No Experience - New Cat - Need Help And Advice

[doctorv]

Hi all,
We have adopted an adorable 8 month old male cat (my understanding - maine coon mix). He grew up with a bunch of siblings and older cats in a caring environment but they all needed new homes. I am providing this as a background as I assume it really matters in questions of behavior. He is 100% indoor cat, never saw outdoors, fully toilet trained, unfixed, never saw a vet. The vet visit and spaying are already scheduled.

I have a few behavioral questions and please bear with my ignorance as we have zero previous experience and we all want for this to succeed and for him have a forever home.

1) As a new cat in a relatively large home, he settled in a room adjacent to a guest bathroom where we placed his litter box and where we feed him - all as a temporary solution as he was very scared of his new environment and he still refuses to leave that small room and explore the house. It's been 2 weeks, to be precise. I really want to move his litter box elsewhere - when and how do we do it? I want to move it to the basement but will he follow it? What is the best way to move it?

2) He is VERY nocturnal and he is very persistent that his litter box being cleaned immediately after he uses it. As soon as he's done, he walks up to any human in sight and vocalizes and literally watching us to clean. Only after it's done he goes about his other business. It is beyond adorable but he uses his litter box multiple times during the night and he doesn't let my mother, who's staying in the same room with him, to have any meaningful rest at night. He also plays and moves and makes TONS of noise during the night. What do we do? How do we break such behavior or adjust to it? The issue is that my mother can't move to another room and the cat settled in the same room. It works great for all of us during the day as she adores and takes care of him, but at night she's miserable.

Sorry for many words - I wanted to describe the situation as best as I could. I am looking forward for some help here.
Thanks,
Val

 

[Purr-fect]

Im not an expert but we have had cats or a cat for decades.

I would move his food away from his litter box as soon as he will accept that change. No one wants to eat beside the toilet.

If you move the litter box to the basement, I would also keep on on the main floor. I would actually carry him and place him in the new box. He will likey jump out and give you a confused look, but he will know
where that box is.

You say he came from a home with other cats....he might be missing them and hence his hyper nocturnal activity. I have read that playing with a cat before bedtime helps them sleep....but it will be tough to tire out a kitten. (Thought of a second cat?)

If the noise at night continues I would reluctantly shut him in a different part of the house, with food, water and litter box.

You might consider providing a second litterbox now, so you don't have to clean it every single time he uses it.

And if you get up in the middle of the night and give him attention....there will be no end to his nightly activies

 

[mightyboosh]

Apart from Purr-fect 's sound advice, he should calm down after neutering and, as a general point, patience is the key. My Oliver took several months to venture from his 'safe place' in our bedroom to other parts of the home so these things don't happen overnight. Now he acts as if he owns the place but, to be honest, he does own the place.
So, keep calm and be patient and you will both reach an understanding in due course.

 

[susanm9006]

It is always good to have more than one litterbox, even for a single cat. So if you ultimately want him to use one in the basement, I would add it. If he doesn’t discover it in on his own I would place it in a room adjacent to his current litterbox room, wait for him to find and use it and then start moving it a few feet every day.

 

[doctorv]

It is always good to have more than one litterbox, even for a single cat. So if you ultimately want him to use one in the basement, I would add it. If he doesn’t discover it in on his own I would place it in a room adjacent to his current litterbox room, wait for him to find and use it and then start moving it a few feet every day.

It's a great suggestion - but wouldn't he simply keep using the one he knows and likes already? What would move him to change the habit?

 

[susanm9006]

Most cats will not favor one box or another and will use it simply because it’s there. He also may be less vocal about a dirty box if there is another clean one nearby. As an owner two boxes are good because they stay a little dryer and less smelly if there are two. If you want to stick with one box then you will need to be sure he is comfortable exploring in the basement and will still need to do the gradual move of the box to that location.

 

[Purr-fect]

It took Arnold and Greg almost a week to come out from under the bed when we first got them......now now they run the house. Funy thing........they are also particuliar about the litter box. Often they will wait till its cleaned every night before they use it. Sometimes they are climbing in it while Im still scooping it and adding fresh litter.

 

[ArtNJ]

Lets back up a step. Most people on this forum with one or two cats probably clean the box(es) once a day, and there are certainly those that use clumping litter that do it less frequently than that. There is no objective reason any only cat needs it done more than once a day. This has simply become a habit.

Cats develop habits, and can be very demanding about them. Thing is, every time you or your mom clean it for the cat immediately, it reinforces the habit. Your mom can't just not clean it at night, the habit it too strong.

What I would do is put out a second box yes, but never ever give in to the demand for immediate cleaning. Not once. Killing a habit requires consistency.

As far as getting the cat out of the room, all you can really do without stressing the cat is: (1) try to lure out with treats; (2) gradually move the food bowl towards and then out the door, bit by bit; and/or (3) wait. Of course, if your mom feels her health and sanity is threatened, it might set your cat back a bit, but if need be she would eventually adapt to a new room with time.

 

[doctorv]

Lets back up a step. Most people on this forum with one or two cats probably clean the box(es) once a day, and there are certainly those that use clumping litter that do it less frequently than that. There is no objective reason any only cat needs it done more than once a day. This has simply become a habit.

Cats develop habits, and can be very demanding about them. Thing is, every time you or your mom clean it for the cat immediately, it reinforces the habit. Your mom can't just not clean it at night, the habit it too strong.

What I would do is put out a second box yes, but never ever give in to the demand for immediate cleaning. Not once. Killing a habit requires consistency.

As far as getting the cat out of the room, all you can really do without stressing the cat is: (1) try to lure out with treats; (2) gradually move the food bowl towards and then out the door, bit by bit; and/or (3) wait. Of course, if your mom feels her health and sanity is threatened, it might set your cat back a bit, but if need be she would eventually adapt to a new room with time.

Thank you! Yes, I get the habit issue - we already decided it will be broken. We also don't plan on forcing the cat out of the room just yet - he already makes short excursions into the house (lol) but obviously prefers the safety of that smaller secluded study with adjacent bathroom where his litter box is. But I do plan on immediately moving his food/water out of the bathroom to the kitchen. I am sure he knows by now we mean no harm but rather feed and take care of him, so I expect him to be brave enough (or hungry enough) to follow some treats toward the kitchen. It will make him leave his safe heaven more often.

 

[Purr-fect]

There is no objective reason any only cat needs it done more than once a day.

-why not?.........I flush the toilet after every use.....lol

Actually we only clean our cats boxes once a day.......unless someone leaves something especially unplesant there.

 

[doctorv]

This is my plan - we want to clean it once a day!

 

[doctorv]

Hi all
Thank you so much for help and suggestions.
Things seem to get much better - no more nightly harassment and he is eating at the kitchen.