Adopted a 2 year old cat...need advice

[dfchelbay]

I'd put the cat in the bathroom. Smaller space will feel safer in such new surroundings. You can also keep a better eye on whether the cat is going to the bathroom. We had a cat that peed under the bed because he didn't want to come out of the bedroom & the litter box was in the adjoining bathroom. He was our cat for years, so we were familiar to him, the furniture was familiar but he was scared of the new house. We heard him peeing in the middle of the night & that's when we knew he was afraid to even go to his litter box. We confined him to the bathroom with all his stuff & wedged the door nearly all the way closed so he felt safe. He stayed in there for nearly two weeks before he felt safe enough to come out. We'd just go to him & spend time with him everyday in the bathroom & let him come out on his own time schedule. Little by little he'd come out & walk a few steps around the outer perimeter of the bedroom, then a little to the hallway, then over time to the rest of the house.

Also, you may want to put your dog on a leash & bring him in to the bedroom for a few minutes just to see how the cat reacts. If the cat was ever living with a dog, it might be of comfort to him. We had a feral cat once that would stay at the edge of the woods behind our house & only get so close when you talked to him. The first time he saw our dog, he ran right up to her and started rubbing his forehead all over the dog. To this day, that cat thinks he's a dog and follows our dogs around the yard, playing all the same dog games they play.

 

[Sandy61]

These are all great ideas. Please be careful if you hold the cat and take it near your dog...I have gotten bloody gashes from frightened cats. We even had to use leather gloves when a mother cat brought her feral kittens to our house. They were little balls of fur with serious claws. We took the kittens to an animal rescue league and kept one kitten and the mama and spayed and nuetered them.

You could also give treats to them when introducing scents.

I used to volunteer at the animal rescue league and we would mix the wet and dry food together kind of like meatloaf.

Good luck!