Cat avoiding us/crazy meowing

Hello everyone, I am new to the board and have scrolled through threads, but did not find an issue like mine.

We recently (1 month ago now) got a new cat - 2yo male. We brought him home and let him be to get used to us. Put food/water/litter box in the room he was in mostly so he wouldn't have to stress any more than the new home has already caused. (I do have other cats I should mention.) The previous owner told me he didn't care for small children but otherwise was a lover, so I thought everything would be fine.

He only comes out at night, after everyone has gone to bed and lights/tv/etc are turned off. THEN he starts meowing this weird creepy meow all throughout the night. I have given him more food at night thinking he was hungry, wet and dry, have gone out to talk to him - btw still can't get near him, he just runs away. I have never had a cat like this and I am running out of ideas. I can't even catch him to take him to the vet to have him checked.

Has anyone had an experience like this? Any other suggestions? I am about to tell my husband to just catch the darn thing and love him until he loves us!! (not really, but darn this is crazy!!)

Thank you!!

Karen S.

Is he neutered?  When he comes out at night, where are your other cats? Do you keep him shut up in the room all day or is he free to go wherever and chooses to stay in the room?  Why can't you get near him?  Is he or was he feral?  If he was friendly towards his previous owner, I am confused as to why he is not friendly towards you or anyone else in your home.  Has he had interaction with your other cats?  Does this cat go outdoors or is he only an indoor cat?  I guess I need more information before I can guess what is causing this strange behavior.  I would be talking to the previous owner --cause I think he is not letting you know everything about this cat. 

Welcome to TCS!  Thank you for giving this little guy a chance. Where are your other cats? Have they been introduced to him and if so, how? Is he in his safe room alone or do the other cats have access to it and him? Has he been neutered?

I also got a new cat recently (January) and he's still in his safe room. He was in there by himself to get adjusted to life outside the shelter for over a month before being introduced to the others and then just for supervised, short periods of time. This is something that could take a really long time or a short time and this will only be determined by the cat. There's not much you can do to change that. My Henry still won't come out of his safe room despite the door being open except for his mealtimes. For whatever reason, he will not eat if the door is open.

your boy will get adjusted, it's going to take time and lots of love and patience on your part.

There could be a number of reasons why he's meowing like that. If he has not been neutered, he could be "asking" to go outside to meet a new lady friend or if you have an intact female, he could be looking to "court' her. He could also just be confused about his new surroundings.

My Henry is 8 and had been at the shelter since he was 4 months old so this is a very new thing for him. while I'd like to "force" him out of his room and share the rest of the house with us, I know deep down that this would do more harm than good and could very well cause him to regress. He also would not let me touch him for quite a while but he is slowly but surely loving being petted.

Spend time in his room with him without trying to touch him. Talk to him, tell him about your day. Read to him, sing to him. When you're in the room with him, try to be as close to his eye level as possible instead of looming over him. when i'm in Henry's room, more often than not, unless I am feeding him, I am lying or sitting on the floor.  I bought some baby books at the thrift store and read them to him. He looks at me like I'm nuts when I show him the pictures but I really think he likes it. Play soft music in the room for him. many people have success with classical and/or harp music. 

There is some good advice here about introducing your new little guy to the cats you already have

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/67321/introducing-a-new-cat-to-your-old-cat

I'm sorry, I didn't want to get too wordy in my previous post. He is not neutered, not feral and can come and go as he pleases indoors. The other cats roam freely as well during the day and night. But I have been putting two of them in my sons room at night in an effort to see if that changes his behavior. We have doing that for about a week and a half, but it hasn't really changed anything. He will sneak into my bathroom at night and eat whatever cat food is left in the bowls for the other cats.

He is a CH Persian I bought to breed with my Persian. So he is used to being shown and handled. When I bought him I was not given current accurate pics of him. I was told "this is a pic of him before his Lion Cut." When we picked him up from the airport, I was kind of shocked. I think it was a "home" Lion cut by someone not completely used to doing it. The poor baby was almost scalped. My husband and I were joking that he felt hideous looking and didn't want anyone looking at him, but maybe the shock of the lion cut - which was pretty recent before we got him based on the lack of fur - is causing some of this behavior. I just don't know.

Also, the previous owner found out she was allergic to cats, that's the reason for the lion cut, and the need to re-home him.

I can't get within two feet of him before he bolts under the couch. I even play with the others in the room where he can see me so he sees that I am not a bad person.

I am thinking there is more to his story than maybe I was told. Maybe he was caged and I was not told.

Karen Siegrist said:

 
I'm sorry, I didn't want to get too wordy in my previous post. He is not neutered, not feral and can come and go as he pleases indoors. The other cats roam freely as well during the day and night. But I have been putting two of them in my sons room at night in an effort to see if that changes his behavior. We have doing that for about a week and a half, but it hasn't really changed anything. He will sneak into my bathroom at night and eat whatever cat food is left in the bowls for the other cats.

He is a CH Persian I bought to breed with my Persian. So he is used to being shown and handled. When I bought him I was not given current accurate pics of him. I was told "this is a pic of him before his Lion Cut." When we picked him up from the airport, I was kind of shocked. I think it was a "home" Lion cut by someone not completely used to doing it. The poor baby was almost scalped. My husband and I were joking that he felt hideous looking and didn't want anyone looking at him, but maybe the shock of the lion cut - which was pretty recent before we got him based on the lack of fur - is causing some of this behavior. I just don't know.

Also, the previous owner found out she was allergic to cats, that's the reason for the lion cut, and the need to re-home him.

I can't get within two feet of him before he bolts under the couch. I even play with the others in the room where he can see me so he sees that I am not a bad person.

I am thinking there is more to his story than maybe I was told. Maybe he was caged and I was not told.

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I think you might be right and there's more to his story than what you were told. The fact that they told you that he doesn't like small children could be an indication that a small child was rough with him at some point. I'd leave him in his safe room by himself for a while so he can get adjusted to all the new smells and sounds of his new surroundings. It may be a little overwhelming for him still. Let him get to know you and your family members gradually by having them go visit him for short periods. Many people do this and then to further help the cat get adjusted, they replace the door to the safe room with a screen door so the cats can smell and see each other without any actual contact. 

Could your female be in heat and he is sensing this?

I do not think my female is in heat. She is only 8 months and has not shown any signs. I would not rule out that maybe she is coming into heat. She does hang out with him during the day and he is fine with that. I have a spayed girl as well, and he doesn't mind her that I have seen. She actually doesn't seem to pay him any attention at all. My girls are petite (4-5 lbs) and he is big (8-9 lbs I think!!), but he doesn't bully them.

The midnight meowing is just creepy and I have not had a cat do that before. I will be happy to give him all the time he needs, but I thought maybe someone else had a similar experience to draw from.

Thank you!!

Karen

Karen Siegrist said:

 
I do not think my female is in heat. She is only 8 months and has not shown any signs. I would not rule out that maybe she is coming into heat. She does hang out with him during the day and he is fine with that. I have a spayed girl as well, and he doesn't mind her that I have seen. She actually doesn't seem to pay him any attention at all. My girls are petite (4-5 lbs) and he is big (8-9 lbs I think!!), but he doesn't bully them.

The midnight meowing is just creepy and I have not had a cat do that before. I will be happy to give him all the time he needs, but I thought maybe someone else had a similar experience to draw from.

Thank you!!

Karen

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8 months is more than old enough to come into heat. I would keep a close eye on them if you don't want kittens, and separate them if she starts showing signs.