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Your claim to be experienced with cats does not pan out with your expectations with this particular cat. Just because other cats were perfect for you does not make every cat perfect. Every cat is an individual.
You can't pick and choose who responds to your posts. You want to be told you are doing everything right and are wonderful for doing it, it doesn't work that way in a forum.
You've already been advised to let her proceed at her own pace, which is the correct, humane way to allow a cat to adjust.
Do her a favor, since you obviously aren't going to be satisfied in ten days, take her back now so she'll have a chance to be rescued by someone who actually cares about her without all these rules and expectations of what she needs to become in ten days. You are setting her up for failure.
Forget having a cat since you are so het up about the puppy. Clearly, the puppy is more important to you. That's a crummy way for a cat to start a new life, third class citizen before she even has a chance to use her litter box.
Perfect reply.
You can't parttime a cat & then -- unexpected to her -- bring in another animal & expect her to adjust. This is not a toy or stuffed animal put away when done dealing w/ it. She needs comfort & peace of mind -- & in no way can she (under conditions & attitude as such expressed by you) can she get this.
It is not a slight on you & yours, but rather a NEED for her to be treated safely, fairly & equitably & --
HUMANELY! There's no way she can be made to deal w/ a puppy nor take a back seat, etc. Please do as catsmom just said -- TAKE HER BACK ASAP! Thx.
I have a hunch the op won't be back-- in any case hope she will reconsider and treat the new cat with respect and understanding as an individual living creature, not a puppet
We don’t have months to address an emotionally disturbed cat. We are getting a puppy in two months. There is no way out of that, there is no way to ignore that event. We have already paid for the puppy from a Breeder for $1200. Its a Labrador, and it will be used to cats. when he arrives. Don’t tell me we should not have gotten the cat since all other cats we have gotten have not exhibited this behavior---we had no experience to expect this. And its water over the dam now. We have decisions to make and stuff to do.
We have moved her out of her hidey hole(sorry to those who thought she should stay there until she wants to come out), and on to the window sill looking out the window, and given her expensive cat food. She has not tried to get down and go back to the hole, and when we put her on the floor she has jumped back up to the window. She likes to be up off the floor apparently and likes to look out the window.
She purrs when we pet her, and takes the food. She has not used her box yet---that is important to us, since we have had cats who pee where ever they feel like, and we are not doing that again.
It appears that people are not listening to me so far. We are not strangers to cats. Over the past 44 years we have been owned by 14 of them, and 13 have been shelter cats.
If she looks like she is beginning to make an adjustment by 10 days, then we will continue to work with her, but we cannot forget the impending puppy.
What we are looking for is suggestions to keep her moving on a fast track of adjustment---which she is doing now. If you cannot respond to that, then please don’t respond with something else.
What we are looking for here is two things:
1. How to recognize that she is making the adjustment from a tiny cage to a giant house with music and washing machines and tv.
2. What ways we can encourage a continued moving forward. She needs to eat and drink water and use her box. If she starves herself, that won’t work.
If you don’t have an answer for either of the above, I won’t bother to reply.
We’re doing these things now. Anything else we can do?
First of all, you got this cat YESTERDAY, and you wonder why she has not adjusted? It sounds to me like she is making remarkable progress if she allows you to touch her at all, from the description you gave.
Second, you have had that many cats, and never realized that they like to be able to get off the floor? Seriously?
Third, why have you had so many litter box problems in the past? Were the boxes dirty? Did the cats have untreated UTIs?
Four, I am glad the new puppy will be used to cats. The question is, how is the cat with dogs? You chose this cat, you chose her knowing she had some issues, yet you expect the cat to adapt to your schedule and your plans, made before you ever brought her home.
Five, you have had lots of cats. Super. So have I, lots more than you have. You have never had THIS cat. Now you do, and it is your responsibility to work this out.
Six, to answer your questions, she IS making progress, and you have been given some good advice about how to help her adjust. I will add another. Set aside one room that is the cat's safe space, and keep her food and water there, as well as her litter box, although it needs to be on the opposite side of the room, as cats do not like to eliminate where they eat and drink. Some cats even prefer to have food and water in different areas. Having a place for her to get away from a rambunctious puppy would be a good idea, anyway, even if she was the most outgoing cat on the planet.
Seven, don't come on here asking for help and then act like an arrogant jerk, rejecting every bit of advice offered just because it doesn't fit with your agenda.
Have a pleasant evening, and best of luck to your cat.
Last edited by Catgirl64; 11-12-2017 at 08:06 PM..
I see disappointment with the cat for the OP. Sounds like you have a sensitive cat.I just don't see things going well for your new cat at all.
I got a cat as a kitten. He was always freak out at most anything. No amount of socializing helped.He always hid when guests came over, he never adjusted. He was never a shelter cat, got him from a individual whose cat accidentally got pregnant. Took him home at nine weeks so not too early. It was just his personality. Extremely sensitive to any changes and would stop eating if any major change. Had to have IV fluids at the vet once what we moved because he shut down. Coco was 5 when I had my son. He rarely in the same room as him and lived to 12 years old.
You put down your 15 yr old lab on Monday and already have his replacement lined up and less than a week later bring in a terrified shelter cat and give it 10 days - never mind. OP, these are not lawn ornaments, one to replace another, these are living creatures with feelings and needs.
To answer your question, there is nothing you can do to make the cat adjust to your schedule. You should take him/her back and get a cat that better suits your requirements. For the sake of the cat adjusting to a home, you should do it before they get attached and begin to feel comfortable just in case they don't meet your deadline and end up back in the shelter.
We don’t have months to address an emotionally disturbed cat. We are getting a puppy in two months. There is no way out of that, there is no way to ignore that event. We have already paid for the puppy from a Breeder for $1200. Its a Labrador, and it will be used to cats. when he arrives. Don’t tell me we should not have gotten the cat since all other cats we have gotten have not exhibited this behavior---we had no experience to expect this. And its water over the dam now. We have decisions to make and stuff to do.
It appears that people are not listening to me so far.
If she looks like she is beginning to make an adjustment by 10 days, then we will continue to work with her, but we cannot forget the impending puppy.
What we are looking for is suggestions to keep her moving on a fast track of adjustment---which she is doing now. If you cannot respond to that, then please don’t respond with something else.
If you don’t have an answer for either of the above, I won’t bother to reply.
Somebody is "not listening" but it isn't the responders.
You want things to go your way with a living creature on your ridiculous timetable. You have no idea what has happened to her before she got to the shelter. She is not all those other cats; she is this cat.
Your grand rush to replace your old dog, bring in a new cat and expect her to be all settled in just days – before a PUPPY arrives in two months – geez louise. That's just nuts. No, you won't be answering me, now will you? What an attitude.
Good luck to Little Prince, that poor $1200 puppy. Let the little pauper kitty go. She didn't cost a bundle so she just isn't as valuable to you. She deserves better.
Don't have "months to address an emotionally disturbed cat"? Do her a favor and take her back in the hope that someone else will have the patience and compassion necessary to give her a good start on the rest of her life. That obviously ain't you.
I don’t appreciate the mean comments but I will move on as if they never came.
We decided that since she never even came to the front of her cage in the shelter for the first month, and didn’t start to move out until they forced her into the car room, we would do the same thing.
It has worked out great. I wish somebody here had taken the time to suggest it as a possiblity. We forced her out of her hidey hole and moved her into the bathroom and on to the window sill so she could look out. We petted her a lot and gave her expensive food that she’d never had before.
Again.... This has worked great. If we’d left her, she’d still be hiding in her box. I suspect that she was at the bottom of the totem pole in her original home. I’d like to know why she has paint on the tip of her tail.
So last night she was in the big tv room with us, alternatively sitting between us and exploring the room. She even was rolling over on her back to have her tummy petted. We re making the small upstairs bathroom her new main territory. There are no holes there that she can get caught into.
We are making progress---enough progress now that I’ve forced it---to see an easy light at the end of the tunnel.
This morning it was a bit of start all over again, but this time I got her back to purring and eating her new food in about 15 minutes instead of 45 minutes.
For those of you who took the time to encourage me, I thank you. For those of you who chose to berate me for my choices(which turned out to work for this cat), and tell me I didn’t care and that I should take the cat back to the shelter, well... sorry I disrupted your tranquil view about how things are; you jumped to conclusions without knowing me at all.
Signing off.... (meaning I won’t be back to the thread, or to this forum again, since it was mostly not helpful)
Your claim to be experienced with cats does not pan out with your expectations with this particular cat. Just because other cats were perfect for you does not make every cat perfect. Every cat is an individual.
You can't pick and choose who responds to your posts. You want to be told you are doing everything right and are wonderful for doing it, it doesn't work that way in a forum.
You've already been advised to let her proceed at her own pace, which is the correct, humane way to allow a cat to adjust.
Do her a favor, since you obviously aren't going to be satisfied in ten days, take her back now so she'll have a chance to be rescued by someone who actually cares about her without all these rules and expectations of what she needs to become in ten days. You are setting her up for failure.
Forget having a cat since you are so het up about the puppy. Clearly, the puppy is more important to you. That's a crummy way for a cat to start a new life, third class citizen before she even has a chance to use her litter box.
Cat Attract Litter is a good product for cats that are not used to litter boxes.
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