New mommy with questions

Hi all! Yesteray I was lucky enough to rescue/adopt 2 gorgeous Scottish Folds that someone gave away on Craigslist. Both 4 years old and stunning. They are both healthy and spayed/neutered. Strictly indoors cats. I am unsure if shots are up to date so we will be making a vet visit soon. But I have some beginner questions.

1. Stress- of course the cats are very stressed. They had been with living the prior owner since they were kittens. But they had only been at their last house 1 month so had already been shedding like crazy from the stress. So they are in a new house again with new owners. Surprisingly they let me pet them, but they are hiding under my bathroom sink. One even ate a bit during the night. Other than giving it time and brushing, is there anything I can do to help them adapt quickly? They are very plush and fluffy but clumps of fur come right off with every stroke. I don't want the poor things to go bald!

2. I was told one of them by nature is extemely shy. Funny enough, he took to my husband right away, even rubbing up against him. And he's the one who ate! Maybe my hubby is a cat wisperer lol. Anyway, any tips for helping kitty shyness?

3. Lastly, how and when do I change their food? We only got them last night and the female hasn't even eaten yet. The previous owners gave them half a can each of publix sliced beef daily which isn't THAT bad on the label. But the bulk of their food was free eating all day long of hairball meow mix. Looking at the label....it's pretty bad. I was thinking about trying the wellness health one for hairballs (though rice is third ingredient on that one).

How do I switch them over and can I start immediately or wait awhile since they just got here? The boy is very prone to hairballs and with all this stress shedding, I'm worried! Plus I haven't been able to brush them since they are hiding under the sink. The most I can do is pet their heads and chin.

Any tips welcome!

Congratulations on your new additions!!

I would definitely wait to change their food until they're more comfortable in your home. Let them get completely acclimated, familiar with you and their new surroundings, and then work on changing the food. The new home is stressful enough without the added stress of new food.

You can play some soft classical music to help them feel more comfortable as well as put a feliway plug in wherever you have them confined. (In the bathroom I guess since they were under the sink.) Keep them confined until they have accepted you, are eating well, and you know they are using the litter box 100% of the time.

To help them get to know you, spend some time sitting on the floor with them. Just speak softly and read to them. Doesn't matter what you're reading, just read out load so they get to know your voice. You can try playing with them using a wand toy. Once they settle in, I'm sure their purrsonalities with come out and they'll be less stressed.

When you do start to change their food, do so gradually. Start with a mix that's about 25% new to 75% old (or even less new). Over the course of a couple of weeks gradually work up to all new.

Thanks!

When gradually mixing food, does that mean both dry and wet? I.e. Does it matter if they get a tin of wellness versus publix? Once on wellness cans, can I switch the flavors around?

Also, is there a difference between pouch and tins as far as healthiness?

For wet food, I don't think the gradually switching is such a big issue. It's mainly for dry food. There's probably a BIG difference between the Publix brand and the Wellness brand. Wellness is a pretty high quality food and much better, IMO.

The gradual mixing of food I was referring to was for dry. I think if you introduced the new food as a treat it would help you find out if there's any problem with it for their digestive system. You might also discover that once they are on the Wellness, their coat will be healthier and they may not shed as much. You can also add some omega 3 oil or fish oil to their food to help with coat condition. We give our kitties Wellactin a few times a week.

Once you've switched to Wellness, you can usually feed whatever flavors you want without problems. We feed our kitties a rotation of Wellness flavors along with Innova EVO. They get a supplemental serving of dry food, but it's really only as a snack and significantly less than the suggested daily allotment. They're mainly fed canned.

That's what I want to do as well. The dry food they are on is meow mix hairball and the ingredients are crap. I'm not sure if it's worth even giving them anymore. It's all by products and corn.

The publix stuff is the canned food. They get one can per day between the two cats. They love the canned. At least the boy does. She hasn't eaten.

I'm just torn between wanting to give them better foods to help the shedding versus upsetting their tummies. They already prefer the canned so I'm wondering if it will hurt to try switching the canned now and decreasing the meow mix.

The owners also gave me some vetscription cat vitamins. I was able to get both cats to eat one.

I think you'd be okay to introduce the better wet food, but don't go to that exclusively yet. I wonder if switching to better wet will help the hairballs?? Also, daily brushing/combing would definitely help.

Do they accept touching yet? if so, try to lightly stroke their faces, mimicking a mama-kitty bathing them about the eyes, behind the ears & between their shoulders - kitties often find it soothing. and bless for rescuing those precious darlings - they must have good guardian angels, to find such a loving, patient home

Yes, they accept the petting and seem to enjoy it. My hubby even picked them up long enough to show them where the litter box was, but they went overly fond of being picked up in a new place. I truly think it was meant to be and the will be much happier. They seem very sweet and loving....just scared. It's sad to have all these clumps of fur come off. I hope they don't go bald!

Hi Bonnie -

Congrats on the kitties. First off don't worry with time they will be fine. It is like the story of the Little Prince just be calm and slow around them. They will adapt and you will not remember how scared they were soon enough. When I first got Finn and Darci - Darci hid behind her brother but now she pushes him out of the way for attention. I am glad you got these cats you seem to be very loving and that is no doubt what they need most!

You are both very lucky!

Erin

Cats often shed under stress, but it's also spring, so they may be shedding more due to the warmer weather.

Thank you for adopting them.

Thank you all.

The good news, they came out into the bedroom tonight, even with my 5 year old present. We pet them and they explored a bit. The girl took 2 bites of wet food so that's something. The boy ate more and then threw it up in my shower.

I've also noticed, his tail is getting very sparse. Most of the longer hairs are gone. Could stress make them go bald? At least they came out tho! I wish I could get them to drink.

Have you seen a vet? A flea treatment is probably in order, Advantage or some such. Protects your house, too.

Not yet. I wanted them to settle in a bit more since they are so scared already. They don't have any fleas best I can tell and the previous owner mentioned they were clean. Haven't seen any scratching so far but I'm watching. It's hard to see straight through to their skin, their fur is very lush. I will he taking them soon to a vet.

Don't use any flea treatments unless you are sure they have fleas. Flea treatments are poison and I would avoid using them unless needed.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Don't use any flea treatments unless you are sure they have fleas. Flea treatments are poison and I would avoid using them unless needed.

Click to expand...

Ditto.

IMO the best thing to do for new stressed kitties is nothing.

Let them eat what they are used to eating, use the litter they are used to using, I'd ask to buy any of the toys they are used to, and just leave them alone in a low to no traffic room in my house. When they are chillaxed and bored, then start opening up and explore and start giving more affection (perhaps unnecessary, but w/ my furballs I just flat out ignored them and just played on the computer and slept on the couch in their saferoom so they'd just get used to me being there).

When fully settled in, then transition to your preferred better quality food/litter.