# Help!! My cat is in the chimney!!!



## shii360

I'm new here & this is a really long story so please bear with me as I really need advice!!

I very recently adopted an 8 month old kitten from a shelter & when we first saw her it was love at first sight. The volunteers told us she was shy & kind of warned that if we were looking for a playful kitten we should consider a different one. I have limited experience with cats but my husband has a ton of experience with them & we had been looking for months for the perfect kitten to join our family. The volunteer told me I should meet her. I met her & she was so sweet. She instantly curled up into my arms & purred as i stroked her beautiful coat. I was sold. I brought my husband the following day & she did the same but was even sweeter. She kept inching closer to him as he pet her & even the volunteer was shocked! She said this kitten was so shy she wouldn't come out of her cage for weeks. I subsequently visited her every day until our application was approved & we were over the moon that this sweetheart was going to be apart of our small family. (It's just the two of us) We bought everything we would need including a carrier & brought her home.

We lived really close to the shelter (less than 5 mins) so the drive was short. WE got home & set up her litter box food & water in the bathroom & set her carrier on the floor. We opened the door to the carrier & exited the bathroom. 15 mins later we came in & she was hiding behind the toilet seemingly terrified. I sat on the floor & talked to her & played classical music on my ipod to help relax her. I left after about a half hour & came in every other hour to visit with her.
She ate some of her food while i was in the bathroom & stayed behind the toilet.

In the morning when i woke up to check on her she was in the bathtub. I took that as a sign she was getting comfortable. She had also used the litter box & ate all her food.

I spent most of the next day in & out of the bathroom with her reading & playing classical music. While visiting with her I noticed she had stretched out beside the toilet (instead of behind it) & went to sleep. I was feeling really optimistic & excited about her progress.

Later that evening my husband was visiting with her & said that she had come from behind the toilet & walked up to him rubbing against him & pushing her head into his hand to pet her. He pet her & she seemed to get excited walking all around the bathroom & rubbing against the toilet & his legs. He was mainly rubbing her face & behind her ears & she kept turning her back to him as if to say pet me..He pet her back & all of a sudden she turned around stood up & hissed at him. Then she ran to the side of the toilet.

This was odd because she seemed to be getting comfortable & enjoying the petting session they were having. He sat in the bathroom with her a little while longer until I came in.

While in the bathroom with her, she came from beside the toilet & slowly approached me.. I reached out my hand & she sniffed it & pushed the side of her face into it. I started to rub her face & she seemed to get excited & started walking around the bathroom rubbing against the toilet & my legs. When I got up to leave she started to follow me out then ran back behind the toilet.

I later came back in & she came to me when I called her. She also started sniffing around the door & used the litter box while I was there. I got up to leave & she started to follow me again. This time I left the door open & she walked out!

My bedroom door was closed & my husband was in his office with the door open. She went inside his office & sniffed around rubbed against him & walked out. I thought she was going into the bathroom but then she started walking into the living room!!

We wanted to follow her but decided to hang back & let her explore so we didnt scare her. After about a min she didnt come back & we went in the living room to check on her. She was hiding behind the sofa!!! I called her & she didn't come. I decided to let her be since she seemed to be comfortable. The next morning we woke up & we couldnt find her! She had never returned to the bathroom. Turns out she was hiding behind the electric fire place. I moved the electric piece & she ran out & went under the tv stand. We were so confused! What happened! Why was she hiding again when she seemed so comfortable the day before?!

We didnt want to force her out & since she was safe decided to let her stay under the tv stand. I brought her food & water & placed it in front of the tv stand after she had been there for a few hours & she still wouldn't eat. (At this point it prob been 24 hours since she had eaten) Later that evening I was sitting on the sofa watching tv & noticed she had stretched out under the tv stand. She eventually came out, ate a little of her food, walked to the sofa looked at me, then went behind the sofa.

I sat on the floor & talked to her & played classical music to try to make her comfortable. She didnt seem to want to come from behind the sofa so I let her stay there.

The next morning when i woke to check on her SHE HAD DISAPPEARED!!!

There weren't many places to hide. There is no space under our sofa to hide, all the pantry & closet doors were shut & the office & bedroom door were shut as well.. Then we heard noise by the fireplace & saw soot fall down the chimney..

NOW im freaking out. How could she be in the chimney?? Is she going to be able to get down?? If she going to get sick??? Can she die up there??

We decided to put her food & water on the fireplace in hopes it would get her to come down..

After hours still nothing but a few rustling noises coming from the chimney.

This morning I wake up & check her bowl to see if she had come down while we were sleeping & it looked like some food was missing from her bowl.. There were a few black flakes in her water bowl as well.

Not sure why, but i looked at the sofa for black footprints & i noticed something by the crease of the cusions. I moved the blanket draped on the back of our sofa & what do i see?? FECES.

ON. MY. SOFA.

2 thoughts.

1. Ok so we know she's ok & hiding in the chimney.
2. Why did she have to defecate on my sofa?!:eek6:

I emptied her bowl & put down fresh water & food on one side of the fire place & her litter box on the other side. (It's a pretty big fireplace)

As far as I know she hasn't come down all day & my number one concern is her health. If there is a lot of soot up there will it make her sick when she cleans her self??

Will she ever come down?

Should I try to get her down?

I didnt occur to me when the volunteer mentioned she was "shy" & "was born outside" that it meant she was a feral cat & probably not socialized to be around humans. I found this out after doing extensive research after the fact of course.

We are willing to be patient with her but it really seems like maybe she doesnt want to be here. It's like a completely different kitten than the one who was so sweet in the shelter!! I thought she was progressing & it seems that maybe what we interpreted as her being more comfortable was actually her trying to get away.

What should we do???? Please HELP!:crying:


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## Aeschylus

Maybe she had too much space to explore before she was really ready? Perhaps a couple more days in the bathroom, or the bathroom and the hall, would have been easier on her. 

Sorry to hear about your sofa. Cats, eh? And unfortunately I don't know whether soot is toxic to cats, although I doubt it's recommended.

I've never had to coax a cat out of a chimney, but I imagine food would play an important role... and maybe giving the cat lots of space to feel secure enough to come down.

Did you contact the shelter to find out whether she is indeed a feral cat? And is she out of the chimney now? It can take a cat days or even weeks to get used to a new home, so I think if you remain patient she'll probably come round. Good luck!


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## moggiemum

so sad shes been up there for so long she needs some water/food now, unless she has been down and gone back up?

any news?


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## Jiskefet

Sounds like she is overwhelmed by the size, the sounds and smells of the big lounge and tried to find herself a small, safe place to hide. Can you try to coax her out of the living room by putting food in the hall and more in the bathroom, so she may find her way back there?

Once you have her out of the chimney, block it up or keep the living room door closed so she cannot get back in there.


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## chillminx

I agree with the others - you do need to get her out of the chimney a.s.a.p. in order to make progress with her. If you cannot coax her out with strong smelling food (such as sardines in tomato sauce) then ask the Shelter if you can borrow their cat trap for a night.

Put tempting food (and water) inside and set the trap at night. Don't leave out any other food for her and it is likely by the next morning Kitty will be safely caught in the trap. She will not come to any harm if she is left in there for a few hours over night.

You can then carry the trap with her in it, out of the living room and open it and let her out in her safe room.
A bathroom is rather a small area for her, if possible a spare bedroom would be a better option, as she will probably need to spend a few weeks in there, acclimatising to her new home and humans. If there is a chimney, make sure it is completely blocked up though!

Make sure you give her lots of places to hide in her safe room e.g. cardboard boxes turned on their sides, and kitten tunnels such as these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb...ten+tunnels,aps,513&rh=i:aps,k:kitten tunnels

If she is hiding from you (in one of her safe hiding places) do not disturb her, but continue doing as you have been doing, sitting with her and reading aloud to her, as well as leaving music on when you are out of the room. I also leave DVDs on for my kittens when I am not in their room with them. "Life of Birds" is a good one! :thumbsup:


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## buffie

Why the hell do folks post things like this and then never update members


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## jaycee05

It annoys me as well, at least when someone has posted something like this and is very worried, you would think they would come back and [hopefully] let people know she is ok


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## shii360

Sorry guys!!:blushing: I'm new here & it seemingly took forever for the admin to approve my initial post. I literally just got an email that it was posted & I had replies!! 

So here's the update:

I got in contact with the shelter the next day so I did get a few answers..

I've been leaving food & water out since she went up there & after she pooped on my sofa I figured it would be smart to move the litter box out there as well. It seems she only comes down at night when we are sleeping. She eats all her food & uses her litter box. The other day she came down, saw me, & went right back up (( She didnt appear to have any soot on her which made me feel a little better.

The ppl at the shelter told me to coax her out with food as a few of you suggested but that isnt working & then if that didnt work to leave no food at all to see if she came down. I didnt want to not leave her any food since she's up there i at least want my baby to eat!! At this point she's been up there for about 5 days so tomorrow I'll make arrangements to get the trap from the shelter. Not sure how I feel about the trap since it seems she'll be traumatized all over again but at least she wont be in the chimney. I also found a cover for the fireplace so that this cant happen again!! 

We both feel pretty dumb because we've never had a cat & fireplace at the same time & had no idea they could or would want to go up the chimney!! Now we know & lesson learned. Thanks for all your concern & suggestions! I'll def be sure to update & post a pic when we get her out of there!!


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## Jiskefet

Well, the owner was online early this morning and liked some of the answers.
They are probably putting our advice into practice right now, and will hopefully have some news for us soon.


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## HoneyFern

When my rescue does home visits we check if the chimney is closed off or not. People think we're being pedantic but this is exactly the reason why. You can get things that go into the chimney and expand to block it off.

To the OP: cats can take a while to come round to living somewhere new, your cat is just getting used to her surroundings. It doesn't mean she's feral, everything you've said points to her feeling unsettled. With time and patience she will be fine but you can't expect it to happen overnight.


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## shii360

HoneyFern said:


> When my rescue does home visits we check if the chimney is closed off or not. People think we're being pedantic but this is exactly the reason why. You can get things that go into the chimney and expand to block it off.
> 
> To the OP: cats can take a while to come round to living somewhere new, your cat is just getting used to her surroundings. It doesn't mean she's feral, everything you've said points to her feeling unsettled. With time and patience she will be fine but you can't expect it to happen overnight.


I wish someone would've mentioned it to us! They mentioned our bed & sofa but never asked about a fireplace. We would've gotten something to block it off had we known.


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## moggiemum

how is she now?


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## chillminx

Please don't worry about using the trap to get her, although they can be quite noisy things when they clang shut stray cats I have trapped with them do not generally seem too stressed out from being shut in them for a short while.

As long as there is food and water, and you could put a rug in too, so she doesn't get cold she will be OK. It has got to be a better choice than her living in a draughty chimney anyway, and if you leave her to her own devices it could take weeks and weeks to get her down. Unless you stop leaving food out for her.


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## Paddypaws

Have you tried luring her down with a toy such as a feather waggle stick? 
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_toys/kong_cat_toys/13638

Even shy cats find them pretty hard to resist and they can be a great toy to help the bonding process.


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## shii360

** UPDATE**

Hey guys! I spoke to one of the ladies from the shelter & she came over & got my baby out of the chimney!!! She closed the flue & said that now my baby cant get up there even if she tried!! We have been spending loads of time in the bathroom as she is getting readjusted to being with us.. She has been coming to me when I call her & I even picked her up a few times!! I'm so happy to have her down! Thanks again for all the suggestions & concern! XO


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## moggiemum

aww sooooooo happy now , i was worried when you didnt come back , thanks for update, is she gonna make an appearance here soon? and tell us her name


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## shii360

ANOTHER UPDATE!!!

im so excited!!! Zuli climbed into my lap all by herself for the first time while I was visiting her in the bathroom!!!!!! this is major progress! maybe in a few days she will be ready to come into the living room with me! sorry but i had to share!:biggrin:


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## moggiemum

you ' ve done it now- it official, she loves you you are her slave forever welcome to the club

she is a beauty:001_wub:


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## shii360

moggiemum said:


> you ' ve done it now- it official, she loves you you are her slave forever welcome to the club
> 
> she is a beauty:001_wub:


thank you! im so happy!


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## Forester

Oooooh she really does look lovely. I can see why you were taken by her when you saw her at the shelter. It looks as though she is gaining confidence in you now that she has escaped the chimney. 
I'm looking forward to seeing much more of little Zuli.


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## moggie14

Great news, I've been watching this thread with interest 
She is very pretty and a gorgeous colour - I wonder if she could be a British blue cross


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