I got a new apartment in November, my first time living alone.
I waited until I had the majority of my furniture, and had the layout of the apartment mostly laid out before I brought him here. I wanted things to be as settled as possible before bringing him here.
A little background on him: I found him and his 4 siblings under my ex's garage, they were all 3 weeks old. My parents wouldn't let me keep all of them(this was in 2009, I was 17 and still living at home), so I kept the black one because they aren't as easily adopted, and found someone to foster the rest.
I hand raised him from there, he is now going on 10 years old. He has always been a little slow to trust, but I was always a clear figure of comfort to him.
While I'm transitioning between my new apartment and my parents, I've been staying at my parents' house almost every weekend. He would be elated and excited to see me every time I came home. Lots of purring, and rubbing on me.
So, this weekend came. I found a little tutorial online of how to move your cat. It talked about letting him get used to the crate, which I did so by basically leaving the crate in my old bedroom so he could look inside, smell it, etc.
So, I loaded him up into the crate, and then carried him downstairs and set him on the landing. While I had stepped away to get something else, he broke out of the crate, and I had to chase him and put him back into the crate. He was absolutely terrified, he clawed me up pretty badly, and screamed to high heaven. I deserved every bit of it, I know, but he was never going to go in that crate willingly after breaking out. I literally sat there and cried after he was back in the crate because I felt like such a bad person for doing this. I know this is the reason he maybe hesitant to trust me. But I don't know how to fix it other than to give him time.
I got him loaded in my car. From the moment he was in the crate, I had an internal clock running. I didn't want him to be in the crate too long. I took the remainder of his bag of food, a blanket he liked to lay on, and his toys with me to my new apartment. He meowed the entire 50+ minute drive to my new apartment, but let me pet him through the door.
We pulled up to my apartment (street parking) and I had a lot of stuff to bring in so I brought him in first and put him(still in the crate) in my bedroom. I then made him a fresh litterbox, and a fresh bowl of food and water. I laid the blanket on the floor, and scattered his toys around it. I knew we had had a long ride, so didn't want him to have to be in the crate any longer.
I closed my bedroom door, and opened the crate. I sat with him a bit, scratched his ears and chin which he enjoyed, and then left the room so he could explore my room at his own pace, and so I could get everything I needed from my car.
I came back to check on him semi-frequently. When I got back from parking my car(and having a HUGE crying fit/breakdown, because I still felt like a HORRIBLE PERSON for moving him), he was hiding behind an ottoman I'd had in my old bedroom. He purred when I'd pet him, and would arch into my hand/rub his face on me.
I kept my bedroom door closed all last night, if I left, I'd close the door behind me. Even when I left to take a shower, and to make food. I took some time to patch up some of the scratches I'd gotten from him, and he wandered all the way into the living room. I corralled him back into my room shortly after, so other than a cursory glance around, he didn't do much investigating. He hissed at me a little as he trotted back into my room.
I kept him in my room all night(he woke me up with a lot of meowing around 3 am, and I heard him checking the door to try to get out. I didn't get much sleep, tbh). I feel like this was a mistake because now, he won't leave my room, and hides when the door is left open.
In the morning, he was sleeping INSIDE the blanket I'd brought from my parents house. The one he liked to lay on. As far as I know, he's never laid UNDER a blanket, always on top. He's very much a "perch" type cat, and has always been the type to perch up on top of things. Beds, dressers, sinks, his cat house, etc.
To see him cowering INSIDE of a blanket breaks my heart.
I had to go to work today, but because I live so close to my job, I stopped by to check on him during my lunch hour. He was fine, playful and purring, but when he wasn't doing much, he would crawl back INTO the blanket to sleep/lay down.
My mom has told me he's welcome back at the house anytime, and I am totally willing to move him back and let him live out his days there if that's what is best for him, even if I will miss him dearly.
But, is there anything I can do to make this transition easier on him? Or boost his confidence/reassure him this place is safe, and he's safe with me?
When do I decide "okay, this is just mean," and take him back to my parents? How long do I stick it out?
I want to do what's best for him. My mom says to watch and see how he is by Friday (today being Monday), but...I feel HORRIBLE, you guys.
It's only been 24-hours, but I feel as if he's getting worse. He didn't hide when he first got here, and when I moved the blanket he just climbed under the end of my comforter instead. He's barely eating(I'm not sure if he's drinking, I can't tell.), even though I have two different types of food out for him(dry kibble and wet from a pouch), and both filtered and tap water.
He is using the litter box, and had a bowel movement last night.
I apologize for the long read, but alot has happened, and I don't want to leave anything out if it'll help. Please help. ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
TL;DR: Moved my cat into my new apartment, he's not adjusting well. Help. ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
[link] [comments]
from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/f5ku1s/help_i_moved_my_cat_into_my_new_apartment_over/
No comments:
Post a Comment