his face to say "more please". I'm so happy right now. Even though he still doesn't want to leave his hiding spot, at least he's warming up to us some more.
 

tabbytom

Happiness is being owned by a cat
Staff Member
Mentor
Joined
May 12, 2016
Messages
19,672
Purraise
36,868
Location
Lion City, Singa-purr
Mayor breakthrough! He let me pet him, he was very comfy and purred, even booped my hand with his face to say "more please". I'm so happy right now. Even though he still doesn't want to leave his hiding spot, at least he's warming up to us some more.
IMG_3321.GIF
This is very good sign. Don't worry about the hiding. He'll soon come out of it. Just don't betray his trust. Keep it up!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

sasha.mccartney2

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 13, 2020
Messages
23
Purraise
26
Location
Germany
Dear lord he finally ate something. Got me a little worried but he was sitting under our bed (he moved to the bedroom i think because the living room was very warm) and started munching on the dry food that were lying under the bed (we dropped them there yesterday in hope to get him eating). My boyfriend quickly got the bowl with wetfood and Haku ate it! Even went for a second course before stopping to get his paws clean. I'm so happy right now!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #10

sasha.mccartney2

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 13, 2020
Messages
23
Purraise
26
Location
Germany
He used the litter box last night! I checked it this morning and he peed in it, twice. No additional poop I think, at least I didn't find any. I checked every corner but he also didn't poop on the ground, I feared he'd poop again in the hallway but the trash bag is gone. But no, he sees the litterbox as his toilet now :)

Also he lets me scratch his head and he purrs, he seems very comfortable but is still hiding under the bed. We even have a cat tree in the bedroom but no, he prefers to sit on the floor under the bed, where it's all dirty and stuff.

Also yesterday I managed to get the poop that was stuck on his tail out with a wet towel, but i noticed he also has some on his back legs. Didn't want me to clean those tho.
 

tabbytom

Happiness is being owned by a cat
Staff Member
Mentor
Joined
May 12, 2016
Messages
19,672
Purraise
36,868
Location
Lion City, Singa-purr
That's very good progress!

He'll come out eventually.. He's just making sure of everything is 100% safe and mentally preparing himself. Give him a little more time and he'll rule the house.
 
Top