New Rescue Cat help

I just brought home a 5y/o rescue kitty yesterday.  His owner was an elderly man that was getting ill and could no longer care for his 2 cats  and had to surrender them.  While living in the shelter my kitty was picked on, and some scratches from the other cats.

I also have 2 cats at home, both pretty docile and friendly.

The new cat has been in my house about 2 days, and he's terrified.  He won't eat, won't drink, and hasn't gone to the bathroom.  He found a way to squeeze into the closet of the room we set up for him, and he's barricaded himself in there.  I even tried putting a plate of wet food in the closet for him, but he won't touch that either.  I just went out and bought a Feliway diffuser and plugged that into his room, so hopefully that will help.

Even when I open the closet door the cat will not even look at me, he won't move when someone is in the room, so we've been largely leaving him in there alone.  my cats occasionally scratch at the door, but will leave if I call to them.

I'm really worried about him not eating or using the litterbox...  any tips or ideas on what I can do to help him adjust to our house?

Thank you so much for taking in this cat.

The Feliway is an excellent tool, though sometimes it takes a day or two to start working. You might want to add Rescue Remedy, a calming homeopathic liquid, to his food. Available in most high end pet stores.

Your cat is understandably terrified, he's had a lot of changes recently.  So I'm not surprised he is hiding.

It is dangerous for a cat to go longer than 24 hours without eating.  I would try heating up some really yummy (smelly) food like seafood flavored wet food and set it down by him and then immediately leave him alone.

Oh, and if the cat continues to refuse to eat, I would call your vet. He/she might suggest an appetite enhancement or syringe feeding. I suspect though he will start eating and using the litter box.

Although your cat is not a feral, some of what he is experiencing is as though he is feral.  Attached is an article that might help you.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/handling-feral-cats

Poor kitty must be so confused and terrified with all the changes in his life. Is there some way you could give him a whole room to himself rather than just a closet? What kind of activity is going on in the room while he's hiding in the closet?

I would suggest not leaving him alone all the time. Spend 10 or 15 minutes at a time just sitting quietly, not trying to touch him or get him out into the open. Talk to him in a calm voice. Some people find that reading a book aloud works well because you don't have to think of things to say. The words don't matter so much as the tone of voice.

Also check out the articles on introducing cats and bringing home a new cat. Not all of the information is relevant for you since the cat is already in your home, but there is some useful information in both articles.

Are you able to talk to the previous owner to find out something about the kitty's personality, likes, dislikes, etc.?
How long was he in the shelter before you got him? What did the shelter workers tell you about him?

BREAK THROUGH!

thanks for all the tips, it was very helpful :-)!

He does have an entire room to himself, he was just hiding in the closet of that room.  I was able to get him out of their and block it off so he can't get back in; which he was none too happy about...  I sat very quietly on the floor and didn't look at him, and tried not to move much.  After a long while he finally sneaked out and sniffed me, decided I wasn't the devil and then head butted me until i pet him!  WHEW!  He has since used the litterbox, eaten and sniffed out his new surroundings!

I'm so relieved, I really was getting worried.  He's slowly acting more cat-ish sniffing things and being generally inquisitive.  I was very surprised that he even went right up to the door when another of my cats was meowing just outside it, and was looking under and sniffing away.

It will still be some time I think before he's confident enough to meet my 2 cats.  My vet did mention that I should do one cat at a time and take them into his room via carrier for quick visits, just to see if anyone hisses or growls or is over aggressive about getting in/out of the carrier.  I might try to take my older calmer cat in via carrier for a quicky hello tomorrow night...but we'll see how things progress.

again thanks for all the tip, very helpful !

good job! you have helped him to make great progress in a really short length of time. it sounds like, with your help, he is gaining his confidence and sense of security/safety.

hopefully in short order he will be best buddies with your other two cats

again, good job and thank you for helping him.

So glad he's coming out. Don't try to rush him too much, you don't want to scare him back into the closet. I'd wait a few more days at least before introducing him to your cats. Let them play under the door, maybe exchange blankets so they get used to each other's smell, but don't let them see each other quite yet.

He's getting much better, coming out, sniffing around the room, eating, seeking attention, and will even walk up to the door and smell now!

One of my cats muscled his way into the room without me knowing, but luckily it was my older and extremely tolerate cat Al.  He walked in and smelled around a little, I didn't want to panic and show them I was scared so I just let it happen...  Ziggy (the new kitty) gave a few hisses, but Al showed no reaction, walked directly over to the cat bed and promptly feel asleep.  I think this confused Zig, he just sat there looking at me and then back to Al.  Then decided Al was no threat and also laid down on his side for some petting and sleep.  I knew Al wouldn't be an issue though, he isn't reactive and is extremely docile.

Ms Kitty (my female kitty) will be the biggest hurdle, she dislikes change and has already sat at the door hissing and agitated.  But she only does that when I'm in the room with Zig.

I'm going to get a couple baby gates on the way home and stack them up in the entrance to the room.  I've noticed Zig straining to get a look out the door and into the world beyond, and figured this might be a good way to allow everyone to see in & out in a safe manner...

Wish me luck!  And again thanks for the input :-)

Update: Day 6

Zig, as of this morning, has started to vocalize and meow ! yay

The baby gates have attracted lots of attention from my current kitties and Zig as well.  He's so interested in everything that is going on, my 2 kitties like to sit next to the gate and watch him, which seems not to bother Zig at all, he walks around and lounges about while they watch him.

he was also trying to jump the gate this morning, I think this is his not so subtle way of telling me to let him out...lol.  So I'm going to assume that he's feeling confident in himself and the house, and now wants to explore his new home.

what i'm hoping you can all help with, is my cats.  What should I be looking for in them?  disinterest in his room, interest?  what sorts of behaviours  should send up red flags for me and which should tell me they are good to go.  They currently are not growling or hissing through the gates, just watching.  sometimes they are very close to the gate, sometimes they sit further down the hallway.  Sometimes Al, my older male, meows alot, but he is typically a very vocal cat anyway, and sometimes he just sits there and watches.

any help or suggestions would be appreciated thanks again!!!

Have you done any blanket exchanges with Zig and the other cats...your female ln particular?  I know they can see each other and smell each other, but you need to see how she reacts when you actually put Zig's blankie where she usually sleeps.  If she accepts that, they I would try feeding them on either side of the baby gates and see if they seem comfortable eating that close to each other. 

Have you let Al in with him again, since there were no issues?  Have you done any room swapping?  You might also try putting Al and Ms Kitty and Ziggy's room for awhile, and let Ziggy have the run of the house, just to help get his scent on everything.  Now, mind you, you don't need to do all these things at once . 

If everything goes well after you try the above, then I might try letting him out just to feed all of them in the same room, but not right next to each other...maybe feed Ziggy on one side of the room, and the other 2 on the other side.  Then watch very carefully to make sure no one gets upset, and separate them of anyone seems too anxious.  Keep doing that as long as everything is relatively peaceful.  You may need to play with Ziggy to keep him away from the bigger cats if he get pesky with them.  If all goes well, extend his visits with them longer and longer. 

Day 7 or 8... lol something like that!

when i let my 2 cats into the new kitty's room, everything is peachy keen.  Everyone gets along, is respectful, they all eat and they've even all fallen asleep in the room together!

But...

Issue 1)

When new kitty goes out into the house, big difference.  my other 6y/o female cat watches him like a hawk, and she goes crazy if he comes close to her.  Her get real low, and does the crazy i'm about to kill you / cat fight imminent growl, and the new kitty seems to just freeze in place when she does this.  he doesn't run or move until I move towards them or sometimes I throw something on the floor to make a noise and distract them, and then he high tails it back into his room.  Resident kitty never chases him when he runs away either.  She's never growled or hissed in his room or when the baby gates are up.  she does sometimes sit at the baby gate and watch him, but it doesn't seem very aggressive, just curious.  

Issue 2)

When new kitty goes out into the house, he hisses if my 12y/o male cat comes close to him.  my cat seems ignores him, doesn't hiss back, give chase, or growl.  I've seem him just continue to walk by him like nothing is there, and i've seen him just stop and look at him, then the new kitty will hurriedly take a few steps away from him, then turn and hiss again for good measure, and then usually heads straight back to his room.

It should be noted that so far I have allowed new kitty to explore the house, while both resident kitties are contained in his room; and he's been allowed to come out the past 2 nights while I'm awake, and then the baby gates go back up on his room when I go to bed.  I never force him in or out of his room, not with my cats do i force them into his room, i have on occasioned forced them out of him room though, lol.

So, my question,

why don't my cats react when they are in the new kitty's room???? I guess I probably should just be happy about that though, and not sweat it...

with Issue #1 is this serious?  something I need to worry about?  i've been reading lots of internet articles, most of which say as long as the cats don't go at it, to just let it be.  I'm fairly certain if I hadn't stopped each encounter though, it would have turned into a fight...  But, she's acted like this when my resident male came back from an overnight vet visit, he growled all day at him hissing, but she never attacked and just got over it.  my resident male was also all hopped up on anesthesia so he didn't move around that much or react at all to her.

with issue #2, I tend to not think much about it, it's just hissing, no swatting or puffing out, so I tend to lean towards just ignoring this behaviour and monitor to make sure it doesn't escalate.

I would really like to start letting the new kitty into the house, he's making it very clear that he wants out, he jumps the baby gates, sits there meowing until someone comes over to pay attention to him, etc...

Thoughts/comments/advice?