Would appreciate some advice please.
We rescued our cat nearly 4 weeks ago.
We live in a small, terraced house but with a good sized garden and access to fields- we also have a dog and another cat. So we had a detailed discussion with the rescue about the history and personality of potential cats as we wanted to make sure we tried to do the right thing for all concerned. We were guided to one in the shelter who we seemed to be a good fit for- he's 7.
We started him off in our small spare room as advised- the rescue said to try not to let him go under the bed which was very difficult and he managed to get past the blocks I had put in place.
Over the last four weeks he has made progress though it is slow. He will come out just a little way from under the bed when enticed by dreamies and will enjoy a stroke. If he hears or sees anything that worries him he shoots back under the bed. He comes out in the evening and overnight to eat and use litter tray (not when we're in the room). Overnight, and for periods in the day, we close the door to the kitchen (where dog is and so other cat can't get up to the spare room) so newcat is able to explore a bit more of the house which I think he has a little, but only at night and never seen by us- only evidenced by a few of his hairs on he windowsills.
It is very early days still, He has made some progress which I am delighted about and I am keen for him to dictate the pace as much as possible but there are a couple of things worrying me. Firstly, looking ahead a little, we are due to have an elderly relative come and stay at Christmas time. This will need to be in the spare room. I know this is some way off yet but I want to think in plenty of time how we can accomplish this. In all honesty, I didn't imagine that this would be a problem as thought that he would hopefully be integrated into the rest of the house by Christmas bearing in mind we've had him 4 weeks already (we didn't seek out a timid cat, this is what he appears to be) At the moment I think he would be terrified for me to even pick him up (if I could get hold of him in the first place) so just moving him to a different room would be an ordeal for him and possibly set him back.
Because cat 1 and dog are downstairs and new cat is not seeming ready for any form or introductions or to go outside, we have a constant balancing act of doors/windows etc.
So we seem stuck in a bit of a rut- new cat actually seems happy (bit too happy perhaps) with his under the bed spot in the daytime and does curl up looking fairly relaxed under there and purr and then does some very nervous exploring of accessible rooms overnight.
Any suggestions of how we could help him integrate into the household more successfully- bearing in mind I will really need to use the spare room as a bedroom in the next few months?