stray cat to indoor cat help and tips

[Kwik]

yes she's with us forever the last piece was making sure she wasn't FIV/FeLV positive because we are moving soon into a house with other cats (which will be its own whole thing, i know) and thankfully she's negative! i just worry about her happiness/quality of life now; she's moving around so much less than when she was living outside and she seems grumpy/sad when all she does is lay under our bed all day

It's all part for the course- just try to get the " happy,sad,bored" thing out of your head because she is not going through all those human emotions or " thinking" as you do

She is in unfamiliar territory,it's safe to come out and explore when she " hears" nothing around and sees no potential threat UNTIL she establishes this is her territory,it is safe and all the movements,smells,sounds and sights will be of no consequence....it's better to be unseen and remain hidden as it us safe- see?

First and foremost it's " survival"- animals behave instinctually in the way that ensures the species survival,they are not people,they are animals...they do not think and reason as we do(eg":gee,it was so much nicer outside",or " wish I was outside")....Nope,it's what they WERE familiar with- they don't sit around thinking of those things Cats spend 75% of their time sleeping

After she's relaxed & comfortable in this strange unfamiliar environment she will then take interest in " you" and get curious about what you are doing etc etc and her personality will re-emerge....her past is remembered no more,they live in ""the now".... in a feral state they exist each day to survive- in a loving,safe home they live a good life,without fear

 

[eel]

hi y'all!! i just wanted to update this thread since when i was looking around for information/stories similar to mine on this site and others, i always appreciated when the OP updated and showed how the situation progressed

baby is doing great! we really noticed an accelerated change around the 1 month mark. her sleeping schedule evened out so she would come out a lot more often during the day with naps in between. my partner also plays with her a lot (she has so much energy, she's like a little kitten!) and obv this helps get her energy out and encourages her to come out of the bed when she wants play time. her meowing at night is essentially gone, except for when she really needs something. she even sleeps with us on the bed!! which made me so so happy!! she loves to plop down right next to my legs or sometimes even on them. and she even came out when my friend was over the other day, a big big deal for her!

i've noticed she's a bit less "cuddly" than she was at the beginning, but i think she is just revealing her personality and feeling comfortable instead of passive, scared, and submissive. if she doesn't want pets, she'll let us know with a little slap now which makes me laugh (its a no claws slap dw). we are still working on consistent eating times with her- she loves dry food and seems endlessly picky about wet food, but i would like to incorporate more wet/less dry for hydrations sake.

she's a really funny girl. she makes us laugh and we love her so much. sometimes we just lay on the bed during the day while she's napping in the sunlight and watch her little face and talk about how perfect she is. i think we're lucky with how well she adjusted-i know it can take some stray cats months and months, and i am still nervous about our upcoming move and how she will deal with that-but i am very glad she decided to trust us and i decided to trust her and move with her at her own pace. at the beginning it felt like it could never resolve, but it did, sometimes slowly, sometimes faster than we expected. she's still full of a lot of mystery and i worry about a lot of things with her, but i can't wait to see her grow with us.

thank you all for your continued kindness in the face of my anxious posts. the work you all do here on this forum is wonderful! i am happy to be a part of it, even in some little way.

 

[Kwik]

hi y'all!! i just wanted to update this thread since when i was looking around for information/stories similar to mine on this site and others, i always appreciated when the OP updated and showed how the situation progressed

baby is doing great! we really noticed an accelerated change around the 1 month mark. her sleeping schedule evened out so she would come out a lot more often during the day with naps in between. my partner also plays with her a lot (she has so much energy, she's like a little kitten!) and obv this helps get her energy out and encourages her to come out of the bed when she wants play time. her meowing at night is essentially gone, except for when she really needs something. she even sleeps with us on the bed!! which made me so so happy!! she loves to plop down right next to my legs or sometimes even on them. and she even came out when my friend was over the other day, a big big deal for her!

i've noticed she's a bit less "cuddly" than she was at the beginning, but i think she is just revealing her personality and feeling comfortable instead of passive, scared, and submissive. if she doesn't want pets, she'll let us know with a little slap now which makes me laugh (its a no claws slap dw). we are still working on consistent eating times with her- she loves dry food and seems endlessly picky about wet food, but i would like to incorporate more wet/less dry for hydrations sake.

she's a really funny girl. she makes us laugh and we love her so much. sometimes we just lay on the bed during the day while she's napping in the sunlight and watch her little face and talk about how perfect she is. i think we're lucky with how well she adjusted-i know it can take some stray cats months and months, and i am still nervous about our upcoming move and how she will deal with that-but i am very glad she decided to trust us and i decided to trust her and move with her at her own pace. at the beginning it felt like it could never resolve, but it did, sometimes slowly, sometimes faster than we expected. she's still full of a lot of mystery and i worry about a lot of things with her, but i can't wait to see her grow with us.

thank you all for your continued kindness in the face of my anxious posts. the work you all do here on this forum is wonderful! i am happy to be a part of it, even in some little way.

You're a part of this wonderful community of cat lovers in a very BIG way- with so many readers out in the world someone will see what you've shared and they will be encouraged,they will have hope- its what we are all here for and the more success stories our readers see is what confirms exactly what we are saying- every cat can be a wonderful companion,a safe,healthy,happy housecat - all they need is LOVE

Thank you for sharing this lovely update -so happy to hear your story and look forward to your posting about Baby doing GREAT when you move,it will be just fine!No doubt