New cat - behavior - old cat - I'm confused and worried

IMPORTANT: If your cat is in any distress or discomfort, please consult your own vet as your first priority.
Post Reply
Renovatio
New Cat Chatter
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jan 09, 2021 6:52 pm

New cat - behavior - old cat - I'm confused and worried

Post by Renovatio »

Hi everyone!

First post here, hope someone can help me. I'll try to make it short as much as I can but in the same time I need to provide some details.

We already had a cat, almost three years old very sweet and playful exotic shorthair, we decided to give a friend to him since the previous cat, 9 years old, living with us left us time ago for kidney problems and actually we moved in a much bigger house.

This monday I had the chance to get another kitten, same breed, 7 months old. Some info about it:
- For what I understood the cat actually lived in a garden area with other cats, then has been moved to another closed area with other cats
- They fed him with wet and dry food but quite junk-food brands

Following many guides on the net and advices from other people, the first two/three days we left him in a room, my studio, with his dry food, some other wet food, water, some toy, and the litter box.
In these three days the cat was always super afraid of everything, and just passed the time hiding under an armchair or a bookcase. Didn't eat anything at all, didn't drink. But he used the toilet. I'm sure about all of this because I placed cameras in the room and I could check it.
We didn't let the other cat meet him but periodically we tried to interact with him.

After three days, we decided to move it to another room, same setup as before just less places to hide, indeed he decided to be under a desk which as you can imagine is "under a roof" but quite open space. Nothing much different but I saw that in the night that he started browsing the room and checking things, even jumping wherever he could. He also started drinking.
I changed the wet food a lot of times but he didn't eat, just in some cases go around it and scratch the floor around the bowl.

Then I decided to buy the Feliway classic and placed it in the room.
I also spoke to the vet and he suggested to try now with some food close to the junk food he had and actually he started eating it.
After another day we decided to let the cats meet, during playtime. In few words in the beginning the "older" cat was behaving well but a pair of time he hissed at him but nothing happened then...that night he keep on calling and pushing the new cat to play and looks like they did it..until like 2 in the morning. I decided to leave all the rooms of home open at that point and add a Feliway diffuser in the first room he was.

At this point we arrive to the current situation an issues:
- The cat decided to go back to the first room (my studio) and just sit on my chair. Doesn't go anywhere else.
- Or it's a coincidence or the Feliway helped but the cat is like 0% active just pass the whole day on the chair. Doesn't go to the other room to drink, use the toilet or whatever
- Or it's a coincidence or the Feliway made my other cat much less active and willing to move
- Now we can pet him (if we go to him) and give him other food and even play a bit with him with some toys
- At least in the morning but also like a pair of times during the day when I approach it's like it's the first time he sees me and got scared and try to hide, then I call him, try to get closer and it's fine but to me this is weird
- The other day he tried to explore the living room, tried to jump over a furniture, didn't go well got scared, runned all the way back to my studio, now he doesn't want to enter there anymore

So my questions are:
- Do I move back toilet and water to the studio and leave everything open? But I would like him to get used to go to drink and use the toilet where they are now, also to do not confuse the other one.
- Or do I move him to the living room, closing that room, providing water and toilet (cat tree and toys are already there) so he got used to that room too?
- Do I stop using the Feliway and pass to Zylkene? (that helped me with other cats)
- Do I use both?
- Is it a coincidence what happened with my other cat?

These are my main doubts. Honestly my wife says that the cat is already 7 months old and we got lucky with the previous/current cat which was already very self confident and in one day he was browsing the house like a boss but this cat is different and we just need to give time, I'm worried that the cat will be always afraid or has some issues.

Pardon the long mail but I really wanted to give as many details as possible to help with the possible feedback.

Thanks!
User avatar
Ruth B
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 1998
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2016 11:31 am
No. of cats in household: 3
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: New cat - behavior - old cat - I'm confused and worried

Post by Ruth B »

Welcome to the forum, hopefully we can give you some pointers to help your cats settle, and no problem with the long post, it helps us understand the situation better.

Several things come to mind from what you have said.

In my opinion your new cat came from somewhere where he wasn't really socialised with humans, he certainly isn't feral, but is scared. Hiding and not eating is a very common sign of a scared cat, as it only coming out when the place is dark and quiet. You took him out of the territory he knew, put him in a room that held the scent of a strange cat and strange people, then a few days later moved him to another room which had none of his scent in it, and was again full of the scents of the other cat and people. He was used to living off the cat equivalent of junk food, and you put in front of him a nice, healthy meal that he didn't recognise as edible, only when you gave him something that resembled what he was used to did he start to eat. Just as he was starting to feel safe you opened the door to the rest of the house, all of which, except the studio he was first in, had none of his scent and was full of the scent of the other cat and the humans. To me it sounds like he has retreated to the one other room he feels is even vaguely his, he can still smell himself in there, and shut down as a way of coping with all the changes and fear regarding his surroundings.

I would suggest going back to stage 1 in introducing a new cat. Decide which of the first two rooms you want him to go into, your studio, or the second room you moved him into, and shut him in there again along with food he is happy eating, water and litter tray. Let him stay in there at least a week possibly up to a month, you want him walking around that room while you are in there looking like he owns the place. Have some interactive toys, the type that have feathers or furry worms on a length of string attached to a wand and play with him with them. Fill the room with soft furnishings that will soak up his scent, these don't need to be expensive cat beds, old towels or blankets will do. If possible feed both cats either side of the door to his room so he comes to associate the scent of the resident cat with good things happening, if you can't manage that then swap some of his beds for the resident cat's bed and feed him close to it, or give him treats on top of it. Everything is being done to make him get used to all the scents in your house and to associate them with nice things.
Only when he is confident in that one room should you let him explore the rest of the house. Try and spread the scent soakers that were in his room around the new areas slowly expanding his territory, but keep all his food, water and litter trays, as well as the majority of his beds in the room he has spent the last few weeks in, that will give him a safe place to retreat to if he starts to feel overwhelmed, you might even find it is best to just let him explore for a few hours at a time rather than just opening the door and letting him out fully, or closing off some of the doors so he only has a limited new area to explore at a time, and once he is confident there, then open up another area.
Introductions can take weeks or months depending on the cat so you have to be prepared to take it slowly, but with time and patience I'm sure he will settle in and be a happy confident cat.
As far as food goes, keep him on what he is used to until he has settle in. Once he is exploring more, you should be able to feed both cats close together, i'm sure then, when he sees your resident cat eating the better quality food he will start to try it as well and you can start giving him a mix of his normal brand and the better food.
I would also mention that certainly to start with you need to have a litter tray where ever he has used one before, and where the resident cat is used to going, for two cats the normal recommended number of litter trays is 3 to prevent any chance of one cat upsetting the other when they need to use it. Once they are both settled in and used to the others presence then you might be able to reduce the number of trays, particularly if you find one isn't getting used at all, but again you need to give them both time to settle and get used to their new way of life.
Feliway is very good but it isn't a miracle answer that means you don't have to go through the introduction process. Keeping it going or moving onto Zylkene is your choice, I've never used Zylkene so can't really pass an opinion, but if you do the introductions slowly and carefully you may find you don't need either in the end.
Myrna
New Cat Chatter
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:03 am

Re: New cat - behavior - old cat - I'm confused and worried

Post by Myrna »

Never give up. You are doing well. I have had several "feral" / outdoor kitties and the all have different levels of fear. Sometimes they will not come out of a hiding place for months and sometimes longer. Sometimes they will want to be with another kitty all the time to whom they take a liking. It cannot be forced but on their own terms.

I have an 18 year old and a mommy and her two 4-year old girls who have their own room. One can be handled and two are venturing out when my older cat is sleeping and I open the door to their room for them. They will hide sometimes but enjoy looking out the windows in their room and my room. The other one will eventually come around. She is more cautious. We took care of them outdoors for four years. As long as my older one does not see them she is okay even though she knows they are there.

I am always in and out of their room and talk with them and assure them all is well. The company is very important and they are slowly but surely coming around.
User avatar
Mollycat
VIP Cat Chatter!
Posts: 2705
Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2019 10:58 am
No. of cats in household: 1
Location: UK

Re: New cat - behavior - old cat - I'm confused and worried

Post by Mollycat »

Not sure what your logic was in moving this cat after three days in one room, but I would say that is the root of your problem. They should be settled and happy in their room before you do anything else, even if that takes months. When you bring a cat into a new place he doesn't know any of it and doesn't have a safe place, so after a while he finds a space where he feels safer and gets used to it. From there he slowly builds his confidence and goes to explore a little bit at first and then gradually more. But you must never, never block access to a cat's safe place, you can cause a great deal of distress and worse by doing so. 100% with Ruth - decide which of the two rooms will be the new cat's room, and start again from the beginning, and I would go for the first one where he chooses to be now as that is clearly where he is happier. Then leave him there! It might take weeks or months before he wants to come out and explore, and that is fine, you have him for the rest of his life, don't rush anything.
Post Reply