Terrified new cat…have we made a mistake?

[CatCatastrophe]

We brought home a new rescue cat yesterday to join our existing two cats.

it was a home-to-home rescue so I’d met the cat before in its previous home and had a good chat with its owner so I felt pretty sure we had got the kind of chilled out, confident cat that would settle easily.

We’ve got him home (into a quiet room away from our other cats), he’s gone straight under the sofa, is growling and hissing at us and hasn’t moved an inch (not even come out overnight).

What can we do to help him settle and can anyone reassure me that this will get better?

Yes, it's entirely normal. The best thing is to not pressure the cat and let him adjust in his own time. Be in the room but don't necessarily try to interact so that he can get used to your presence without feeling threatened. The behaviour at the beginning doesn't reflect what he will be like once settled.

It will. You need to give it enough time. Weeks rather than days. Maybe a few months to fully settle in and integrate.

Get them used to each others scents while keeping them physically separated. Don't even try to put them together right now.

Spend time in the room with the cat but don't try to stroke them or get close to them right away. Let them get used to you without making any demands of them. Let them be in control. Have some catnip, dreamies and webbox yogurts with you ready to offer and give it plenty of time.

Goodness one night is nothing! The poor boy will be frightened and confused. I'd say leave him be for a few days at least, with access to clean litter tray, food, water and treats. Let him get accustomed to the sounds and smells and routines of your house. Then start sitting in the room with him, ignoring him.

Don't whatever you do approach him or try and coax him out at this stage. He'll get there.

Poor cat. He is a new environment and you also have two cats in residence (he can still smell them even if they are not in the room).

Of course the new cat is going to be scared and will need time to adapt.

Give him time, don't force it and it will come around on his own term.

I got a rescue cat a few months ago and it took her 3 days to stop being scared and interact with me, but there were no other cats in the house. After that she started sleeping on my bed at night.

What I did was not force her to come out of her hiding places. I just sat quietly in the room and even read her a couple of children stories to get her used to my voice. That worked.

It took her 4 months to become a lap cat though!

Thanks - I think I know rationally that he needs time (apparently he’s never been in a car or cat carrier until yesterday so he’s had a massive upheaval).

I’ve adopted or fostered about half a dozen cats and this is the first one who has completely terrified on arrival, despite the fact that on paper he should have been one of the most confident.

I’m just worried he’s not as ‘bomb-proof’ as we thought and will have difficulty settling into a busy multi-cat household.

@CatCatastrophe

Yes i agree totally normal and natural

You just need go at Jittery cats pace ,

don't try to unitenionally overwhelm the cat in being too eager keen to introduce cat to rest of the family ect,

Just talk to the cat in gentle caring way and just stroke cat sometimes for the cat to gain cofindence gradually
you maybe susprised out of the random how leaps and bounds your cat could gain in cofindence,

or
she could be just quietly bit more cofindence kind of cat..

depends really 🤔 over time

Love ❤️ cats

One night seriously? Just givd it a few weeks an animal is not something you switch on and off as suits

It took our rescue cat three months before he would come out of his corner during the day. Up until that point, if you walked past him within about two feet, he would hiss and swipe at your ankles. If you tried to touch him, he would hiss and try and bite.

We've had him for seven years now and he's the soppiest, friendliest boy and the most confident out of all three of the cats. He greets people at the door and is the only one to take treats off strangers.

Just give him time. Lots and lots of time. And space. He'll come around.

Completely normal. Don't do anything except for give him space and time to adapt. My cat hid for over a month but then became the most loving, confident cat.

Reassuring to know that confident cats emerge after a fearful start! All our previous cats have been pretty chilled from day 1 so whilst I know that it’s not unusual for cats to hide I really wasn’t expecting it from this cat.

He’s not moved from under the sofa in 36 hours now…how long can they go without using the litter box? Or eating and drinking?

He'll come out at night when you're asleep. My cat did this for a month. It felt like we didn't have a cat but every morning I'd see he'd used the litter tray and eaten his food. Eventually he got fed up of hiding.

He didn’t move last night…hopefully he’ll be forced to move tonight, he surely can’t go another night without a wee!

He'll go to the toilet eventually - honest!

Growling and hissing means he's absolutely terrified - I would try and just leave him to decompress for a few days - just go in to feed him and talk to him a little, but otherwise let him come round alone.

Is he in the room on his own with cat litter and food. Close the door and leave him to it, he'll come round

did the rescue not leave introduction instructions?

https://www.rspca.org.uk/documents/1494939/7712578/Introducing+cats+%28PDF+408KB%29.pdf/8973a043-02ee-6397-7536-9c60a3a6d2f5?t=1559136030575

Can you put a bowl of water under the sofa with him, and some treats?he needs to drink

Yes completely normal. Feliway spray / plug-in diffuser is v good at soothing stressed cats, could try this.

It's normal, some cats get frightened when out of their familiar surroundings. When I moved one of my cats lived under my bed for at least two weeks, only coming out to eat and use the litter box. You just have to be patient and reasssuring, and he will come around.

One of mine hid for a week. She ruled the house with an iron paw, when she did emerge.

He made it out to the litter tray last night thank goodness but no sign he’s eaten anything (though I did manage to tempt him to stick his head out from under the sofa to grab a treat stick yesterday evening).

I think he’s basically been an indoor cat since he was a kitten and never taken to the vet or anywhere else so it must be a massive change for him. Our other current cats were stray before we adopted them so I guess they had a lot more life experience!

That all sounds very positive! I would maybe try something high value like tuna or sardines or dreamies if he's not eating normal cat food.

I'd put some fussy cat tasty sprinkles on top of the cat biscuits I left out for him to make them more tantalising, and I've put some posh wet food out for him this morning.

We've not had any further hissing or growling after day one, so that's something.

I like these updates, makes me feel more reassured that there's a confident cat waiting to emerge!

Oh we've got a feliway diffuser in the room and I've also sprayed some kind of essential oil based pet calming spray around too. Think it's just a case of giving him time now!

@CatCatastrophe she was a diva. My newest cat has been with my 6 months today. And only in the last few weeks has she really been coming out of her self. She's also going to be a diva.

The hissing and growling stopping is a great sign. Have you got the same food he ate previously? Can his old owner give you a towel/t-shirt/blanket so he has thw smell of his old home while he settles in.