Hi everyone, I don't normally post on forums because online interaction kind of scares me but I have a situation which I think will benefit from your perspectives.
I adopted a 1.5yo female cat from the local SPCA last Thursday. She came home showing signs of an upper respiratory tract infection/a cat flu. She was having a lot of trouble breathing properly (her nose sounded very congested). Her nose was caked in mucus and there was discharge coming out of her left eye.
While I know that most cats will be to nervous to eat or drink after moving to a new environment, I found it unsettling that the cat couldn't even sniff around to get acquainted with her new surroundings. I'd set up food, soy litter and have a toy on stand-by in my room, none of which that she touched. It wasn't till later that night when the cat wand piqued her interest and I got her to chase the wand for a bit before she started lapping up water at the water bowl. She was yelling throughout the night and refused to eat or use the litter tray. The cries were so distressing so I woke up every time to try to figure out what she wanted/needed. I tried to drop her into the litter tray but she would parachute herself and grip at the edges, flat out refusing to come into contact with the soya clumping litter. She eventually peed in the carrier that I'd brought her home in.
I bought wood litter pellets (I was told they used that in SPCA) and brought her to the vet where she was prescribed with a cocktail of medications which made her drowsy and stimulated her appetite. She eventually took a nibble out of wet food but has till today never finished the bowl (I only put a quarter of the can in!). Due to the drowsy medication, she was a lot calmer and manageable, and cried less throughout the night, but I guess the drowsiness wore off at 3 in the morning because I heard the sounds of crunching, which I assumed was from gnawing on kibble. I was a bit more awake at 5 and heard the sounds of crunching again but realised it was coming from the wrong side of the room - the side with the newly refilled wood litter pellets. Her lack of smell caused her to mistake the pellets for kibble, which she only realised after I wrestled the wood pellet out of her mouth and force fed her with kibble instead.
The vet told me to put her in her carrier and bring them into a hot shower to help with clearing her nasal passage but because she still hadn't used the litter (apart from snacking on it), the experience freaked her out and she peed in her carrier. I had to rinse her out real quickly and she wasn't pleased about coming into contact with water. She was mostly docile the rest of the day and quite tired from being on the flu meds. She would cry out once in a while but was easily appeased with pets.
While her respiratory infection/cat flu is getting better and she is now able to smell again, I think I've been enabling her meowing a bit by being attentive to her. I have begun trying to stop that by ignoring her. However, she's learnt to jump onto my bed and has now resorted to waking my up by grooming my face and hair and pulling on my shirt with her teeth. She looks completely bored of my room but also refuses to explore the other areas of my apartment. I've tried to set her on a cat tree but she's proven to be more of a floor dweller for the time being.
I've had experience with two other cats and they've both been rather chill - one was my sister's cat and they're both abroad now, and the other was when I offered to cat-sit for a friend. In my naivete, I thought rehoming this new cat would be as easy as it was when I was cat-sitting. In all honesty, I was hoping that the cat I adopted would be equally as chill but she has proven to be otherwise and I'm starting to suspect that she is struggling with separation anxiety. I have averaged about 3.5h of sleep in the past 5 nights and am starting to feel regret seeping in. I'm struggling with a bit of self-loathing for having been so naive and a lot of self-doubt in whether I'm the right fit for the cat, and especially whether I'm just not cut out to have a cat.
Just wanted to find out if rehoming an adopted cat has been this difficult for everyone else, and if anyone has advice on how I can reduce the excessive meowing and have her be less intense? Sorry for the long read!
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/n4epbz/advice_needed_on_settling_in_an_adopted_cat/
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