Hello, new cat mum here - really hoping for some advice from people who may have experienced the same thing I'm currently going through.
Apologies - this is a bit long, but I'm trying to be as thorough as possible.
Some background - just this last Thursday, I adopted two cats from my local Cat rescue, Meowcroft, a beautiful 4 year old domestic male short-hair, and his housemate, Koyuki (nicknamed Koi) a female 16 month old Snowshoe. I was told that they were a bonded pair, and had to be adopted together, which was great as that is what I wanted, so they would have companionship and mental stimulation.
The male has settled in very well, loving, happy, eating well (but he hasn't drunk very much water at all) and using the litterbox and his toys/scratcher etc) For now, he seems to be a bit clingy, understandably, and always has to keep me in his eyesight, but a couple of slow-eye-blinks and he happily settles down.
The female is the polar opposite. At the shelter, while he was playing quite happily, she was sleeping in her little stall - at the time I didn't give it much thought, since most of the cats were napping, and I thought maybe it was their routine.
When the volunteer put her into the carrier she seemed very docile, didn't make a single sound on the journey home either (the boy was just the opposite!).
When I got them home, the boy made short work of exploring and rubbing and scenting his way all around the place! The girl did a little circuit of the place, and then just sat with her paw tucked under on the rug.. not moving very much.
I introduced them to the litterboxes, and then gave them a little food and water - they both ate a little (the girl very little)
At night - the boy howled all night long, and was jumping and exploring all over the place ( which I fully expected and is not a problem at all, and the next night he was fine)
The girl just sat on my bed all night long, never really moving.
When I woke up the Friday morning - I saw that she had had a poo on the opposite side of where the litter box was, in a small corner, it was very loose, lots of liquid, but no blood or anything worrisome in it.
I gave them a little bit more food, the boy nibbled at it, the girl didn't touch it, she was not interested at all.
I left for work (figuring that a quiet house would be better for them to explore in peace - and then I would be with them all weekend) Since the boy is very gregarious and outgoing, I had kept the girl in my bedroom - just to also give her a bit of space by herself, in case he was intimidating her into not using the litterbox (for a bonded pair, they really don't seem close at all... more like mildly tolerant of each other) - so I set up a fresh litterbox for her, with none of his scent on it, so she would be encouraged to use it. She also had her own fresh food and water
When I came home - the female had pooed again, mainly liquid this time, and in the same spot. She hadn't eaten anything, and I couldn't really tell if she'd drunk anything.
She was still in the same spot - on the bed, with her paws tucked in.
I gave her some one-on-one socialising, gentle stroking, etc - but I noticed that she hadn't cleaned herself - her rear was covered in faeces (I don't know how old, because it was quite crusty) - I cleaned her up (she made a few sounds, little bit of wriggling and protesting) and she went back onto the bed and sat there.
I read up about rehomed cats and stress etc - and made a 'hidey' space for her - basically the carrier she was in, with a blanket over the top and sides, and left open so she could see all the comings and goings ( I have a 1 bedroom apartment, so where she is faces the main entrance so she can see everything coming and going)
I set it up in the bedroom, and after a while, she went into it and settled down.
That night, again, she didn't eat or drink anything.
This morning - again she had peed in the same place.
I've now bought a smaller, shallower litter tray which just fits that area, and that will hopefully encourage her to use that.
The reason why I'm writing this is that it really doesn't seem like only the stress from rehoming.
When she tucks in to sit on the bed - she is sleeping, her eyes are not watching anything, or seeming scared and alert.
She's barely made any movement since the first day she arrived. She's not come out of the bedroom except to go into the little bathroom (which was tiny and dark, and that's when I set up her own hideyspace for her)
She is so lethargic - if I pet her she will not move, or acknowledge anything - I was even able to give her a full brushing and she didn't react to it. She is just staying in one spot and sleeping. She doesn't eat, or take water, she doesn't groom either (she was covered with fluff and dander, so that's why I brushed her - and she let me do it without moving away or making a protest noise). I also tried to carry on with the normal routine, and vaccuumed everywhere - it didn't phase her at all, even if I went into the room, she barely acknowledge it, and didn't move an inch.
I got a large cat tree today, and let her onto it first. She perked up slightly (and by slightly, I mean on a scale of 0-10 she went to a 2 instead of a 1) When she tried to get down off it, she seemed very wobbly and actually half-fell... and it was from a low perch, about 1.5 metres.
She still is curled up in the carrier, sleeping. I've tried 2 different types of canned wet food, tuna, sardines, dry food and treats - and she's not been interested in any of it. She hasn't eaten anything since Thursday night.
After the semi-fall incident today, I made a vet appointment for Monday, because I'm very worried - but I was wondering if anyone had gone through something similar? This can't be normal 'hiding' behaviour - since she doesn't always hide - she just sleeps, out in the open on the bed too.
This is the information I was given by the shelter:
She and the male were surrendered by a couple who divorced.
The male was brought into the shelter on the 9th April.
The female had to be given her vaccinations before she would be accepted.
On the 11th April she was given a full-spectrum vaccination (Rhinotracheitis/Calicivirus/Panleukopenia/Chlamydiosis and also Rabies vaccination.
She was seen again on the 12th to check for localised reactions and at that time there weren't any.
She was dropped off at the shelter on the 14th - and I adopted them a week later.
I asked the shelter if they had noticed anything unusual in her behaviour, if she had been listless while there, or if this was new.. but unfortunately they didn't seem to have been watching her closely, and no one could tell me.
One volunteer did say that she 'jumped' into the litterbox in the cage... so...
To me this just doesn't feel like stress/hide behaviour. She is not stressed or aggravated when I gently pet her (I watch her fur and tail) - and if she is on the bed I lie flat to get my head on her level, and we exchange eye blinks - she doesn't run away or move. She just doesn't move at all...
I just don't know what could be wrong, and how to help. I'm very worried about her dehydrating.
Could this be a reaction to the Chlamydiosis portion of the vaccine??
Is this just normal??
I don't know what her personality was like before, and the shelter couldn't help me with that either, but this just doesn't feel right and I'm so worried for her.. it's tearing my heart to shreds.
If anyone can help I would be so grateful. Apologies again for the length of this, but I thought it I wrote everything out maybe someone would pick up on something I missed.
Thank you again
Mariel
Apologies - this is a bit long, but I'm trying to be as thorough as possible.
Some background - just this last Thursday, I adopted two cats from my local Cat rescue, Meowcroft, a beautiful 4 year old domestic male short-hair, and his housemate, Koyuki (nicknamed Koi) a female 16 month old Snowshoe. I was told that they were a bonded pair, and had to be adopted together, which was great as that is what I wanted, so they would have companionship and mental stimulation.
The male has settled in very well, loving, happy, eating well (but he hasn't drunk very much water at all) and using the litterbox and his toys/scratcher etc) For now, he seems to be a bit clingy, understandably, and always has to keep me in his eyesight, but a couple of slow-eye-blinks and he happily settles down.
The female is the polar opposite. At the shelter, while he was playing quite happily, she was sleeping in her little stall - at the time I didn't give it much thought, since most of the cats were napping, and I thought maybe it was their routine.
When the volunteer put her into the carrier she seemed very docile, didn't make a single sound on the journey home either (the boy was just the opposite!).
When I got them home, the boy made short work of exploring and rubbing and scenting his way all around the place! The girl did a little circuit of the place, and then just sat with her paw tucked under on the rug.. not moving very much.
I introduced them to the litterboxes, and then gave them a little food and water - they both ate a little (the girl very little)
At night - the boy howled all night long, and was jumping and exploring all over the place ( which I fully expected and is not a problem at all, and the next night he was fine)
The girl just sat on my bed all night long, never really moving.
When I woke up the Friday morning - I saw that she had had a poo on the opposite side of where the litter box was, in a small corner, it was very loose, lots of liquid, but no blood or anything worrisome in it.
I gave them a little bit more food, the boy nibbled at it, the girl didn't touch it, she was not interested at all.
I left for work (figuring that a quiet house would be better for them to explore in peace - and then I would be with them all weekend) Since the boy is very gregarious and outgoing, I had kept the girl in my bedroom - just to also give her a bit of space by herself, in case he was intimidating her into not using the litterbox (for a bonded pair, they really don't seem close at all... more like mildly tolerant of each other) - so I set up a fresh litterbox for her, with none of his scent on it, so she would be encouraged to use it. She also had her own fresh food and water
When I came home - the female had pooed again, mainly liquid this time, and in the same spot. She hadn't eaten anything, and I couldn't really tell if she'd drunk anything.
She was still in the same spot - on the bed, with her paws tucked in.
I gave her some one-on-one socialising, gentle stroking, etc - but I noticed that she hadn't cleaned herself - her rear was covered in faeces (I don't know how old, because it was quite crusty) - I cleaned her up (she made a few sounds, little bit of wriggling and protesting) and she went back onto the bed and sat there.
I read up about rehomed cats and stress etc - and made a 'hidey' space for her - basically the carrier she was in, with a blanket over the top and sides, and left open so she could see all the comings and goings ( I have a 1 bedroom apartment, so where she is faces the main entrance so she can see everything coming and going)
I set it up in the bedroom, and after a while, she went into it and settled down.
That night, again, she didn't eat or drink anything.
This morning - again she had peed in the same place.
I've now bought a smaller, shallower litter tray which just fits that area, and that will hopefully encourage her to use that.
The reason why I'm writing this is that it really doesn't seem like only the stress from rehoming.
When she tucks in to sit on the bed - she is sleeping, her eyes are not watching anything, or seeming scared and alert.
She's barely made any movement since the first day she arrived. She's not come out of the bedroom except to go into the little bathroom (which was tiny and dark, and that's when I set up her own hideyspace for her)
She is so lethargic - if I pet her she will not move, or acknowledge anything - I was even able to give her a full brushing and she didn't react to it. She is just staying in one spot and sleeping. She doesn't eat, or take water, she doesn't groom either (she was covered with fluff and dander, so that's why I brushed her - and she let me do it without moving away or making a protest noise). I also tried to carry on with the normal routine, and vaccuumed everywhere - it didn't phase her at all, even if I went into the room, she barely acknowledge it, and didn't move an inch.
I got a large cat tree today, and let her onto it first. She perked up slightly (and by slightly, I mean on a scale of 0-10 she went to a 2 instead of a 1) When she tried to get down off it, she seemed very wobbly and actually half-fell... and it was from a low perch, about 1.5 metres.
She still is curled up in the carrier, sleeping. I've tried 2 different types of canned wet food, tuna, sardines, dry food and treats - and she's not been interested in any of it. She hasn't eaten anything since Thursday night.
After the semi-fall incident today, I made a vet appointment for Monday, because I'm very worried - but I was wondering if anyone had gone through something similar? This can't be normal 'hiding' behaviour - since she doesn't always hide - she just sleeps, out in the open on the bed too.
This is the information I was given by the shelter:
She and the male were surrendered by a couple who divorced.
The male was brought into the shelter on the 9th April.
The female had to be given her vaccinations before she would be accepted.
On the 11th April she was given a full-spectrum vaccination (Rhinotracheitis/Calicivirus/Panleukopenia/Chlamydiosis and also Rabies vaccination.
She was seen again on the 12th to check for localised reactions and at that time there weren't any.
She was dropped off at the shelter on the 14th - and I adopted them a week later.
I asked the shelter if they had noticed anything unusual in her behaviour, if she had been listless while there, or if this was new.. but unfortunately they didn't seem to have been watching her closely, and no one could tell me.
One volunteer did say that she 'jumped' into the litterbox in the cage... so...
To me this just doesn't feel like stress/hide behaviour. She is not stressed or aggravated when I gently pet her (I watch her fur and tail) - and if she is on the bed I lie flat to get my head on her level, and we exchange eye blinks - she doesn't run away or move. She just doesn't move at all...
I just don't know what could be wrong, and how to help. I'm very worried about her dehydrating.
Could this be a reaction to the Chlamydiosis portion of the vaccine??
Is this just normal??
I don't know what her personality was like before, and the shelter couldn't help me with that either, but this just doesn't feel right and I'm so worried for her.. it's tearing my heart to shreds.
If anyone can help I would be so grateful. Apologies again for the length of this, but I thought it I wrote everything out maybe someone would pick up on something I missed.
Thank you again
Mariel
