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

[Monk'sMom]

Four cats, four different first-day stories.
The first two came from the city shelter the same day. Both had just been neutered hours before, and we were told they need to "not jump or run' for about two days.
HA!
Mr. Monk-- So ebullient at being out of his tiny cage and in a home, ran like a crazy person, jumped five feet in the air, and retuned after every round to lick us and purr like a machine. We lost him recently, and I am never going to be over that as his energy was pure joy for the four years we had him. Even the vet complained on his first check-up that she could not hear his heart or lungs because he purred so loud the moment he saw her. He has zero adjustment period, and was at home form the first second.

Sokolov-- a shy and traumatized black long hair feral kitten, hid for two weeks and would only come out to play, eat, sleep and follow Mr. Monk, (who was everyone's best friend if they only asked) and they were inseparable. Sokolov learned to trust his human family, but only us. He remains a shy cat and visitors never see him.


Clara Schumann-- came a week after the guys above. I drove like a maniac to the city shelter because a volunteer let me know she was due to be euthanized in two hours as she'd been passed over for adoption for months, and began having bloody stools. I told them not to euthanize her, and that I was coming. They wouldn't guarantee it, so I drove fast to get her. For a couple of months after her arrival, she kept looking for ways to get out of the house, while we don't allow that as when we re-home a cat. She seemed the picture of stress and anxiety. She stared at the ceiling and cried. After tests regarding her bloody stools that cleared her for parasites, the vet said it was likely anxiety. it took four months for both Clara and her gut to relax, and she's been really well ever since. She is the most sober, mature, healthy and balanced cat in the home.

From left to right: Sokolov (black) Mr. Monk (Gray tabby and White) & Clara Schumann (Gray tabby)

Nougat-- our latest addition, hid under an armoire in her separate room (our bedroom) for two days. She also would not eat or drink, and I was beside myself. Then, holding Fancy Feast Salmon right under her nose, she began to eat. Carefully, hesitantly, then more decisively. DH played string toy with her under the armoire, and her spirit rebounded. She is a vocal, super affectionate and loud purrer now.

Nougat^

 

[tarasgirl06]

Not to hijack the thread but @mightyboosh I LOVE this photo LOL

*You're not alone in that! ADORABLE*

 

[Kat0121]

Before I brought the girls home, I researched how to do the introductions to the dog. I had everything set up and it was going to go PERFECTLY. Yeah. Right. I brought them home in the carrier and let the dog sniff it. I had their room all set up with everything they needed in it. They settled in the room and did some exploring. I went in about an hour later to check on them. When I went to leave, Lily darted right past me out into the hall where she was now face to face with Bailey the dog who was standing there with an ear to ear grin. I froze. What to do? I was not concerned about Miss B. She does not have a mean bone in her body. I knew she wouldn't do anything. Lily checked her out, sniffed her a bit and then went off on her way exploring the rest of the house.

While this was going on, I didn't notice that the door was still open until Sophie was now standing in front of Miss B. Same thing. Bailey just stood there grinning and Sophie sniffed her a bit before following her sister. They have been together ever since with no issues. OK. There was that time when Lily was going to my room for a nap and was walking past Bailey who was relaxing in the living room. Lily decided to slap her across the face before passing by. The look on the dog's face was priceless. "WHAT just happened? Did she SLAP me?" Yes. Yes she did. Lily is a true diva.

 

[Sonatine]

Amelia was pretty adventurous when I brought her home. Even when she was scared immediately after I'd opened her carrier, she still climbed on me and purred (though that might have been self soothing rather than happy). She hid for a bit but once the bathroom door was open she started exploring and climbing everything. My neighbor and I barely intervened in time to stop her from squeezing behind my refrigerator. Once she'd settled a bit she was totally comfortable sleeping in my lap that first night. She's only a year old, so that probably helped with her quick adjustment, too.

 

[mikageme07]

Taiga was 4 months old when I took him home. He went exploring into my room right away and then came back a few minutes later to beg for food. He was seriously a malnourished and dirty cat. Now he enjoys bouncing off the walls as he play with his toys and gobbling up a ton of food. His fur is also nice and fluffy now.

 

[mazie]

To be perfectly honest, I was impressed with Katy's "first day experience. She was years old, I got her at an ASPCA shelter in Georgia. When I brought her home, inside her carrier, when I opened the door of the carrier, I expected her to dart out of the carrier, and find something to hide under. Typical behavior, I thought. She could not surprise me more. What happened was that she hopped out of the carrier, stuck her head high in the air, took a sniff and proceeded to walk into each room of my house by walking in the room sticking her nose in the air, sniffing the ground, then turning around and moved onto the next room. That was her repetitive behavior until she finished touring through each room of the house. I was so impressed, such a confident cat!. Now 2 years later, she still is that same confident, poised, sophisticated feline.

 

[sivyaleah]

Casper walked in like he owned the place. His prior owner (a good friend who was having personal issues and was finding it hard to care for Casper the way he needed to be), came in with Casper in his arms. No carrier. Put him down on the living room floor and well, he just started to explore immediately. Very calm and confident. Once my friend left, we tried to put him in the bathroom for a while but it was evident he didn't need to be confined at all. Slept on our bed the first night. Zero need for acclimation.

Cocoabean was entirely different. She was a rescue so we had no real idea of her background. First, we had to keep her in a separate room to start proper introductions to Casper and to be sure she didn't harbor anything which could infect him. She hid under the bed for weeks, only coming out to eat/drink/box at night under cover of darkness. I was getting really worried about her, I wrote about it here. Took days before I knew she was eating. She'd hiss at us too. She was terrified. Couldn't get her to be interested in anything. At some point, I decided that I had to help get her more confident and started to gently pull her out from her hiding spot. Near 4 weeks of this. Once I saw her and Casper were playing footsies under the door I figured it was time to open the door. Well, she finally came down the stairs, with much trepidation, but she did emerge. Then spent months only hanging out in our dining room, watching our every move, trying to figure it all out. She's been a work in progress but 5 years later you'd never know she had been that reluctant to be social. She's Queen Bee now LOL Very sweet, and happy. And, much more social than she appeared. I guess she just needed a lot of time to trust.

 

[Frank123]

Cali (adopted at 13 weeks old) started off by being a very shy/timid cat right from the very beginning. It was actually my sister who had picked him out for me since she lives closer to the place where she was adopted from. Just about every cat at the place were sticking their paws through the cage trying to get the attention of the people coming to check them out; not Cali. Instead Cali was cowering in the back of her cage which she shared with two other kittens. The woman who fostered the cats said her husband remarked "that cat is never going to get adopted." Long story short, my sister ended up picking Cali.
At home we had set up a spare bedroom to be used as an acclimation room. As soon as her carrier was opened, she made a dash behind a pile of boxes in the corner. She spent nearly the next two weeks either under the bed or dresser.
It was evident she was coming out either at night or when no one was around because she was consuming her food and water and using the litter box.
Gradually over the next several days as long as I was seated on the floor, she would cautiously approach me to sniff and rub against me and then retreat back to her hiding spot. It wasn't until about two weeks that I could enter her safe room where she would be out in the open and not run and hide.
Unfortunately, I was unable to get a picture of her on the first day do to her hiding. This picture was taken a few days later when she decided to briefly come out of hiding.

Now, like a typical cat, she wanders around the house like it her Kingdom.
Although she's still quiet the shy cat as she isn't to be seen or found when other people come into the house.

 

[losna]

We have 3 cats from a local rescue shelter. We adopted the first two, Sinbad and Tempest, at the same time, and due to Tempest's special circumstances, they were delivered to our house. I happened to be very sick at the time, so was mostly lying on the couch.

Sinbad was left to wander the house right away. He hid under the coffee table in the living room at first. It was a Sunday, which is when my husband goes to visit his grandmother. Since I was ill, I was lying and napping on the couch to help Sinbad get used to me. When my husband returned a few hours later, he found me sound asleep, with Sinbad sprawled on my chest sleeping as well. He's remained a little guard cat ever since, even learning how to predict my dizzy spells. I've learned to lie down immediately when he starts meowing at me in a certain way, and he stays with me any time I am ill.

Tempest was put in her own room. Since she had been adopted and returned multiple times, she was pretty traumatized and untrusting, and we'd been told she would need to be kept to herself for 6 months if not longer. We built her a kitty condo out of boxes, and she spent the first couple of months just hiding out inside one of them, only coming out when no one was around to eat, drink and use the litterbox. I don't have any early pics of her because she was too afraid to come out for a while.

Belit was horribly ill when we first adopted her with what the vet described as the worst UTI she'd ever seen. We kept her in the bathroom at first for the introductions, and she mostly just slept. She'd been abused, so when I went in to spend time with her she would run and hide behind the toilet. The most touching thing though was that sick as she was, and scared as she was, she would still come out and cuddle me after I sat down, and reach out with one of her paws to wrap her toes around one of my fingers and hold my hand while she snuggled.

Belit has joined Sinbad in the caretaking, now whenever I am ill and bedridden I end up buried in kitties:

 

[ailish]

Ailish was about 1 year when I brought her home a year and a half ago. She had weaned her kittens. She was rescued by my rescue from a kill shelter where she had been dropped off pregnant. She was at PetSmart, where my shelter brings some of its cats for people to see

When I got her home she left the carrier, jumped on my bed, and then went behind a piece of furniture. I had my room as her safe room where I fed her and had the litterbox. She hid behind the furniture or in a closet for about a month and a half. She always used the litter box and she ate right from the start. At night. When I got her she was on free feed supermarket dry. When it was obvious she was eating I started to switch her to quality wet food. She would eat it but not finish it for about three weeks and then she started eating her whole meals. As soon as she would consistently eat even some of the wet I took the dry away. This was never a problem. She ate little at the beginning, but she was very inactive.

I did not have her locked in the room and after about a week or so she would leave the room at night. It was about two months before she would leave during the day. She was a total vampire.

She now pretty much hangs out upstairs. She goes down at night and during the day when no one is home. When she hears company downstairs she hides upstairs and is obviously distressed. She remains very timid with everyone but me. We also have a dachshund in the house who is quite yappy, which doesn't phase her a bit. She is a very good huntress and has rid our farmhouse of any number of small moving creatures. When she is hunting she is obsessed.

 

[Boris Diamond]

Diamond, had been living outside and was pretty wild, though not a feral. He was about six months old. He attacked me several times in the first few weeks, once giving me a bloody scratch an inch above my eye! He had regular fights with Boris(RIP.) He is still a bully, but he now seems devoted to me. He is five and a half.

Seal, was an eight month old feral, born in a barn near my house. At first, he panicked whenever I entered his room. It took him about 5 days for him to stop panicking. After that he settled down pretty quickly and he is now the sweetest little guy, and getting more loving every day! He is two+.

Leo was four months old. He walked in as if he owned the place. He thinks he is the king of the universe and expects to be treated as such. He is the most dominant cat I have ever seen. When I introduced him to my other cats, separately, his first move was to tackle them! He jumped right on their shoulders and took them down, even though he was still a kitten! He must think I am some sort of royalty also, as he deigns to treat me with respect. He is a nuzzling head-butter and a snuggling lap kitty. He will be two in May.

Lilah was a stray and between one and two when I took her in. I had been petting her outside for a couple of months and that did not change when I brought her inside, though she is still very much afraid of other cats. She is now about two to three years old.

 

[foxxycat]

Here's Miss Honeybee the 2nd day we had her-she was purring here and making biscuits on my shirt-we were at the vets-

The first night I got her-she ignored me but went to her owner- then screamed when putting her into the cat carrier-she howled all the way to my house- 5 minute ride.

She was quiet when went in my home- My boyfriend let her right out of her cage despite me saying NO because we didn't know her history-they claimed she was a roaming stray cat which later I think was a fib but it's ok. She walked around the house sniffing and didn't seem scared. I fed her on the counter..

This was her first meal. She made a huge mess and ate most of it right up-she was skinny and very hungry.



Here she is that night after eating=she was relaxed hanging out like she always lived with us.

She walked around a bit then climbed up on my boyfriend stretched herself out and took an hour long nap.

We named her Honey because she was screaming and I kept saying honey it's ok..then saw her stripes and came up with Honeybee... Bee Kitty and B is her nickname. She comes to her name 50% of the time.

We love her and so glad she is happy with us. She's spoiled rotten with treats and pets! We trained her to beg and she will jump on you and stare you down to get what she wants... at night she sleeps on me most nights as long as it's cold...

 

[himawari]

I adopted my cat almost two years ago. I wasn't planning on getting him, but I was persuaded by a friend. We then stayed over at said friend's house for the night. He was really great, meowing during the short car ride but was adventurous enough to explore my friend's room. We fed him, though he didn't really eat but he did pee right off the bat. We gave him his space for the rest of the night, sometimes giving him a head scratch when he came near us. By morning, he was near my face and purring a lot that I thought I probably made the right decision and that this could work out. When we reached my house, he basically inspected my room like before while I readied the room for him. He had no bed but I made one out of an Amazon box and an old blanket which he took a liking to. He also loved my closet so I set up a small sleeping area in there. To me, it seemed like he was eating normally even though I heard cats don't eat a lot for the first few days/week. Then again, I adopted my cat when he was 6 and he was owner surrendered, so I'm quite sure that's why he adjusted really well.

 

[Ladysnuggable]

Our first 2 hid together. they were all bathroom kitties till they were checked by a vet. But withen few days boy did our third kitty Luna want out. she was 4 weeks old and would run through the hallway Meowing like "IM FREE" when she snuck by your legs. Diana would MEOW and MEOW if she heard your voice. Until you got in the bathroom then she wanted constant love and holding.

 

[Shane Kent]

Taz was born in early October and I got him in late December so he was still very young and playful. First day home he spent in and under the Christmas tree as well as chasing Christmas laser lights. He also spent a bunch of snuggle time in bed with my wife Karen.

Zoe had dental work done by the Humane Society when I got her so I had to keep her isolated from Taz. I think she was happy to be back in a comfy home and spent the first day sleeping on the bed in her safe room. She didn't hide and was comfortable on the bed. That day was a lot of petting, purring and sleeping.

Kitty and Rusty spent most of the first day at my house hiding in their safe room. They came out for food and treats as well as a bit of petting.

 

[foxxycat]

Pumpkin Face was a bitty tiny kitten when I got her in 2003. She hid most of the time or purred in her cat carrier-I had Floey at the time who hissed at her nonstop, she slept in the cage that night purring all night..she came from a barn in Maine. She was very easy going relaxed. But she's skiddish. If anyone comes over she is GONE not to be seen for hours...I forgot to add her to my earlier post- she slept beside me most nights but wasn't a lap cat.

 

[maggie101]

Peaches was 5 weeks old found in a hole. She immediately started playing and friendly with everyone. Maggie I took in when she was 3 months. Play ful but It took Maggie almost a year to start showing herself around people. I had to show pics to prove that she existed. Coco, also a rescue(Ive mentioned her a lot) stayed under the couch for 3 months. Now my bedroom is her forever home. Josie,17, I got at the spca She was playful. First photo of her is the most recent

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Oh, gosh! Hekitty and her sister were dumped at our house when they were barely 5 weeks old. Hekitty was, of course, mine, and Rayne way my roommate's kitten. The first day was about what you would expect...bottle-feeding every four hours. Being that young, they were bereft and looking for their mama constantly. I can still hear their pitiful little cries. It was a sin to take them away that young, but the mama cat's owner's mother told her, "Take them NOW, or they ALL go to the pound TOMORROW!" Thank GOD both Mandy and I had experience with hand-rearing kittens. They lived in our laps that first day.

 

[rubysmama]

Ruby was somewhere in the 2 or 3 year old range when I adopted her from the SPCA in early November 2013.

All they could tell me about her history, was that she was brought to the shelter about 6 weeks earlier, by someone who grabbed her off the street where kids had been kicking her. While at the shelter, she was spayed, and had her 2 broken upper canine teeth extracted.

As I had not yet discovered TCS, I hadn't read Bringing Home A New Cat - The Complete Guide. Luckily, despite her mama's lack of research, Ruby quickly settled into her new home. I literally brought her in the house, opened her carrier door, turned to close my front door, and when I looked back at the carrier, it was empty!

She was already off exploring, and leaving her scent all over her new home.

She soon needed a rest from all that exploring, and checked out a chair, her cat bed, and the sofa:

Then discovered she had toys, food, and where her mama spends way too much time!

The first night she did have a litter box accident, but that was probably due to the fact she had to go through her cat flap door to reach it, and she wasn't quite sure how it worked. Enticed by treats, she figured it out by the next day.

Adopting Ruby was the best decision I ever made. And as my signature reads, the day I adopted Ruby, my house became a home.

 

[sargon]

She was an angel in her carrier, but was very scared once we put her in her cat proofed room, and hid under the bed for a while. eventually we used a toy to get her out, and she calmed a bit. I even held her briefly, but she got startled and jumped out of my arms.

when she had to use the bathroom she panicked, because she didn't know where to go and finally peed on a section of floor in the room. I cleaned it up and put some of that pee in her litter box, moved the litter bxo to the spot she'd used, and she's never had litter issues again.