I would appreciate some advice with my new rescue cat. She is extremely vocal but to the extent it’s becoming a bit much.
I adopted her a week ago from my local CP shelter. She is 3 and had been left for rehoming after her owner was evicted and couldn’t bring her to the new property. She lived with another cat but they were separated because the staff decided they were making each other anti-social with humans, hiding behind each other and not interacting with people.
The staff said she was timid so I gave her one room to settle into. I spent a lot of time sitting with her and talking to her and she came out within 2 days. She is spending time with the family now and not hiding away but she meows and yowls constantly. The only time she is quiet is when she is sleeping or at night when we are upstairs. I can stop it for a while by fussing over her but she starts again not long after.
The meowing is very loud and insistent and almost like she is in heat (she isn’t because she was neutered by CP). I can’t work, make phone calls or watch tv because she’s so loud. She wanted to explore upstairs and meowed until I let her, then froze while up on the landing and started wailing. I was very worried because I’ve not seen a cat act like this. it took ages to persuade her to come down. My last cat was fairly quiet and settled quickly so I’m not used to it.
I’ve noticed she isn’t eating very much either. Her dry food is left out all the time and I’ve tried feeding her chicken or wet food but she just sniffs or picks at it. Is this behaviour because she’s still settling in and unsure of herself? Could she be missing her old life? She seems happy and purrs, rolls to show her belly and stuff like that. She is also very playful and she has a lot of toys here - puzzle feeders, balls, string mice, feather toys etc.
Any advice would be gratefully received because I’m not sure what to do.