Rescue cat is terrified

[Squaretoe]

We picked up our new little girl yesterday! She is from a Romanian shelter and apparently she was in a van for over three days before she got here so she is not a happy girl at the moment! She has been here for just under 24 hours and has been hiding behind various bits of furniture basically the whole time. She has eaten next to nothing, and has used the litter tray once. I don’t know if she’s had anything to drink since she’s been here.

Feliway is arriving later on today, and I’ve been playing relaxing music for cats to try to calm her down . What else can I do? The lady at the shelter has been in touch to check on her and has been helpful. I’m freaking out a bit that she’s traumatised and will hide forever.

We were advised to leave our cats in our bedroom, with the door shut. Food, water and a litter tray, of course. That way they can get used to the environment without being disturbed.

It's far too early to consider sending her back. Just keep patiently persevering.

Are you still playing with her?.

Have you tried speaking in Romanian to her? Just simple word like hello, food, pretty girl. Things like that.

It may take several weeks. Just give her time.

I play with her every night, until she gets bored. Usually 2 or 3 lots of ten minutes with string or a dangly toy (she’s not fussed about balls. She’s hidden the rest of the time.
I talk to her when she’s behind the fridge, while I’m pottering in the kitchen. If I see her peeking out from her hiding place I say hello and chat to her but then leave her alone, and sometimes I ignore her altogether. I never try to grab her or touch her. The kids go and see her occasionally when she’s hiding but they know now not to try to touch her.
Do you think speaking Romanian would help? Or would it confuse her?

Didn't mean to worry you! I just know that with our cat, now 6, we got her as a kitten and she was just fearless and feisty and always wanting to play and savage the kids basically. Still does! So a good fit because generally well socialised kittens are.

I'd give it more time but I'd just be conscious that it's no fun for the kids to have a pet they can't, well, pet basically! And she may need a home with maybe adults only? Who knows? See how things lie in a little while

We have settled into a routine where she will yowl after her evening meal and one of us will go and play with her until she gets bored. Every night she will get closer to us or sniff us for longer. DH has just been summoned so he’s out there now playing with string and chatting to her. We try to respond to her whenever she meows (apart from at night!)

We adopted a young cat from a shelter who had been v badly mistreated. It took six weeks before she would stop hissing whenever any of us went near her. Eventually she liked to lick butter off my wee boy's finger but would still not come out of her hiding place. After about three months she would let us stroke her v gently and it grew from there. Now she is a massive love sponge and is the most affectionate of all my cats. She really, really loves her family and we love her too.

@JennyWr3n oh I agree, they are being so patient and I’m gutted for them.

Aw, what a nice thread.

My rescue cat spent the first 3 days behind the piano. The blue cross (who were completely upfront about the traumatic start to life she'd had) said "she'll never be a sofa cat".

She now likes nothing better than to snuggle up against my leg on the sofa!

You cat probably is a bit freaked out by the 3 and 5 year old, but it does sound like she's bonding with you and DH, and to be honest, most cats spend most of the main daylight hours snoozing somewhere peaceful anyway, with activity early morning/evening.

Sorry - should make clear (as possessor of a small child myself) that's in no way the fault of the 3 and 5 year old. It's just that animals can sense that small children are a bit unpredictable.

Well she probably doesn’t understand English yet.

Has she got a catnip mouse that squeaks when you play with it? Pets at home sell them.

If she ever manages to get the squeaker out dispose of it immediately because if it gets batted under the incredibly heavy divan bed it will go off at slight movements at night and literally scare the crap out of you & it has a very long battery life.

Hello is Salut so quite Greek. Silent T.

@DianasLasso I know what you meant they are noisy and get excited when they see her so she probably is terrified!

@Fluffycloudland77 it’s certainly worth a shot! Thank you.

What the fuck is everyone on about her not understanding English and speaking to her in Romanian? 🤣

Cats respond to your tone of voice, they can't understand any words

A bit of butter on the tips of your DC's fingers sounds like a great idea. That's exactly the kind of thing they'd keep still for.

I was given a wild kitten for my birthday when I was 6. She hid under a bed whenever I entered the room and didn't let me go near her for weeks (which felt like an eternity at the time). I was thoroughly disappointed by my present.

Within a few months she was fully tame and became my best friend until she died when I was 23.

I'm not sure how old your new kitty is but hopefully your dc will have plenty of time to enjoy her so please don't worry too much about any initial disappointment.

@JudyGemstone of course they can understand words. What makes you think they can’t?.

My cat is called Ivy. If I say her name she (sometimes!) looks at me or comes over.

If I say another word in the same tone of voice she will do the same thing, she knows when my voice does a certain sound that I'm talking to her but I don't think she understands the words themselves.

Pic for reference!

Which didn't attach 🤦🏻‍♀️

Ours understood cars, garden, doggies, his name but only answered to me not dh, birdies, salmon, chew chew, food & catnip.

Oh and nigh-nights meaning it’s time for you to go downstairs so he’d clamp his eyes shut in the hope we wouldn’t move a sleeping cat.

He understood if I was in my work clothes he was also going down and would look slightly horrified.

Three weeks today, we still don’t see her for most of the day but she’s getting braver in the evenings. She responds to “foodies” now and will come out from her hiding place within about half a minute of hearing that word! Starting to wean off Zylkene this week, just to see how she goes. I still haven’t taken her to the vet but I don’t know how urgent that would be as she had a general check up before she came over here.

Looking a little bit less terrified.

Ahhh square She's so cute!! And like everyone else has said, you just need to give her time.
I adopted 2 almost 18 months ago, Bobs hid for a few days & he's still a bit skitty now, doesn't like loud noises etc but he's such a loving boy. He buts his way into the bedroom every morning, lies on top of me purring away & as soon as I'm up and about, he's on the bed purring his little head off.

It's worth the wait.