- Joined
- Jun 30, 2013
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- 12
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So we recently (last two months) started homing a cat after it had lived outside the first year of its life, and he was adjusting very well. He was litterbox trained (so proud of him) and we were slowly reducing his time outside, ranging from a few hours to a few minutes.
On Monday, our cousin came over as we had to babysit her kids. She had to use our bathroom and as she ran through our living room, which is our cat's bedroom, he panicked and went into one of his hiding places, which happened to be the bathroom. Realizing he was heading towards the same place as a stranger, he ran back and hid behind the TV. The kids were somewhat noisy but never bothered him and he never moved from behind the TV.
After they left, we "forced" him out by pushing him out and he proceeded to hide in his box/bed. Now he spends most of his day inside the box, and every time he hears someone coming in or someone on the steps, including me, he dashes into the box and doesn't come out for hours. Because he hid for so long, his litterbox time has changed and is now in the middle of the night. He plays less or when he does, it's at 3AM.
I'm his favorite as I spend the most time with him. I even "moved" from my room and have been sleeping on the couch just to monitor his adjustment process. He's very comfortable with me, I can turn him on his belly and rub it, he shows me his belly and everything, and I can touch all parts of his body. He's currently sleeping on my lap. But I guarantee if he hears someone on the steps about to come in, he'll hide. I placed him on his cat tree, one of his favorite perches (that he no longer uses since the "incident"), went up to get some water, and when I came back he was back inside the box. I'm trying to get his feeding schedule back on track too.
Any ideas? Should I enable him and let him adjust back naturally (It's been 3 days and not a lot of progress)? Should I force him out and desensitize him to the sound of people walking on the stairs? An other options? The weird thing is he has met two of my uncles before and wasn't afraid. I think it was only because my cousin ran down the stairs and into the bathroom that he panicked and became traumatized. He's comfortable with a harness so if need be I can prevent him for hiding or running off.
Thanks for any help!
On Monday, our cousin came over as we had to babysit her kids. She had to use our bathroom and as she ran through our living room, which is our cat's bedroom, he panicked and went into one of his hiding places, which happened to be the bathroom. Realizing he was heading towards the same place as a stranger, he ran back and hid behind the TV. The kids were somewhat noisy but never bothered him and he never moved from behind the TV.
After they left, we "forced" him out by pushing him out and he proceeded to hide in his box/bed. Now he spends most of his day inside the box, and every time he hears someone coming in or someone on the steps, including me, he dashes into the box and doesn't come out for hours. Because he hid for so long, his litterbox time has changed and is now in the middle of the night. He plays less or when he does, it's at 3AM.
I'm his favorite as I spend the most time with him. I even "moved" from my room and have been sleeping on the couch just to monitor his adjustment process. He's very comfortable with me, I can turn him on his belly and rub it, he shows me his belly and everything, and I can touch all parts of his body. He's currently sleeping on my lap. But I guarantee if he hears someone on the steps about to come in, he'll hide. I placed him on his cat tree, one of his favorite perches (that he no longer uses since the "incident"), went up to get some water, and when I came back he was back inside the box. I'm trying to get his feeding schedule back on track too.
Any ideas? Should I enable him and let him adjust back naturally (It's been 3 days and not a lot of progress)? Should I force him out and desensitize him to the sound of people walking on the stairs? An other options? The weird thing is he has met two of my uncles before and wasn't afraid. I think it was only because my cousin ran down the stairs and into the bathroom that he panicked and became traumatized. He's comfortable with a harness so if need be I can prevent him for hiding or running off.
Thanks for any help!
