Cat won't come out of the attic!!

We bought a house and moved into it on July 13. We have a finished attic but there is no air up there. One of our cats, Mooooo, will not come down out of the attic. I have brought her downstairs and she just seems petrified and runs back upstairs. I have resorted to putting her food and water and a litterbox up there with her. Our other cat stays mostly downstairs with us.

I canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t figure out if it is the new house or the fact that we got a new Akita puppy but I am worried. I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t know if I should just shut the door to the attic and make her get used to her surroundings downstairs or just let her be comfortable up there. Looking for any advice, thanks!

Here is Moooooâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s background. She is a tuxedo and is about 4 years old. I found her in a sewer when she was about 4 weeks old. She was almost dead. She was severely malnourished and I believe her growth is stunted as a result. She is a very small cat and a very odd one at that. She doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t play with string, she doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t know how to use her claws, and she is terrified of bugs.

It's probably a combination of the two. When we moved into a new house, we "quarantined" the cats to the bedroom the first day. Three of them hid under the cedar chest (and they have to lie down flat and squish under there). We did food, water and litter in the bedroom. When we opened the door, only one kitty (who thought we got the house for him) decided to roam around and explore everything. The longest took about two weeks to leave the bedroom. Getting them to go down the stairs was a whole different trip.

If you don't already have Feliway, I would get a bunch and use it liberally.

In the meantime, I'd work on properly introducing the puppy and the kitty - if she hasn't been around dogs before, I'm willing to bet this is severely complicating her getting used to the new house.

But given the attic is her safe space now, I'm not so sure I'd change that. Because it's hot, make sure she has plenty of fresh cool water.

If you want to move her out of the attic, don't just force her out and close the door - provide an alternative safe space. Your bedroom, a guest room, a den, an office - whatever. Some place set up for her with a place she can hide and be away from the dog. Maybe use a baby gate on the door - she can jump over if she really wants out, but the dog can't get in.

I'd also make sure you have plenty of "vertical" space for the cats - this will help encourage her to be out and about if she can get away from the dog by going "up."

http://www.thecatsite.com/Behavior/5...s-to-Dogs.html

Yeah, we already have another dog. Sorry I didn't put that in my original post. But we had that dog prior to finding her in the sewer.

Well, maybe it's just the "puppiness" of the new dog combined with the new environment. Cats are all about territory - and when moving, it's best to confine them to a small territory at first, let that become the safe place, and then let them explore on their own time.

So if there is another room you can make her safe room that is better located where people and activity are (or is closer to) - and it has a door - perhaps move her in there - keeping the door closed for a few days to discourage her from returning to the attic - but allowing her to make it her new "safe" space.

I would definitely buy some Feliway - and I'd consider flower essences, specifically Bach's Rescue Remedy. Dab it behind her ears, at the back of the neck and the base of her tail - and a good dab under her chin so it wafts up into her nose. Add a few drops to her water each time you change it and wash the bowl. Both are available here and it has a description of what they are: http://www.catfaeries.com Feliway was designed initially to help stop inappropriate peeing - but it also just generally helps calm cats in stressful situations.

It sounds to me that you have a cat who doesn't adjust well to new situations, and you've made it worse with a new puppy.

Even for humans, it is said that losing a job, a death in the family, and moving into a new house cause approximately equal stress levels. Imagine how it is to a cat who just lost all her territory, and who can't understand why you did such a cruel thing to her.

Will she adjust? Maybe. But you should take every step you can to remove some of the stressors.