A bit of new (rescue) cat regret

[JMSA]

16 year old daughter and I at home, as the others have now flown the nest. After thinking long and hard and putting ourselves on the waiting list for a rescue cat, we thought it would be a good idea to proceed.
We’ve had her for 2 weeks now and we’re in love. I have EVERY intention of making this work and will put my own needs last if necessary. She is adorable, friendly, calm and even gets on well with our cat-friendly dog.
She is very needy and that’s fine. She’s also incredibly vocal and it’s that I’m struggling with. I’m of the age now where I need to get up in the night for the toilet. The SECOND she hears me get up, she gets up and starts yowling. It doesn’t matter if it’s 3 or 6 am. I ignore it usually but have taken her into my room for cuddles at 6 this morning. At the moment I am lying on my side with her perched on top, so more sleep will be impossible 🤣 I have fed her. She does eventually settle but my sleep is being massively impacted and I’m worried about the upstairs neighbours. It’s more tricky in a flat (don’t worry, she will be an outdoor cat in due course, as ours is a garden flat), as it’s not like I can lock her away in the kitchen downstairs for the night. She hasn’t been spayed yet, which doesn’t help (she had a litter too recently, but it will be done in 10 days’ time), so is literally screaming the feline version of ‘my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard’ at my patio doors every night!
Due to various reasons, my life was finally starting to feel easier. Just me, my teen and our wee dog. Now it feels like I’ve taken a big step backwards. It’s pretty unsettling.
I promise you that she is very much loved and I will make this work. She has settled very well with us. But I’d appreciate any advice, for a noisy, needy, food obsessed cat who seems to require less sleep than the average. She is one year old.
Thank you.

My ridiculous rescue cat is spayed and I can’t say this behaviour has ever calmed down. We can’t shut her anywhere at night really due to the lay of our house and where the cat flap is. I also think she would do something dreadful in revenge.

But I love her so much we just put up with it, we leave our bedroom doors ajar so that she can come in and out. But like a tiny vampire she shouts at the door until whoever is the chosen one on that particular night gets up and beckons her in.

I hope spaying works for yours!

I was told by my cat's previous people that she didn't like toys, didn't like catbeds and was perfectly happy with cheap nasty supermarket food.

All wrong.

I love her and will absolutely commit to giving her the best life possible, but a part of me wishes I could go back to the peaceful days of just me, my teen and our dog 😢

Out of the 5 cats DSis & I have adopted in recent(ish) years, 3 have grown despite being adult. I'm not talking fatness, as if anything they are fed too well at this particular rescue (2 of the 5 had to go on diets when they came home).

2 x 2 year old ex ferals, been in the rescue ages. Not small cats to start with, but both grew significantly taller and longer over the first few months. This definitely wasn't just them standing taller & not trying to make themselves look small as they were now comfortable & no longer scared, they no longer fit in places they originally had fitted. I'm talking at least an inch taller and at least 3 inches longer in Boycat's case, with the attendant increase in weight despite staying lean & sinuous.

1 x 1 year old street feral (who'd been fed by locals a bit), had just had a litter which was weaned just before DSis took her home. Absolutely tiny little girl plus skinny as she'd given so much to her kittens. She arrived with another girl about a year or so older, stray, who'd also had very recent kittens, who was normal sized and rather over weight. I only see these 2 about once a month, and first few months the change was astonishing. Fatty girl did lose weight, tiny girl looks like a different cat she is so much larger! She's never going to be a big cat by any means, but it's sort of like she put her own growth on hold when she became a mother & now she's catching up.

Oh bless her 🤣💗 she could be going into another heat cycle and desperately wants to go find a boyfriend? She'll settle once she's been spayed I think. Was she with her kittens right up until you getting her? she might be missing their company too. She'll be fine - it can just take time and patience with new rescues 💗 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months rule etc

Thanks again everyone.

She has just pooed in the kitchen sink, rather than in her litter box. This is the first accident she’s had in the two weeks she has been here.
There was one poo in the litter box already, from when I was at work. I’m literally just home so hadn’t had the chance to remove it.
The kitchen sink poo was done just now, while I was here.
Would she have done this because there was one in her litter box already? She’s not normally quite so precious!

I think that might be the case. They do like a clean litter box. Quite a contained place to poo and easy to clean up. Considerate cat!

If you haven't already then get her a 2nd litter tray. My last rescue wouldn't use his tray if it had a poo already in it. Some cats are very fussy about things like that

🥰

It seems the Giardia is back, if it even ever fully went away.
She’s doing runny poos even in places she shouldn’t and I just feel done. This isn’t what I signed up for 3 weeks in. This means that Monday’s spay will need to be cancelled. Great.

We got two rescue kittens - litter mates. He hasn’t been on the kitchen worktops in years; she is incorrigible - but it’s mainly about being more visible to us, when she wants something and is miaowing at us!

They had food anxiety for a couple of years - he still can’t self regulate with food; the vet said, he eats more like a dog; whereas she is a grazer and self regulates!

I can sleep with “my” cat, sleeping on my chest or side at night! Occasionally, they crawl under the duvet to sleep in the small of our backs, presumably when it’s cold early in the morning. If we don’t give them the freedom of the house at night, they scratch up the doors, laminated floors and the carpets!

Hi. you need to contact the rescue you got her from. You will have signed a contract with them saying they will take her back if you can't keep her for any reason. That's why it's essential to only adopt cats via registered proper charities then you get full back up . The rescue will meet the costs of ongoing issues like this should you decide to keep the cat once it's better.

Poor puss. Definitely contact the rescue. We had a “cooling off period” when we adopted our boy from CP. I think it was a month before they changed the chip to me as he was chipped to them initially, and they would have taken him back.

I agree with pp re having multiple litter trays, we have three for one cat although he does tend to use the same one. Our previous cat pretty much only toileted in the garden but we still had three trays in the house for her. It could be that your cat has an upset tummy from different food, or is stressed from the changed environment rather than anything more sinister than that.

Hi. Thanks for the further replies. I got her from a registered charity but they had me sign something before I rehomed her; a Giardia disclaimer, if you will. It states that I will be liable for Giardia related costs. I signed it in good faith, not realising it would come back. I’m now not sure it ever went away.
If anyone thinks I have a leg to stand on, please let me know!
We have two litter trays for her and are on top of the cleaning. I only hope my ageing dog doesn’t get it.
We’re not giving her up. I wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror. But I am super annoyed to be hit by vet bills already. And because it’s pre-existing, I very much doubt insurance will cover it.

And poor puss, I absolutely agree 😥
But we give her so much love 💕

oh that sucks OP! 😪 I really feel for you. I had similar a few years ago. We adopted an 11 year old rescue from a big local nstional rescue charity. He'd had an enlarged kidney but antibiotics had sorted it out (apparently). Anyway we only had poor Alfie for 14 months and in that time he cost us £2,000. We don't normally bother insuring our cats but anyway it would have been a pre existing condition so it wouldn't have been covered. Poor lad had chronic kidney failure and my vet said he wasn't 11 but more like 15. It was all heartbreaking tbh. We started fostering cats instead after he had to be pts just to have a break from owning cats. & now I insure my cats (foster fails) just in case. We don't make our adoptees sign disclaimer forms. We pay vet bills when newly adopted cats have issues like this & insurance won't pay out. I really hope your little cat recovers soon. Issues like this are so annoying and such a worry/expense 💐