Worried...what to do?

We have a semi-feral cat that won't hardly eat. He showed up at my dad's work a few months ago. Dad started feeding it & before long he was a friendly happy cat who loved spending days in the office. He was there 6-8 months when suddenly the new boss said he had to go this past week. So dad takes a pet crate to work & brings him home Friday night. We have other cats so we put him in the spare room to keep him seperated till he can be introduced to our other cats. He seems pretty calm but will barely eat. And what very little he has he will only eat when you are in the room with him. We're getting scared he's going starve. Dad is so concerned he's considering taking him back to work because he was happy there & would eat. Yet if he does then the awful boss might take him to the pou d or something. If he's upset here he would never last there. So what do we do? We live & want to keep him but don't want him to starve!

Hi Lore,

Thank you for trying to help this cat. Poor little thing, he's probably a bit overwhelmed by his new surroundings.

First things first, has he seen a vet? You need to make sure that his loss of appetite isn't anything medical before you try and get him to eat more or introduce him to your other cats. It would also be a good idea to get him neutered if he hasn't been already. This will make the introductions go smoother as well as avoiding all sorts of other problems. Intact males can be kind of smelly to keep indoors.

A new home can put a cat off his food for a while. It's a good sign that he will eat if you are there. He might be waiting to see if he is allowed to eat this food. You being there shows him that, "Even though this is a new place and it smells of other cats, this food is for you." You could try some cat treats or something very smelly, like kippers or canned tuna, to get him interested.

There are some good tips on how to introduce him to your resident cats here.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats

Good luck and please keep us posted. I hope everything goes well for you.

Thank you for rescuing this sweet soul.  Since you just brought him home Friday night, he is still quite scared.  His familiar surroundings are no longer there and I am sure your house smells of other cats.  He will need time to calm down.  You can get a feliway plug in that is helping in calming cats.  Feline composure treats are also really helpful.  Play soft music 24/7.  Make sure there are appropriate places to hide even if it is a just a cardboard box with a cozy towel.  Do block off hiding spaces such as under a bed or behind dressers, bookshelves or other furniture.  Cats can wedge themselves in very small places.  If he truly is not eating, try some tuna or tuna juice.  Gerber stage 2 baby food in chicken or turkey is also used to lure cats when they don't want to eat.  Just be sure the ingredients are chicken/turkey and water only with no added spices.  This is not a meal replacement, just something to get him eating.  I doubt he will starve himself, he is just too frightened to eat.  Be sure to visit him often for short visits. 

A vet visit is a must before he has contact with your other cats.  Is he neutered?  You will want this done too.  Introducing cats to one another can take some time and patience.  Just be sure to take things slowly and follow the guidelines from the article linked above.  I wouldn't start introductions until the cat has been to the vet and is settled in your home. 

Thank you both for the advice. You'll be happy to hear he ate this a.m.! So hopefully we've turned the corner in that dept. Like I said it was Fri night when we got him so no not been to the vet yet. He does appear healthy & we think he may have already been "fixed". We'll make sure he's not I'll or anything before introducing to the others tho. BTW his name is Nugget. He's a big orange guy. Got his name from his love of chicken nuggets. lol