Hi everyone! While my grandmother is recovering in a rehab facility, I've agreed to foster her cat, Blackjack. Blackjack is a 5(ish)-year old front declawed, spayed female cat who was originally a stray. She's extremely shy and would often hide so deeply in my grandmother's house that no one could find her for hours. However, she's very sweet and loving and has been completely starved for affection these past weeks alone in my grandmother's house, which is why I'm fostering her at my apartment.
Blackjack arrived at my place today, and it was a 2-hour trip. she already hadn't been fed the night before so that we could entice her into her carrier, and she hasn't eaten or used the litter box since being here (it's been 8+ hours). I have her set up in a large dog crate (36" x 24") with a bedsheet draped over the sides to keep it dark. I plan on keeping her in there until she's confidant enough to have the whole bedroom to herself. In the crate, she has a litter box with her usual litter, a bed from my grandmother's house, toys from the house, and her familiar food bowls with her usual wet and dry food, and water. She definitely seems shy, but not outwardly distressed.
The strange thing is, she's EXTREMELY affectionate when I talk to her and open the crate to pet her. She rolls on her back, headbutts me, and purrs very loudly. But she still refuses to eat. If she's comfortable enough to be exposing her belly and letting me pet her, why wouldn't she want to eat? She'll sniff the bowl and then lick her lips but not eat anything. I have the food that she's used to, both wet and dry out at all times. I even tried hand-feeding her while petting her but she didn't want anything. She also has been spending most of her time laying in her litter box, so I hope she doesn't do that once she starts using it...
Any tricks to get her to start eating/using the box? How long should I wait before taking her to the vet? I'd really like to avoid that as travel and big changes are super traumatic for her and I'm afraid a vet visit would set her back.
Blackjack arrived at my place today, and it was a 2-hour trip. she already hadn't been fed the night before so that we could entice her into her carrier, and she hasn't eaten or used the litter box since being here (it's been 8+ hours). I have her set up in a large dog crate (36" x 24") with a bedsheet draped over the sides to keep it dark. I plan on keeping her in there until she's confidant enough to have the whole bedroom to herself. In the crate, she has a litter box with her usual litter, a bed from my grandmother's house, toys from the house, and her familiar food bowls with her usual wet and dry food, and water. She definitely seems shy, but not outwardly distressed.
The strange thing is, she's EXTREMELY affectionate when I talk to her and open the crate to pet her. She rolls on her back, headbutts me, and purrs very loudly. But she still refuses to eat. If she's comfortable enough to be exposing her belly and letting me pet her, why wouldn't she want to eat? She'll sniff the bowl and then lick her lips but not eat anything. I have the food that she's used to, both wet and dry out at all times. I even tried hand-feeding her while petting her but she didn't want anything. She also has been spending most of her time laying in her litter box, so I hope she doesn't do that once she starts using it...
Any tricks to get her to start eating/using the box? How long should I wait before taking her to the vet? I'd really like to avoid that as travel and big changes are super traumatic for her and I'm afraid a vet visit would set her back.