My new cat fall from the 3rd floor (I already take him to the vet) but..

Hi everyone,

I brought a cat from another country with a courier. I prepared a safe room because I have another cat. Right now is summer and in my country we don't have air conditioner because is not that hot but this summer is different and is super hot. So I put a ventilator and open a bit the windows. I was with him and he seems a bit afraid but friendly and exploring the room. After I feel confident I went to sleep, and he fall. The next morning I found him hiding in the first floor and I didn't understand what happened I took him in his carrier to the 3erd floor thinking he might have scaped went I went to check on him. After he went hiding and when I called him and came a little bit near him he hiss at me and then I knew he had fallen and not scaped as I thought. I took him to the vet and thankfully there was nothing broken. He had a small fissure in one leg and some vertebrates have came close so he need a five day treatment. After that I took him home. So now my question is :

He is not eating, not drinking, he is in pain and he is new. I don't know what to do . Should I be in the same room with him even if he is hiding all the time? Should I just leave him alone? I am very worried because he was so affectionate and I am afraid this will change when he is heal and became aggressive . Also I bought feliway and put it in his room so he relax I hope this helps. I went today to see him. I couldn't see him he was hiding behind clothes so I didn't disturb him but he use the sand box but didn't touch his food or water
Please help !!!

Not eating, drinking, and hiding are warning signs that something is not right.  I am guessing in your cat's case it is probably because of his pain.  Did the vet give him any pain medicine?  If not, I would ask them for some.

Also, it must have been a great shock to fall out of the window.  Bach Flower Rescue Remedy is very good for shock. 

I wouldn't leave him alone, if it were me.  I'd probably just hang out in the same room as him, perhaps read out loud to him, or just sit down and relax around him.  He's probably frightened and needs your reassurance that it's ok, he's safe, and he won't fall again.  

Keep an eye on him.  Keep us posted.

 

Just being new would make him  act like this too. He is hurt on top of it so it is making it much more difficult. The pain and the move will temporarily change his personality, but he will revert back once everything is resolved. You are so extremely lucky the fall didn't cause worse damage.  Yes sit quietly with him as often as you can, even if he is hiding. Talk quietly to him, or read, or be on the internet, just be near. Now is the time to offer yummy treats, tuna, or hot dog, any thing to get him to eat. Leave water and dry food out in the room, and make sure he is using the litter box. You could leave on a radio in the room, on a talk station turned down low for an hour or two,to get him used to noise.No more cracked windows with out a screen in place, remember cats are escape artists and can dart out a door or squeeze into a tiny hole so fast it is amazing.  Even with the best of conditions it can take weeks to months for a cat to get comfortable in a new environment, so patience is your friend here, and time. He WILL come around, the number one priority right now is to get him to eat. All the luck, I'll keep you in my thoughts! Keep us posted!

Long time ago, I have a neighbor at the 10th floor, His cat fall from the window. By a miracle, he manage to survive. The most amazing thing to me is that at that time the vets had much less  resources that they have today. However, the vet open the cat (!!!!), remove part of the liver (!!!) and put it in some gypsum. The poor thing looked like a horror movie cat (!!!).

The vet said the threatening condition was from the liver, not from the broken bones.

At the end, after few months, cat was ok. Again - remember we are talking about long time ago. He (the cat, not the vet) eventually died from some stupid incident with no relation whatsoever with the fall.    

The moral of the story is that careful and inspired vet intervention can sometimes solve out unbelievable cases. Most interesting even - the cat did not change the behavior after fall.

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As in the case of humans, pain is easier to face when somebody stays with that person in pain.

Hi, thank you for your comments. The cat yesterday was feeling a lot better and at night he came outside and was very sociable with me. Until my mom decide to come inside the room and the cat disappear in his hiding spot .
At night he ate a bit of his food.
Today I took him to his treatment but now again he is hiding and don't trust me again. Don't know what to do. Also he hiss at me again . I forgot to mention but he had a plastic needle in his leg for the serum, I make them take it out today so maybe is because of that, his leg hurts

   All you can really do is keep on doing what you are doing.  Stay near him at all times possible, and keep a careful eye on him, watching for distinct behaviour changes, that are more than him just hissing at you out of anxiety.  If he suddenly crouches, can't lift his head, is wobbly, screams in pain or anger, or collapses, then rush him to the hospital.  As long as he's eating, drinking and having a wee & poo, however small these things might be, then he's ok.

 But, not ok, as he's hurt and is very poorly.

He does trust you.  He was chatting with you last night and he ate the food you gave him.  He's just had a set-back, because he's in pain, probably still in shock, he's new, and it's all got too confusing & he's very scared.  He'll still be coming to terms with the profound experience of his fall, impact, rescue, car journey, hospital, tests & treatment, then car journey back to the place that he will associate with the fall and his pain.  Then, only to realise that he's safe after all, and that you're his new best friend, his saviour, to be surprised by your mum, who will likely feel like a stranger to him in a crowd of all the other strangers he's just met.  And this is all on top of him being rescued from a foreign country, from who knows what kind of life, then transported all the way to your country in a cage, by two strangers, when he'll have been inspected and talked about by the immigration officers, then arrive at his new home, only to just start to feel comfortable enough to sit, quietly, looking out of the window, then BAM!  

Confusing!!!!!!!!!!!      And scary! 

But, you have been with him from the very start, and he'll know that you're on his side.  You're the only person he can trust at the moment, as you're the only consistent thing that has happened to him in many days of great upheaval and stress.  Maybe ask your mum not to come into your room just yet and to be as quiet as she can be.  

Animals & small children don't understand that they need to be medically treated and will get better.  They just think, "this is how it is now, eek!" and then, understandably, fall apart & cry, in the case of children, or hide & hiss in fear, in the case of animals.  But soon, he will start to feel less pain, will become more familiar with his new home, the sights, sounds, and smells; and will probably give up the only cat-powers he has left at the moment - hiding & hissing - as you're making him feel better.  

Be patient with him.  Talk to him.  Try not to worry so much around him, as you'll make him feel anxious.  He's not going to like going to the hospital every day, but who would?  It's just one of those things that you are both going to have to go through, together.  You'll come out the other side of this experience the best of possible friends 

I'm sorry to have written so much but I feel you need someone to give you an exact account of what he'll be thinking to assure you & comfort you right now.  Relax, go hang out with him.  If he hisses, just ignore it and speak softly to him instead.  

You are in my thoughts.

Bryan, thank you for your words. It really reassure me. I just needed some reassurance. I was feeling down because everything began going great yesterday and then I had this set back today. At least he ate the raw chicken I gave him today. In his former house he was given raw meat, kibble and sometimes goat cheese. I gave him taste of the wild kibble and now I am given him raw meat because that at least he ates. He was given farmina in his previous home but in my country you only have medicated farmina brand. I hope later today he feels better. How long should you think will be a good time to introduce him to my little dog. My dog is ok with my cat since day 1 but this new cat is a lot bigger than my dog although I was told he was living with a rabbit so it might be ok.

Don't introduce them for a couple more days.  Your cat needs to feel he belongs in your home and that he has cat-rights to share the territory.  I'd see how he goes with your mum before your dog.  Hopefully, his next hospital treatment will feel more familiar to him and he'll think, "hey, this isn't so bad after all, at least I get to come back to my hidey-hole in my nice new home, with my friendly human, afterwards, and get some tasty treats."  But, I'd wait until he's actually exploring the whole of your home, and has smelled your dog on everything, so he realises he has a roommate, and starts marking everything with his own scent, before they're introduced.  Cats lay their scent by scratching and rubbing their faces on things.  I don't know how long that will take.  You just have to wait and follow his lead.  The way to win him over, once he's not in so much pain, will, no doubt, be through tasty treats!  Cats are such gready-guts, but they're often ever so fussy & particular too, so keep offering him a variety of different tempting foods to try.  

I'm glad that you feel more relaxed now.  This makes me very happy   

Where are you, by the way?     And, which country did you rescue him from?    And what is his name, and what's your little dog called, also?    

I'm from the UK.  And, I have a one year old ragdoll cat, Dudley.  He's very sweet and very, very fluffy!    

Hi Brian

I am from Peru. But I didn't rescue this cat I bought it, please don't think bad of me I just fell in love with the Maine coon breed and bring him with a special courier that always brings cats from Russia to all the world. He is called Mareddad (I keep his name)
My other cat is a rescue and her name is blue, I love her a lot, she follows me everywhere.
The dog is a Yorkshire and is called blacky, is my mom and dad dog.


I love rag dolls they are very cute cats but in my country we don't have that breed. We only have Siamese, persa and Himalaya. Now some people open 2 sphinx catteries. But that's it.

My dad had a lovely Maine Coon called, Henry, who sadly died last year aged 10.  He had a wonderful life though.  They're a charming breed.  I'm jealous!  Your wee dog in tiny!  Funny.  Mareddad will be able to boss him around.  He's looking quite relaxed.  Are things improving? 

The cat picture was from my other cat, the rescue one.

This is Mareddad I am taking him to the vet right now, sorry if the picture is no good but is difficult because of his carrier

Please show me a picture of your cat

Also the the person who sold me Mareddad told me he has a very gentle character so maybe the dog and my other cat will boss them around lol

He looks very wise.  They're known to be intelligent as well as gentle.  I was thinking that because he's a gentle giant that he'll maybe make friends more easily and settle in quicker, than if he were a moggie.  

This is Dudley, three photos taken within the space of about 10 mins of each other, poser:

He is really cute. He seems to like to pose for the camera Today Mareddad ate his kibble and the raw chicken I am very happy. Also I try to play with him and he did . He still a bit scared and hides but I just understand how I make him come out from hiding. I noticed that when I make noise with the kibble he gets happy and comes out

Haha!  So, he's fallen for the old shaking the kibble box trick already   

I'm so pleased he's feeling better, safer, and more relaxed.  It sounds as though he's making rapid improvement. 

Keep us updated..... 

vada50
He's absolutely beautiful!

foxden said:

vada50
He's absolutely beautiful!

Click to expand...

He is really cute

Thank you very mucha

How is he coming along?  He must only have one more hospital visit, is that right?  He'll be ever so relieved when he realises that stage of his new life is finished  

Is he exploring your home more now?  Has he found any more place he likes to sit?   Does he let your mum pet him now?  And how about your other pets, are they around, have either side made any signals to each other, whether positive or negative?  Are your other animals ok, it's stressful for them also to have a new member?  But they will have smelled Mareddad's fear and know that he's been very poorly - animals are usually very kind and caring to those that need love and understanding  

Do you have a cat tree or cat shelves, I know that cats like to climb, they feel secure, and it means they can supervise from above, like the king of the castle     Mareddad might not be ready to climb for a while yet though, but it's worth thinking about for the future     You could put it near to the window, so that he can see out but from a place of safety, rather than the scary windowsill.  

And how are you?   You sound so much more relaxed and happy    

Hi Bryan thank you for worrying. Mareddad is still in the big safe room, there are toys and a cat tree, I play with him. He is doing fine but he is still afraid of me. I mean we have many good moments but the next day he is hiding again and have to offer food to get him out, and then he is nice again. I hope he gets confident soon with me so I can let him go around the house. I am afraid if I let him out he won't came to me and would be difficult to get him to his room again, especially if I have to work and my cat other cat is around. I want to introduce the dog first to him but probably he will be hiding and won't came. Any suggestions??

Time and patience.  

I've never had a problem with a new cat or introductions.  Apart from Dudley hiding under my bed for the first night when I brought him home but that was understandable:


However, when I was too young to remember, my mum brought a burmese home - he stayed under the sideboard for three whole weeks, apparently!  When he eventually came out he was totally at home, he was a great cat, I remember him well, very friendly and characterful.

Why don't you start a new thread saying something along the lines of, "New cat is hiding & scared, please advise on length of time to settle,"  Or something better worded and more catchy....  Put it in Cat Behaviour and possibly Cat Care too.