Rescued a cat - now need some advice

GlynD

Found her in the centre of a nearby town in an unkempt state the other day. She's probably aged between 1 and 2. Had her fully treated in the vets yesterday and are now getting used to her and letting her get used to us. No real problems except we think she's not been housetrained. She has had one accident last night with no 1's and we think she was trying to get out to do no 2's but we placed her in a litter tray with fresh litter. She just walks out of it. As far as we can see she hasn't produced anything yet.

Anyone got any ideas how we can train her to use the tray or refresh her memory on it? She's not going to be allowed out for at least a month until a couple of wee injuries heal and her fur starts to grow back from the dematting.

spookylukey

Good on you for taking her in I take it the vet scanned for a chip and none was found? There's still the possibility that she may be someone's long lost pet who has been fending for herself for a while hence the state she was in, perhaps you could put a poster up near where she was found and have a quick search online for missing ads?

If she isn't a long lost cat then it sounds like she has well and truly landed on her feet! With regards the litter tray she may be fussy about the type of litter used eg she may be used to woodchip/clay/crystals etc as opposed to whatever you are using. If she's not littertrained at all then you could try adding soil/earth to the litter tray to make it more like her natural habitat if she's used to going outside. Some cats don't like to use the same tray for 1's and 2's so it may be worth investing in another tray.

Also make sure you clean up thoroughly after any accidents so it doesn't become habit for her to go there. Biological washing powder is an old fashioned option or you can buy special solutions from the likes of Pets at Home - Urine Off etc

GlynD

Yes she was scanned for a chip, none found.

She's now surprised us by actually using the litter tray so that problem is out of the way. Now we face the concern that she won't leave the room she's in. Feeds like a wild animal and then goes straight back to her basket.

valk_scot

Give her time, if she's been living rough then it may take several weeks for her to settle down in a house again. We got one of our cats from a rescue and though he'd not been badly treated (just dumped at 15 months because he wasn't cute any more) he lived in the bottom shelf of a book case for two weeks before he decided we were okay and could be trusted. He's currently asleep here on my desk btw, on top of my files. So give your girl some time, don't force it. She'll come round eventually.

GlynD

Thank you, we'll do that.

jansus

Hi i took in a cat last year her owner died and she was dumped outside, she was fed by various neighbours for a good few months and it took us ages to get her across the threshold, eventually she came in but spent about six weeks sleeping by the front door in the hall, she's now tucked up beside me on the sofa although i would say it's taken 6 months for her to feel comfortable with us. She eats like it's her last meal every time i feed her, i think she was hungry for so long she is getting it while the goings good
Good luck i'm sure your new addition will settle soon

GlynD

This poor wee thing was just wandering in the town centre, horribly matted and with a couple of grazes on her. We abandoned our shopping and took her to our own vet.

She's now got a place of safety in a basket in our conservatory. We ensure that one of us goes in there on a regular basis to dish out claps and chin rubs. She has food 24/7 in the shape of Purina biscuit and cat milk, as well as water and twice a day we dish out a half a pouch of wet food. We made a mistake at first by giving her the whole pouch which she wolfed down and then brought up again within an hour. We're used to our older cat you see and she will graze at wet food, often never finishing it before it dries up into a solid mass.

She's a very affectionate wee thing and we bring her into the lounge for a cuddle every evening but after a while she slinks down and back to her basket. We're hoping that through time she'll stay in the lounge.

geri1965_2

Bless her! I've had my rescue cat for two years now and he has only just started coming into the lounge, he just used to run through it before on his way to the bedroom where he felt most at home.

Shineyhappy

Hi,

Well done for rescuing it and giving her a lovely home, have you thought about getting some feliway? It does calm stressed cats down. Some cats take longer to adjust than others. We re-homed two cats from the Cats Protection League and they still occasionally get jittery 6 months on.

We gave them Dreamies or cat treats regularly when we first got them to associate us with nice things. One of them spent the first two weeks sitting above the kitchen top cupboard or the top of the fridge as he was too scared to come down. Feliway really helped. Even being trained by our previous little angel did not prepare us to be flinched at or ran from like we were about to beat them. This has mostly stopped and they get more confident all the time.

Good luck!

GlynD

Our older cat doesn't like Feliway so we can't use it.

She's loving the Purina, Felix pouches and Whiskas milk but we're thinking of introducing Felix treats and Dreamies along with prawns very soon. Our older cat has been fed prawns since she was only a couple of months old and she thrives on them.

GlynD

Here's the first picture of our wee rescue muffin. We've called her Poppy.