My Adopted Cat is really SCARED-PLEASE HELP?

Question

HI--we adopted an 11 mo. old cat from the shelter 5 days ago. We have had her in the basement and she is was doing okay---we introduced her over to the main floor for an hr or so over the last couple of days---we took her to the vet for her check up yesterday(all is fine)--but since then she is SO SCARED and refuses to come upstairs...when she was up here the last couple of times--she got scared form the phone....mirrors--all the action on the main floor...now when we bring her up she hides--runs down stairs. When we open the basement door she will never come up,etc. Should we continue to encourage--carry her up or just let some time go by? I feel so bad to just leave her in the basement and we can't spend all day down there. Thank you

Answer 1

First - congrats on adopting!

Second - just give her time. It may take a while.

Answer 2

First of all imagine this scenerio:
You are feeling relatively safe. There are other animals around you and people and miscellaneous noises.
Suddenly you are picked up and moved around in a noisy machine ( car) and then land up in a new place.
I would feel scared.
Then it continues with you being put in a (I imagine ) big new cage (basement) and even though there is food and water and a litter box the place is now very quiet and probably much darker then where you have been.
People come down now and then but mostly you are now all alone and it is so quiet.
Then you are carried/brought to a brighter, more noisy place for a short time and then go back to your quiet dark cage ( basement)
Then someone picks you up and takes you back in that very nosiy box to a place where you smell all these very strange ( animal) scents and you are prodded and poked and then brought back and put into your basement/cage.
So now when you are brought back into the lighter brighter noisier place yo are already trying to anticipate what will happen to you next and then you hear these loud ringing bells and people noises and see another cat (in the mirror) who looks quite scared and makes you even more nervous and you have the scenario you have described with your cat.

What can be done about this to make the kitty feel more secure and calm and loved and unafraid??

I would suggest taking him upstairs out of the basement. Leave him in a bedroom or even bathroom with the light on.
Leave a radio or TV playing quietly on a talk station.
Go in and out of the room as much as is possible and just sit quietly, maybe talking to him.
Try tempt the kitty with some string to catch and maybe a treat to eat or some catnip(although not all cats respond to catnip), but understand that it will take a little time.
Be patient and he will come around. But he does need to be around people and hear the day to day noises to not be afraid.

I have a friend who lives by herself and tends to go out more than have people over.Her cats are extremely friendly with her and with anyone they have seen often. However when the doorbell goes they rush off and hide. It is what they have become used to and feel secure about.

I tell you this as an example of cat behavior.

So inolve this cat in your home and give it the time to be acclimatised and I am sure you will have a wonderful cat and companion who you have rescued from a sheltered life.

Answer 3

Does she have any furniture or blankets that she likes in the basement? If so bring those up into the main floor. Some cats will adjust if you bring her up and cover her with a blanket or towel so they can hide, but they are still in the new environment. It may take awhile (days, even weeks) but if you keep bringing her into the environment and associate it with things she likes, she will adjust. If you dont have anything she likes, I recommend getting a pet friendly heating pad, towel or blanket for her to on top of it and some cat furniture, preferably one with a cat nest/box where she can also hide and sleep and watch what happens in the new area. Letting her hide in the basement is only feeding her fears.

Also try introducing good smells in the new area, such as tuna. This will make her like being there.
Good luck!

Answer 4

As he should be! Did you tell the shelter that you had a toddler? Most shelters don't adopt out to people that have babies or children under four years old. Babies are not intelligent enough to know when they're hurting an animal and can easily injure or even kill one. And if the cat's being hurt - it's going to react back with a deep scratch to the child's face or by biting it. The high-pitched shrieks of young children are also very frightening to cats. Unless you can be ABSOLUTELY SURE that you will NEVER allow this child a moment around this cat unsupervised and if this child is old enough to be told not to scream at the cat then I highly suggest you take him back to the shelter. Babies and cats are NOT a good combination and the shelter should have told you this. Over the years of working with shelters I've seen countless kittens and cats returned by owners who say the animals are "vicious". They lied about having young children and by the time the animal's brought back to us it often has to go into foster care with someone to work with it because it's now turned into a very untrusting, scared and biting or scratching cat from the torment it's received from the children. Please return this cat BEFORE this happens as not every shelter has people that can rehabilitate cats and if the cat's deemed vicious because of your child's abuse it may just end up euthanized when you do return it. edit: I didn't say your kid abused it I said that if you wait then it most likely would end up an aggressive cat FROM abuse. LOL - Australia! Why are all these people from Australia? They'll all very similar - and that's not a compliment.

Answer 5

She needs to get adjusted to her new surroundings. Also, if the cat will be staying upstairs with you, she should not be in the basement because like you said when the phone rings or something else that she is not used to will only scare her again. It is kind of like 2 steps forward, 1 step back.

If the cat will be staying in the basement, then I have to ask why you got a cat?

Answer 6

In addition to the overstimulation of the new environment, it also seems that she got spooked by the upstairs AFTER the vet trip. She may associate the upstairs with the unpleasant trip. Try bringing her upstair and confining her (with you) in the quietest room. Keep her (and her litter box and food) in there for a few days to get acclimated. Then open the door, but stay with her in the room. Cats hate sudden changes in their environment. Eventually she'll be okay, but will probably always be a skittish cat.

Answer 7

You imprinted the basement on her when she came and then when she went upstairs she went to the big bad vet. Can you not close the basement door so she cannot get in there?
If you can do that or even if you can't, I would not keep carrying her upstairs. Let her bond with you with petting and comfortable words and eventually she will come around

Answer 8

I had a cat like that! It just took him a while to get used to our house, but my grandparents have a 4 cats and one stays in my grampa's room all the time, because two of there cats don't get along with her. Sometimes they bring her out or leave her door open if the other 2 cats are gone. Maybe she just is over-stimulated. It happens. just bring her out once or twice a day for an hour or two. good luck!

Answer 9

Yes, get her to come upstairs, she can't be a dungeon cat all her life. Use cat treats and toys to get her used to her new surroundings. Play with her a lot till she feels happier. She's bound to be scared at first and you've had her less than a week. Don't panic.

Answer 10

You're cat is acting normal, she is just adjusting. I don't think you need to carry her up from the basement, just make sure she has access to the places you'd like her to hang out. She'll come around soon enough!

Answer 11

You simply need to get her adjusted to it. Once she learns that all that ruckus won't hurt her, she won't be afraid of it.

What you can do is give her treats or praise (or both) when she does come up, or carry her up there and give her treats. That way she will learn to associate going upstairs with something positive and not detrimental.