Newly Adopted Cat Exhibiting Odd Behavior

[ibage]

Earlier this week, we brought home a cat from our local humane society. She is two years old according to the charts, and weighs maybe 4 pounds. We got her Thursday and it is Saturday at the time of posting this. I was able to get her to eat twice toda, but theres an odd catch. She will only eat in the presence of someone else. When left alone, all she does is hide, but around people shes very affectionate. We were told she was a stray, but her behavior is the opposite of what Ive typically encountered.

Because we have two other cats and our vet is closed until Monday (and due to what appears to be a URI), she is in my bathroom at the moment and has adjusted quite well. However, as stated above, shes only active around people. This includes the litterbox, eating, and drinking. Im feeding her about every four hours, and giving her a little bit of food at a time. My concern is whether or not she will do things on her own. Im worried she may be dependent on people.

Is this normal, and if not, is there anything I can do?

 

[susanm9006]

Four pounds for a two year old cat is in itself unusual - she is either very very tiny, grossly underweight, or both. Different cats react to stress differently. She apparently finds comfort in human's presence which is a great sign for a family pet. I am sure as she calms down she she updates be able to eat or use the litterbox without you being there.

When you feed her I would give her as much as she will eat and leave dry kibble out for her. If she hasn't been to the vet I would get her vet checked asp and bring a poop sample with so she can be checked for worms.

 

[ibage]

She is 4.9lbs, I misread the report. But yes, she is nothing but skin and bones and shes rather small. To the point, in fact, that I question her age. At first glance, she was really tiny, hence why I decided to take a look at her. Ive had a cat that lost weight due to diabetes 10 years ago, but Ive never encountered a cat this underweight.

That said, she has been checked for worms by the HS and received her vaccinations. Her leavings were large but nothing out of the ordinary. If she does have worms, what should I look for? Sorry for the questions, weve always had indoor cats and weve never had to deal with one that was a stray like this before.

 

[susanm9006]

If she were mine I would still want a thorough vet check by my own vet and another worm check. Sometimes you can see actual worms in their poop but usually not, but the vet can see them under a microscope.

I did have a tiny Siamese who was just five pounds but very small boned, paws about half the size of a regular cat. She was healthy though and lived to almost 20.