New Adopted Cat won't stop meowing

[regularguyrudy]

My gf and I adopted a cat from the shelter yesterday, and she has not stopped yowling since. We first noticed she was very vocal in the car on the ride home, she kept meowing but relaxed once we gave her attention, and pet her she seems to stop... If only for a few minutes then starts up again. We let her explore the room a little, and she would sit and the door and meow continuously... For hours. We made the mistake of spraying her with a water bottle and after reading up that it will only worsen things, we tried to do as advised and ignore her. But she won't stop! At night time we had her in the bedroom with us but it became too unbearable we could not sleep... We put her in a seperate room alone and she only got louder and howled for 7 hours until 6 in the morning...

Is this abnormal behavior for a new cat???? She literally had not stopped meowing for 24 hours and it isn't that we don't love her because she is sweet and affectionate but maybe we just are not equipped to handle the adjustment period it takes for a new cat to get used to a home??? I am worried that this is not going to work out and feel horrible but we are honestly considering taking her back if this keeps on like this.. Our other cat hears her in the next room and is freaking out and stressed. Help, we don't know what to do!! Is this some kind of unfixable separation anxiety problem, or are we supposed to just leave her alone and let her keep meowing like this?? She is clearly distressed and unhappy. Please give any advice, experienced cat owners!!

 

[charliana]

Some cats will take some time to adjust. When i moved mine to a new house they hid the first few days, then one would yowl anytime she couldn't see the other cat. It took them a couple weeks to adjust and these cats knew me. Your cat has a new home and new family to adjust too.

Since she doesn't sound like she is scared, maybe you could get her to play with some toys, that would wear her out and distract her from meowing. I wouldn't spray her with the water bottle for the meowing though, she is already confused about being in a new place, she has no idea why someone is spraying her with water which will just confuse her more or scare her.

 

[manemelissa]

Cats, like people, react differently to major stress in their life or being scared... I think I've only heard of this a few times before, but once she starts calming down the yowling should stop. When that is, unfortunately, is up to the cat. There are some products you can try to calm her down (Feliway is one, go to Petco/Petsmart/etc and look for calming drops/collars/diffusers) if you have some money to spare. Make sure she has some playtime like charliana said, that may help get her out of focusing on her stress, and if you have any neighbors (like you live in an apartment) you may want to warn them about the meowing and let them know it may take a little while to stop.