New cat owner

Hi, I'm Lara and I just adopted my first kitty from a local rescue yesterday, 7 month old Oliver. They said he was rescued from an area with a lot of larger, aggressive animals. He went into a foster home about a month ago, and they have an older cat that was also aggressive toward him. So he's extremely shy. 

When he first arrived yesterday, it only took a minute or so for him to come out of the pet taxi, but he ran straight for a storage case and hid behind it for a moment before running back in the taxi. They ended up leaving it with me because he wouldn't budge. After about three hours, we got him to move into my canvas cat carrier, which has bedding in the bottom. He stayed there for another six hours. He finally came out last night and ate when I brought out some canned food, used the litter box, and explored. But then he found that there's a hiding space under the couch, so that's sort of where he stays. 

He did come out last night, and ventured upstairs where my bedroom is. He didn't realize I'd be there, however, so when I woke up and greeted him, he jetted back downstairs and under the couch. I had to feed him his breakfast under there this morning because after three hours he'd still not come out.  But soon after he started exploring periodically. He will let me pet him for a moment before running off and checking out other things or use the litter box, then he's back under the couch. He'll also play from under there, if I slide a toy or my hand by, he'll purr and paw at it/me. He'll also paw at my feet when I'm sitting on the couch. 

I think he may be accustomed to hiding, having perhaps done that most of his life. Because he doesn't seem scared. He does jerk away or back up when he sees us. He's very engaging and playful. But he likes being in a sort of hiding spot. I'm hoping he's just taking time to adjust, but I don't really know, having never owned a cat before. So anyway, the above picture was taken by his foster owner about a month ago. Here's my view of him: 

[CORRECTION] He does *not*  jerk away or back up when he sees us.

to TCS!

Oliver is adorable. It actually sounds like he's settling in fairly quickly. It's normal for cats to hide in new surroundings; some do it for several days or even weeks, so the fact that he's already venturing out of his hiding place points to him not being too scared. Ditto allowing you to touch him.

   Welcome to TCS.    Oliver looks lovely, and his paws look nice and big so reckoning he might grow in to them over the next year!

I share the view that he's settling in quite well, cats often hide, esp. when they have moved in to new surroundings.  That he is coming out, playing with your feet when you are near him, and even ventured up the stairs are all good signs.  I hope he gets brave and starts to race around your home very soon, and that you manage to tempt him to be a little closer to you for some snuggle times too.

Look forward to seeing more posts from you.  

Thank you! That's a relief to know. He's as cute as a button and I really look forward to being able to cuddle with him. His foster owner said that after only three or four days he jumped into their bed, which they'd never seen before. I'm hoping that will happen here, too. He tended to stay hidden under their desk for the whole month they had him, but again they had an aggressive cat in the room with him. No other pets here.

Aaw, he's probably waiting for some big boogycat to come out and pounce on him every time he moves.  Hopefully he will slowly feel reassured that he's got his own space at last.  He is a lucky boy to have found you.  

I had 2 cats and in later years found out that one bullied the other. Pal would hide away whenever anyone other than me was around, she would slink about the place quietly and cuddle in with me when no one was watching.  It was amazing, initially after the dominant sister died Pal was her usual nervous self, she scouted the apartment looking for her sister and foolishly I thought she missed her. After 4 days of patrolling Pal rapidly transformed in to a confident cuddle bug, and her tail was up in the air for the first time in years.  She became sociable with people she'd hidden from all her life, and no one could believe she was the same cat.  It was wonderful to see her like that.  I hope that with Oliver moving in to your home and being free of being chased by other cats he too will find he is safe and be able to let his purrsonality shine.  Actually, when I first looked at his picture he reminded me quite a bit of a young Pal!   

He's come out! I fed him a few little piece of turkey and he came out to play, checked out his cat tree, and explored some more, then let me pick him up and carry him to the couch. Now, he's out and roaming around, periodically jumping onto the couch for some rubs and then wandering off again! Still a little jumpy, but his tail is up in the air and I think he's marking me--rubbing his face and body against me. Much progress today!

             I have a huge grin on my face just thinking how happy you must be.  That is brilliant!  He must be starting to think he's in a nice safe place, and having tested out some tempting food morsels and a bit of a pamper he will no doubt be hoping you will provide these from now on - with no big nasty cats jumping on him from behind just as he comes out.  If you only got him yesterday and he came through a rescue shelter and had bad experiences before, you have done really well for him to trust you so quickly.  You will shortly be taken over and controlled by young Oliver's every whim. So happy for you!   

Oh wow, just seen your new picture post, he looks quite big already!  He's lovely.

Thank you! It is very exciting. My boyfriend only comes out periodically, so Oliver stays under the couch so long as he is around. But when he goes back into his office, Oliver comes back out to play. Maybe a few more days and he'll get used to my bf as well. He does play with him so long as he gets to stay under the couch.

He's wonderful! And am pleased that he's getting used to you. Enjoy your new friend !

Thank you! I noticed he doesn't meow. But I think he just tried to. It was very soft and raspy. Barely audible. Is that normal?

Hi there welcome along to TCS

My oh my isnt he a handsome boy.

And yeah I would say normal and cats have different meow's....My Flash is quite softly spoken where as Sooty is loud and lets you know hes there lol

Any news on how Oliver is doing?  I am hoping the less regular posts indicate a playful kitten demanding play attention. 

He's doing great. He started sleeping under my bed on day three, he was up in my bed while I was reading a book on night four. He still runs under the couch if we make a sudden movement or a loud noise, but he's otherwise out and roaming around or playing with his toys most of the day. He jumps up on the couch beside me, or will lounge on the back behind me. I'm surprised he doesn't sleep more.

His appetite was apparently pretty low the first couple of days or so. He would eat about 1/4 can of wet food morning and again at night, and a little handful of dry food through the day. I figured that was normal for his age, but now he's eating 1/2 can each meal and would probably eat the whole can if I gave it to him. And at least a big handful of dry food every day. Should I feed him two cans a day and keep the dry food stocked in his bowl? I'm not sure if kitties self-regulate their diet, but his bowls are empty when I get up in the evening and when I get home in the afternoon. 

He also gets turkey and salmon treats as reinforcers. I'm trying to get him to stop scratching my couch and use his cat tree and this new scratching lounge thing I just got him yesterday. My couch is sort of pathetic, so it's not a huge deal, but I'd like to keep it somewhat respectable looking! 

He also meows now. It's adorable. 

  Excellent!  You have one cat taking over your home and your lives. Very happy for you.    

Good luck finding him scratching places to replace your couch! Something tells me he has you firmly wrapped around his little paws. 

With the food, most cats will self regulate and kittens and young cats need plenty of good nutrition.  It's hard to say if your portions are right, the best guide is to go by the quantities they give you on the food can or packet for his weight.  I always left some biscuits and plenty of fresh water in a shallow dish out as well but I know not everyone does that.  If you can, he will be healthiest fed on mostly wet food as it will make sure he's getting more water in his diet as a lot of cats don't drink much.  He doesn't need to get the kibble unless you want to keep food prices lower or are worried about leaving wet food out and he's on his own for long periods during the day.  The food thread no doubt has tonnes of advice on all of this and I'm a self confessed novice on the food as I just fed my girls on the few types that didn't upset one of them.  My boy is on a prescription diet for his teeth and went on to it at about Oliver's age: I wasn't entirely happy about it but he was very sick and needed to come off kitten food early to try and save his teeth and so far it's doing its job.  Some days he eats less than his weight ration and some days more but he's fit looking and his weight's stable so I'm happy.

Thanks for the food feedback. I'll do a bit more research.

He just spent the last hour sleeping on me. That was pretty awesome. He got up when my boyfriend opened the door and scratched my belly. That wasn't as awesome, but still... good times.

Bad boyfriend!    Doesn't he know sleeping kitties come first?  Get BB kitty trained! 

I'm working on it!!   BB -->