What Was Your Cat's Behavior Like In The First Day?

[Anne]

When you first brought your cat home, what did he or she do during the first hours and days? Were they hiding or did they come out and start exploring right away? Did they refuse to leave the carrier? Did they eat, drink and use the box on the first day?

I'd love to hear your stories (and yes, I'm working on a new piece, so they may be featured there).

Please also mention the cat's age when you first brought him/her home. Photos are also very welcome - thank you!

 

[MillieKit]

I brought Millie home around 5-6 months old. She stayed in her carrier with her familiar blanket, and I let her come out on her own time. It took some time for her to know how to get around the house as it has many hallways but she warmed up to me very quickly. In the first days she wasn’t actually that reluctant to eat or anything so I think it went well. The first time she decided to leave her carrier was when she was lured out by a toy, then she hid under the couch. Litter box wasn’t a big issue as she was already a good kitten with that. All in all it was a good experience.

 

[Benjamin Franklin (Benji)]

Time to participate! I live in the big city, and there are tons of cats. Probably BYBs, actual reputable breeders, stray cats, cats that have run away, and more. My friend found Benji in a box outside her door in the winter (yes, who would do that?). After she checked him thoroughly and brought him to the vet she handed him over to me. It was then my job to socialize and train him for the most part, I suppose. I was sure that somebody didn’t want this young kitten and had owned him previously because he seemed to be quite okay around people.

During the first days it was a nightmare though despite me having visited him before. He was a bit less than 2 months but we’re not exactly sure. The birthdate I put down was Nov. 7 because that was just my really bad estimate. When I brought him home to see what I could do, he immediately hid under the couch when I attempted to get him used to his new home. Later he came out to go to the bathroom and eat. He didn’t eat. I tried everything and he just didn’t eat. Stress? Not sure. After a good night’s sleep he woke up and when I got out of bed all his wet food was gone! That was when I began to try and get him used to the house/me. Almost immediately he began purring and it was just a little miracle, so I was excited to see how he would grow.

Now of course he is like this and I wouldn’t prefer it any other way.

 

[Etarre]

When we first brought Juniper home, she left the carrier and immediately sought out a hiding place near where I had set it down. She spent the first evening home hiding under a table, then plucked up the courage to find a better hiding place in the bedroom closet behind an old air conditioner we have stashed there. The next day, she came out, ran around frantically, meowing urgently, and clearly was looking for a litter box. I showed it to her, she used it, and then it was back into the closet for most of the rest of the day, although I did manage to lure her out for some playtime with the cat dancer. She used that hiding place on and off for the next few weeks.

My first kitty also hid immediately after I brought her home, but I did carry her up to the loft bed to keep an eye on her when I went to bed, and about half an hour later, she curled up in my armpit to sleep.

 

[susanm9006]

Willow was a semi feral when I adopted her in 2011. She came out of her carrier in her safe room immediately and then did the ultra slow, low to the ground slink to a hiding spot up in the box spring under the bed. The only signs I saw of her during her first few weeks were that she had moved all of the dozen or so toys I had set out for her into her hiding spot and was apparently coming out to eat and use the litter-box.

 

[Kieka]

Link ran out of his carrier and started pouncing on a sparkly ball. I have a video at home that I'll have to upload, I started recording just after he started playing. He was completely oblivious to the resident cat watching him and when he noticed the resident cat he bounced over. When the cat didn't want to play he went right back to the ball. I swear, nothing has ever phased Link for more than a second.

Rocket was a very unhappy wet kitty. She was feral but she was also very scared and weak. We had put her in the bathtub while trying to decide what to do and she stank. So we gave her a bath very quickly and bundled her up in a towel to dry. This was her outside drying off...

IMG_5253.JPG

• Kieka
• Dec 1, 2016

Honestly, half of the socialization battle was won with her just because she was so weak. We kept her in a cage for a good month when she wasn't directly handled but she was hungry and tiny. Barely over a pound at four months old and prone to sleeping. It took a good two months before she had enough energy to play or try to fight back but by then she had started to accept life as it was. I had to take her in three time in four months for antibiotics, B12 and hydration to keep her going while she gain strength, muscle and weight. Plus Link was winning her over, that boy followed her everywhere she went waiting for her to become playful.

Edit: that photo may have been her second or third weeks bath. She seriously stank too high heaven for a good month but we only gave her a weekly bath to not stress her too much.

I forgot Nightfury.... He was half dead and barely moving. So we were focused on getting him warm and fed. After the first night we gave him and his brother a bath, the water ran black from all the dirt and fleas. I have a photo at home of them all poof ball and drying in the sun. It took a good two to three days for him to perk up but he was never the super hyper kitten mode. His brother, Flint, was into everything but Fury was very much a reserved kitten. We had to seperate them when Flint started nursing on Fury and Fury would spend hours curled up alseep on my Mom. He's always been more of a watch cat.

Late Edit:

Videos and Pictures ...

Link, first 24 hours (first one is first 24 seconds, lol)

View media item 420974View media item 420975

Rocket, more like the first two months. I was trying not to get attached, just socialize her so I didn't take many pictures. The tent photo is her first non-cage night in my room after deciding to keep her, so about a month and a half in. Keep in mind she is 4-6 months old in these photos, small baby.

Nightfury, first photo is 24 hours when he made it through the night. The rest are from the first few weeks. Again, we weren't keeping him so I don't have a ton of pictures. He was "the black kitten" for a good two months.

 

[jcat]

Mowgli was a 9-month-old shelter cat when he entered our lives. He walked out of the carrier the minute I opened it and began exploring the house. He wasn't interested in staying in a "safe room". That first day (actually it was early evening) he ate, used his litter box, played with his toys, got up on the sofa with me, greeted my husband when he got up in order to work night shift, and spent the night sleeping beside my pillow. The next day was more of the same, except he wanted to sleep between us.

We were rather surprised when we found that he was a bit shy with strangers, because he never treated us as such and immediately made himself at home. We were almost shocked when I learned from the shelter that he'd been found as a 16-week-old feral kitten.

These pictures are from his first few hours at home:

The picture of Mowgli putting his paw on my hand is one of my very favorites. It was almost as if he were asking, "You're going to keep me and love me forever, right?"

 

[EmmiTemmi]

I brought Colby home when he was 4 months old. The second I opened the carrier he was out and exploring his 'safe room'. He was a very confident kitten and wasn't scared at all. That first day he wouldn't eat his dry food (provided by the rescue group), but he gobbled down his wet food. I had planned on keeping him in that room for at least the first night to get him used to the new apartment, but as I was entering later in the afternoon he slipped out into the rest of the apartment. My family was there helping me move in, and Colby trotted up to each of them, tail high, purring like crazy, and begged for pets. From then on he had free reign in the apartment. This was also MY first night in the apartment, so I didn't even have a mattress yet. That night I slept on the couch in the living room with Colby curled up on my chest.

I got Monty a month later and he was 5 months old at the time. I set up the bathroom as a 'safe room' again, and planned to keep him and Colby separate for at least a few days. Once I opened the carrier, Monty was out and exploring the bathroom, just like Colby had. He didn't even seem bothered by the occasional hiss Colby would give from the other side of the door. Trying to get in/out the door without one of the boys trying to push past me was hard, but I managed it for the first day. Monty was great about eating, scarfed everything down, wet and dry, and begged for more. He slept in the bathroom that night, and was an absolute angel.

This next bit isn't about the first day, but more like a warning/caution about the early days. I was eager for the boys to meet each other and become friends. Someone on this site said to just open the door between them, since they were so young, and let them figure each other out. So I did. They were fine with each other after a while, BUT what I hadn't known at the time was Monty had worms/parasite or something. I checked his litterbox and he had diarrhea, which I figured was just stress related. Few days later, with both cats living together now and best buds, I took Monty to the vet and they gave him a dewormer since he still had diarrhea. Worked great. A day later Colby started having diarrhea, and then Monty had it again, so I had to go back to the vet and got a dewormer for both again. That med didn't end up working and the vet gave me another dewormer that targets a different worm/parasite, and finally the diarrhea stopped. Expensive lesson learned, make sure both cats are healthy before introductions.

 

[Etarre]

Kieka , I love the pics of sad, wet little Rocket.

I'm impressed by the fearless cats you all have! I used to cat sit an orange tabby boy who was
like this, but I've always had shy/skittish cats.

 

[Merlin77]

When we brought Snake all the way from the cabin to our actual house where she had to stay for a few weeks, she had no worries about claiming the new "territory" as her own.

First, she explored every inch of the house. We showed her the litterbox in the bathroom, which she promptly learned to use without a single mishap.

She claimed her favourite napping spots within the first three days, and also loved going outside on the porch and in the backyard. The couch was quickly also claimed as a scratching post (we didn't invest in an actual scratching post because she was staying only temporarily and the couches were old).

In conclusion...

Edit: Snake was around 7-8 months when we brought her home. She ate and drank well, and also got into the new schedule very easily.

 

[vince]

Sir Eats-A-Lot was first. Before bringing him home, I made a safe room in the back bedroom. He was there for about 45 minutes and stated scratching under the door and crying, so I opened it to see. He came out and owned the house. No odd frightened behaviors or anything. Ate where I put the bowl, pooped where I put the box. Not trouble at all. Like a kitty with automatic transmission.

When Chesterfield came as a companion for Eats-A-lot, I did the same thing. The only thing that happened was one little hiss from Eats-A-lot just for good measure. I put Chester in the same safe room I'd set up. After an hour or two, the two of them were playing under the door, so I decided to chance opening it. They started chasing each other and playing and were sleeping together within a couple hours more.

Their introduction went better than I could have hoped. They're quite closely bonded, and I even refer to them as brothers.

They were both young adult neutered cats when I got them. I think they were about a year old when each came here, but I don't have any real way of knowing for sure.

 

[LAL]

Melody was 4 1/2 when I adopted her from the Humane Society last October. She'd been there at least 6 months and at an overcrowded Kentucky shelter before that. [You could see the hopelessness in her eyes.]

I could hear her crying in their cardboard carrier all the way home--about 3 miles. I'd been prepared for her to hide and had made a spot in a closet ready for her, I even opened the carrier there. But, as soon as I opened it up, she popped out and started to explore. She looked around every room, it was the only time I [knowingly] let her on the kitchen counters, and even took a few bites of the food I put down-same as the shelter fed her.

She startled at every sound. But, she played with the teaser wand I had for her. [Again, like the shelter.] And, she slept on the bed with me the first night--and ever since. She is an anxious sort of cat, but very attached to me. She still follows me room to room almost constantly, but has gained enormously in confidence. The only issue she really has is a fear of being in small places--from being caged up for so long I think. She has just started to run through the tunnel I got her.

I think it helped that I had no pets prior to her, so she is the ruler of her kingdom, and me.

 

[duncanmac]

We got our two boys about 3 months apart. Duncan came in December, 2016. He was from a private rescue and 12 weeks old. He was a bundle of energy that would not be contained. As soon as the carrier was open, he started exploring every inch of his safe room. He spent the first three days in the safe room and was let loose while we were home on the third night. I think after a week, maybe two, he had the run of the house. He is the mayor of the house and happy to greet any and all guests.

IMG_20170121_184829

• duncanmac
• Mar 28, 2018

IMG_20170106_051256

• duncanmac
• Mar 28, 2018

Barry came three months later. I think he was nine months when we got him and had spent at least six months at a Petsmart adoption booth. He was scared when I first saw him in November and apparently had been scared since he get to the shelter in June or July.

Barry's First Picture

• duncanmac
• Mar 28, 2018

I hate that picture. That was how Barry acted when we first met - very withdrawn. My wife really wanted an orange cat so we kept looking and found Duncan.

After three months, Duncan didn't calm down (he had no littermates that survived - the rescue had named him Solo - so he had no manners) so we went back to Petsmart figuring Barry would be long gone. The lady working the booth was shocked when we asked for him and couldn't have been happier to give him to us, after the paperwork and reference check. I was happy that Barry was still there but sad at the same time.

My wife surprised me with him as soon as we were cleared. He went and hid in his safe room:

first night.jpg

• duncanmac
• Mar 19, 2017
• 1

The next day, Saturday, he got out of the safe room and hid in a file drawer for two days.

This thread outlines what I went through to get them together: When To Introduce New Kittens

I spent HOURS with Barry getting his confidence up - at first just sitting and reading and talking to myself. He would spend that time just watching me from as far away as possible. Eventually I could play with him a little and then feed him out of my hand, but that took about two weeks of hard patient work.

But Barry struck a nerve when we first met and I held a torch for him. It was totally worth it - this is Barry after about a month - he is out of the bathroom and during or just after a supervised visit with Duncan:

Barry Belly Rub.jpg

• duncanmac
• Mar 17, 2017

I didn't get that again for almost a year. He is still really shy and hides from guests but warmed up to my wife about six months ago.

With both boys, we got incredibly lucky - they used the litterbox right away, ate fine, drank fine. They both figured that out on their own with no accidents (one or both of them will occasionally stand in the box and poop outside the box) The wrestled and boxed a lot when first introduced, but now they are 90% pals.

Pals!

• duncanmac
• Nov 2, 2017

Hugs 2

• duncanmac
• Mar 1, 2018

I never thought this day would happen

 

[Lari]

First day... I brought Lelia home from her foster in the afternoon. She was 4.5 months old and I knew she was shy and skittish. She was very quiet in the car and we set up eveything in my room and at my bf's suggestion, I believe, I took her out of the carrier and put her in the litterbox so she'd know where it was. She then bolted into a corner.

She quickly found what would be her favorite spot the next few days.

I let her have time to herself, but I had to sleep in there. I barely slept the first night. She cried. "Meowy, meowy". All night long. It almost sounded like she was trying to say my name and ask me why I'd dare rip her away from her foster home. I was so heartbroken.

Fortunately, the lure of toys was strong.

And she got used to me and now she's a teenage brat. But the first day was rough and full of a lot of "did I do the right thing?"

 

[mightyboosh]

Oliver was ten when I got him and when I first opened the carrier in the lounge, he shot under the sofa where there is a five inch gap. He stayed there for hours and when I finally got him out, I decided to take him upstairs away from the dogs. They were harmless but he didn't realise that. In our bedroom he found a gap behind the mattress where he stayed for several hours. He slowly ventured out for a few seconds at a time then shot back at the slightest noise.
He became braver over the next week or so and his spells out from behind the mattress grew longer until he was confident in the room. He then slowly started to venture onto the landing and other upstairs rooms but again shooting back to safety at any disturbance or noise.
After a few weeks he started peering down the stairs and would go down a few steps then dart back again. He gradually went further down but always stopped at the bottom. It took several months but one day he just decided to take the plunge and came into the lounge for a few minutes. After another week or so of repeating that he became more confident and now he owns it and doesn't go upstairs much except for sometimes deciding to sleep on our bed. That is one little anomaly in that he follows me around all the time and is a bit obsessed with me but when I retire to bed, he often stays downstairs for a while then wakes me up in the middle of the night. Judging by his normal behaviour, I would have thought he would be glued to me as I go to bed but hey ho.
I have to say that from day one he never hissed, scratched or bit any of us even when he was most intimidated by his new surroundings. He was sweet and gentle from the first moment.
These are a few of the earlier photos of him with my daughter.
Betty and Chubchub's intros to follow.

 

[Lari]

I have to say that from day one he never hissed, scratched or bit any of us even when he was most intimidated by his new surroundings. He was sweet and gentle from the first moment.

Lelia was like that, too!

 

[bodester413]

I brought Bodhi home when he was around 14 weeks old. I used my bedroom as a safe room and had his litter box and food and water in there. I grabbed a bag of corn chips and a book to read for myself and let him out of the carrier. I kind of assumed he would be scared and probably hide under the bed, but he wasn't too freaked out. He checked out the bag of corn chips and carried one off and jumped from my bed to a bookshelf and licked off the salt. After an hour or two there was a power failure in the house So I walked across the street to a neighbors to see if it was out in the entire neighborhood or just my house. When I came back I realized I had forgotten to shut my bedroom door when I left. Bodhi had come downstairs and was sitting in a window looking outside. So I thought well I might as well move his food and water into the kitchen if he's already walking around downstairs. I moved his litterbox out into the upstairs hallway once I saw him use it a few times.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - I have another somewhat older cat introduction to a new household.
Poppy-cat aka The Big Guy was 5 years old at that time. He'd been in a home with two young boys (and their friends) and at least one other cat. His owner loved him to pieces but one of her sons had a major cat allergy, her husband wasn't 'a cat guy' and Poppy wasn't getting along with the other cat(s) at all. Enormous stress for one feline to deal with.

So, she finally made the difficult choice to rehome him. She contacted a couple of adoption/shelter organizations, and refused to let him be stuck in a cage as she knew that would be purely awful for him so he continued living at her house during her search for a good new home.
In other words, he is quite the cat and she is quite the cat person - we're still in touch as a matter of fact.

Fast forward to the first day with us. I can vividly recall how l-o-w to the ground he was, with his tail down when we let him out of the carrier. Sniffing, looking, listening as he cautiously nosed around in the pantry and checked out the kitchen. He camped out in a bathroom for a little while, and after a bit went to the bottom of the stairs where we'd closed the door shutting off access to the basement, and rested there.

He used the box the first day, and if I remember correctly he ate - his dishes, box and some toys were provided to us.

The second morning he ate more of his kibble. He slept the day away tucked in a closet. That afternoon and evening we gave belly rubs and he played with a mousie-toy, slept in the middle of the living room floor, played with his toy again and then chowed down on some canned food. Catnapped again, then chased his little mousie all over the house.

The third day he slept out in the open again. In the later part of the day he went into soccer mode with his favorite toy, then dropped it into his water bowl, fished it out, stared at it, drowned it again...

For a couple weeks, he yowled at the top of his lungs during the night. We weren't familiar with any calming products at the time so just waited it out, double-checked with his other pet-parents as to whether that was normal (no) and thought hard about ear plugs. He finally calmed enough to where he didn't do that anymore, and then was basically mostly silent for a number of years. He has become wonderfully vocal these past couple of years, chirping, meowing, talking, yelling, and purry-meowing when we respond as we're supposed to

He developed the idea that the top of the stairs was his 'safe place', and would retreat there whenever he needed some time-out time from visitors and other scary things. He had a somewhat challenging time with the noise of the refrigerator, sizzling fry pans and the crackly sound of plastic grocery bags.

Now he rules the house with a velvet paw.

This was his first day;


This was yesterday;

 

[Gizmobius]

Gizmo was 10 weeks old and had just been neutered by the shelter that very day I went in. They told me to make sure he didn't exert himself too much, make sure he isn't too rambunctious, make sure he stays calm. Yeah right, I'd like to see anybody keep a 10 week old kitten calm! He had tons of toys, a big cat tree he could hardly even make it onto, two litter boxes to choose from, yummy new foods, all sorts of trouble to get into. And boy, did he. From peeing on curtains to biting fingers to getting into all sorts of small nooks and crannies, he made sure to explore everything about my bedroom which was what he was confined to for his first few days. He wasn't scared or apprehensive about his new home. He wanted to scope everything out and even though he did take a few short naps here and there, he always woke back up to make sure everything was explored yet again.

 

[Purr-fect]

Oliver was ten when I got him and when I first opened the carrier in the lounge, he shot under the sofa where there is a five inch gap. He stayed there for hours and when I finally got him out, I decided to take him upstairs away from the dogs. They were harmless but he didn't realise that. In our bedroom he found a gap behind the mattress where he stayed for several hours. He slowly ventured out for a few seconds at a time then shot back at the slightest noise.
He became braver over the next week or so and his spells out from behind the mattress grew longer until he was confident in the room. He then slowly started to venture onto the landing and other upstairs rooms but again shooting back to safety at any disturbance or noise.
After a few weeks he started peering down the stairs and would go down a few steps then dart back again. He gradually went further down but always stopped at the bottom. It took several months but one day he just decided to take the plunge and came into the lounge for a few minutes. After another week or so of repeating that he became more confident and now he owns it and doesn't go upstairs much except for sometimes deciding to sleep on our bed. That is one little anomaly in that he follows me around all the time and is a bit obsessed with me but when I retire to bed, he often stays downstairs for a while then wakes me up in the middle of the night. Judging by his normal behaviour, I would have thought he would be glued to me as I go to bed but hey ho.
I have to say that from day one he never hissed, scratched or bit any of us even when he was most intimidated by his new surroundings. He was sweet and gentle from the first moment.
These are a few of the earlier photos of him with my daughter.
Betty and Chubchub's intros to follow.

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Oliver is a beautiful boy!! He looks alot like my Arnold, except Arnold is completely grey.

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