Help! New cat in exile.. =(

[adOggy07]

I recently adopted a new cat into our family. Her name is Moose. She's about a year old and is very sweet with us. She is also very scared and goes into hiding during the daytime. We have a dog and another cat named Face. She came from a family that also had dogs and another cat too. She got along fine with all of them.. so I know it's not impossible for her to adjust to our dog and cat. Or.. so I think?!

I'm not a very experienced cat owner. Faceman is my first cat and he's a little over a year old as well. So maybe I didn't introduce Moose the right way? Moose doesn't seem to be as scared of our dog. Mostly because our dog just isn't that interested in her. But our Faceman will follow her around when she comes out... so she simply goes into hiding to avoid him.

The first few hours she was here, I left her in her crate and let Moose and Face meet through the crate. After a few hours, I let her out.. Our cat was very interested in meeting her, but Moose wanted nothing to do with Face! They did sniff each other (nose touching), but she hissed at him after and ran away.

So I thought that if I took Face with me to work yesterday, Moose might come out and try to explore and get familiar with her new territory... I came home to find her hiding under the sofa. I really don't think the dog bothered her.. but maybe she's afraid of him anyway?

ANYWAY (sorry for the long drawn out story)! It's now day 3 of Moose's arrival and she's still in hiding. We don't have a problem finding her (usually).

The only time that she does come out and feel comfortable is when we bring her into our bedroom at night. In the middle of the night she uses the litter box and at 5 am comes and jumps on our bed and rubs her head all over us purring like a madwoman! Then she goes into hiding again later and we don't see her all day unless we drag her out. If we don't bring her out of her hiding spaces, we see her at 5 am when she apparently MUST be petted by human hands.

I'm worried because I want her to adjust.. and maybe this just won't work? I'm also worried because I don't think she's eating and drinking very much or at least, not on a normal basis!

Any advice and thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!! THANK YOU!

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[Angelo84]

Hi,
You basically went too fast on introducing her to the house and your current pets. You need to do two things introduce her slowly to the house and introduce her slowly to the other animals. If there is a room that she is comfortable in let her stay in that room and lock the other critters out. Once she is comfortable there try two rooms etc. To introduce to the other animals try feeding in proximity (opposite sides of a door), then move to a screen/baby gate so they can see each other. Then remove the gate with you there to interfere if things get out of hand. Another option for introducing is to have Face in a carrier so he can't overwhelm her and let her approach at her own pace. Same idea with the dog. Go slow! Once she's comfy in several rooms move her to a different room let Face and the dog in the old room to investigate her territory. Then move them out and switch her back. Try to expose they to each others smells without overwhealming them.

You could also talk to your vet about ways to introduce new animals. They may have ideas or know someone to have you talk to.

Good luck! Go slow and feel free to back up a step if things arent working at a given point.

 

[WishingnHoping]

I'm sure other people have better things to say than me but I'll add my two cents in.

I think you might just need to give her more time. She's probably eating and drinking at night if she's out and about. She also might be sneaking out to eat and drink when you don't know it! If you're concerned, you could leave her alone in your bedroom with food and water (and a litterbox) with the door shut when you're gone at work for the day. That way she'll have her own peace and quiet when no one is home and get used to all the smells of your family.

I adopted a cat almost a year ago and it took him at least a week (probably more like 2 weeks) before he was comfortable being out in the open. It took him at least a few months before he really opened up to us and got used to our routine. He used to be scared if you tried to kiss his head and would squirm with all his might to get away but now he's the biggest lovebug ever and will gladly let you kiss his head, nose, EYES, and just purr and purr. He knows he can trust us. He also would run away as fast as he could if you reached down to pick him up but now he gladly sits in place for you to pick him up and love him. I think someone stepped on him a lot because he'd run away if you got close with your feet. Poor bugger! But he's a spoiled kitty now!

ETA: I wouldn't worry about how you adjusted her. Hindsight is 20-20! I did it the same way as you, except he just had to deal with everyone WITHOUT a crate! If I locked him in the room alone then my other cat would ruin the door/floor to try to get in so we just gave up. And they dealt with it!

 

[Poke]

Hi,
You basically went too fast on introducing her to the house and your current pets. You need to do two things introduce her slowly to the house and introduce her slowly to the other animals. If there is a room that she is comfortable in let her stay in that room and lock the other critters out. Once she is comfortable there try two rooms etc. To introduce to the other animals try feeding in proximity (opposite sides of a door), then move to a screen/baby gate so they can see each other. Then remove the gate with you there to interfere if things get out of hand. Another option for introducing is to have Face in a carrier so he can't overwhelm her and let her approach at her own pace. Same idea with the dog. Go slow! Once she's comfy in several rooms move her to a different room let Face and the dog in the old room to investigate her territory. Then move them out and switch her back. Try to expose they to each others smells without overwhealming them.

You could also talk to your vet about ways to introduce new animals. They may have ideas or know someone to have you talk to.

Good luck! Go slow and feel free to back up a step if things arent working at a given point.

I'd go with this. The key things in bringing in a new cat to an already established home are going slowly and having patience. Keep in mind that not only does she have to get used to her new environment, she has to get used to its occupants, too. That can be hard for any creature, especially right off the bat.

Obviously when they're separated, you'll have the two litter boxes.. But don't forget that even after they start coming together, it's recommended that you have 3 (1 per cat + 1 extra) in separate areas if possible, to avoid issues with guarding.

Edit: Also make sure you measure how much food you're giving her, so you can tell much she's eating. That makes it a lot easier to tell if there's a problem.

 

[adOggy07]

Thanks guys!

From what co-workers have also been telling me... it seems that I am over-reacting.

I will keep them separated and let her go into exile until she feels comfortable! Thank you!

P.S. Measuring the food is a great idea! Thanks!

 

[carrbear21]

No words of advice, just empathy. We adopted my grandmother's cat after she died in 2005. We have WWIII at our house now! Our 2 other cats HATE her-- they have only RECENTLY started being in the same room together and waiting at least 5 minutes before trying to kill each other (and it's been 30 months)...at least her and dog get along-- mainly because the nasty cat doesn't like either of them! They bonded over being outcasts...

Good luck! If you figure it out let me know how to do it!

 

[adOggy07]

No words of advice, just empathy. We adopted my grandmother's cat after she died in 2005. We have WWIII at our house now! Our 2 other cats HATE her-- they have only RECENTLY started being in the same room together and waiting at least 5 minutes before trying to kill each other (and it's been 30 months)...at least her and dog get along-- mainly because the nasty cat doesn't like either of them! They bonded over being outcasts...

Good luck! If you figure it out let me know how to do it!

oh no! after 30 months!! EEK!

so far Moose hasn't really warmed up to Faceman yet... but Faceman is being a very good boy and being very patient... he tries to approach her every now and then, but if she hisses at him, he will stay put and not go forward. I'm quite proud of him actually!

Now the new cat and dog get along marvelously... so we're still working on the cat situation... but I think it looks hopeful.

 

[Whirr]

Boy, have I been here. We adopted a third cat last summer, and introduced him to our other two cats too quickly, in my opinion (they have more or less worked it out by now). So for the fourth, last September, we kept her in our bedroom where she enjoyed sleeping with us; we let her out under supervision a little bit the first few days, but we didn't push it and there was a lot of sniffing and hissing under the door at first. Now she's the household favorite--she gets along with all of our other cats, although that's mostly thanks to her fantastic personality.

I'd suggest you follow the advice that Angelo gave you--it's what we suggest at the shelter I work at for introducing a new cat to other resident pets. Make interactions positive, even if just between the door, with treats and so on. Give it plenty of time--it's taken a few months for everyone to adjust in my household (although in our case, it's partially a crowding issue as well--we compensated by buying extra cat furniture, which makes a huge difference because there's less competition for the choice spots, and we used Feliway for awhile as well). Don't despair, and don't let them kill each other, but realize they will have to work out a pecking order, and cats don't like change, so it may take longer than you anticipated. Do make sure to have extra litterboxes; they *might* eventually share, but it's not all that uncommon for the dominant or established cat to make it difficult for the new cat to use the box.

Congratulations on your new arrival! When you see them sleeping together or licking each other, it'll be worth it.

 

[Cheska]

I went to "Furry Feuds" (love that name) a lecture by a vet behavioralist back in Feb- I was hoping it would help me get ideas on what to do with my dog and my bf's cat since they have occasional battles due to jealousy. We have all been living together for over 5 years and the dog still gets upset over the cuddle-bug cat.

It was great about cat on cat aggression and dog on dog aggression, but nothing useful for my dog on cat situation. This could help you though:

For cat-cat aggression she suggested getting a dumbbell shaped cat toy- kind of a rope linking two cat toys on each end, and putting one toy on each side of the door with the rope under the door linking them. It was an interesting way to encourage playing between the cats while letting the newbie still feel safe.

For what its worth, probably nothing related to your situation- but something is wrong if I see my female cat during the day! She will go to bed (under the bed) after she has her breakfast, then come out for dinner around 4 pm (note feeding time is 6pm, she drives me nuts until then) after that she is queen of the house until breakfast time. Meanwhile I can't get the boy cat to leave me alone when I am home, he is everywhere.