# First Day/Night with adopted rescue cat



## BJM1980 (Mar 19, 2017)

Hello,

My partner and I just adopted a six year old male Tabby from Cat's protection. He was by far the friendliest cat we visited and fell in love straight away. We got him home yesterday and left him in his room alone as advised by the staff.

He was crying after about 30mins so we popped up to see him, and out he came running round the house, immediately looking for attention and wanting stoked and cuddled. We couldn't believe it after reading about cats hiding for hours or days even when first being introduced into a new home.

So all was going well and he was sitting on my lap and I was stroking him then snap, he bit my finger, nothing major but it wasn't a playful bite it was a back off bite. So I did. About an hour later, again he was sat on my lap, and I touched him on the top of the head and bam.. a really vicious scratch enough to draw blood from my hand. So I backed off and let him do his thing, his mood really changed after this. Then within another hour he went for me again, this time I was just walking past and he leapt up to bite and claw at my hand with both paws, again this was quite vicious and not playful.

We both just let him be, feeling a bit miffed and upset, but decided to go to bed and see how he was the next day.... Well that's when the crying started. Literally the entire night he spent crying and scratching at our door. We didn't get up or acknowledge it but it was quite upsetting and kept us both awake.

He seems extremely needy, follows us around and wants to be near us at all times, but seemingly also wants to attack me on occasion!

So we are just quite stressed and sad this morning and wondering, what to do? This is our first cat and we really want to love him but we are basically scared to touch him now.

Thanks

B&K


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## Justineblant1234 (Oct 2, 2016)

BJM1980 said:


> Hello,
> 
> My partner and I just adopted a six year old male Tabby from Cat's protection. He was by far the friendliest cat we visited and fell in love straight away. We got him home yesterday and left him in his room alone as advised by the staff.
> 
> ...


We had a cat the exact same we couldn't touch him we had to do everything on his terms . Bless this cat has probably been through an awful lot then all of a sudden he is in a strange environment with these strange people.. per severe let him sit on ya knee don't touch him , i found cat nip works wonders.. he needs to trust you and know you are not going to hurt him.. you just need patience and give it time , please dont give up on hin yet ...i had my cat for 25years he turned out to be a grand cat


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## catcoonz (Aug 4, 2012)

Firstly, i would like to say thank you for giving a rescue cat a lovely home.

I have a rescue cat Aston, she is the same and has mood changes. I have had her for 2 years now and you do learn to live in harmony with each other
You have to remember so many changes will cause stress. The cat has only just arrived and needs time to settle on it's own terms.
Aston can have cuddly moments, then suddenly turn on me, if she comes for cuddles, she gets them, when she swipes at me i leave her alone.

Give your cat time, it is early days. Is there a reason he is shut away at night from your bedroom?


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## BJM1980 (Mar 19, 2017)

I think we are both just a little upset after him going from so friendly to a bit "scary" in the flick of a wrist, but I think you are both right and a bit of time for him to settle will ease things. I don't think he's a bad cat, just perhaps had a few bad run ins in the past. The adoption center told us he'd been returned to them after a toddler was pulling his tale. So I suspect he snapped at the child and the parents , understandable, were angry etc. so who know how they dealt with it.. Anyway a few scratches we can deal with, I think the three of us just need to build confidence with each others company. A friend recommended taking him to get his nails cut back so if he does lash out he'll do less damage.

In regards to the night time crying thing. We have out spare room kitted out with everything he could need. A bed, scratching post, food, water,litter tray and some places to hide if he likes. I know this might sound harsh, but we considered keeping him in there tonight with the door closed. What do you think about that?

I've read elsewhere that its ok to do that, and we just don't want him sharing a bedroom with us, at least not yet. But we both have fairly stressful jobs with early starts so another poor nights sleep is not appealing..

I'm just worried it'll cause him a lot of stress, but not sure if its any different to keeping our bedroom door closed.

Thanks again...

B


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## catcoonz (Aug 4, 2012)

It is perfectly ok to have him in a spare room at night, was thinking of him scratching the door and keeping you awake.
See how things go
With Aston, she would keep scratching at closed doors, so although i have the bedroom door open, she doesn't sleep in the bedroom, just chooses
to sleep on the landing. She is a very strange cat though.


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

It sounds as if close contact isn't very welcome due to his being teased at his previous home. I would just leave him to do his own thing for a while until he relaxes and settles, go about your own business, speak to him quietly but don't pick him up, force him to sit with you or keep trying to stroke him etc. then he will hopefully not feel so apprehensive. It can take a few weeks, even months for some cats. Suggest you get a Feliway or Pet Remedy plug in which helps cats relax. Its very early days, at the moment you are strangers, there is no bond between you which is what you want to achieve so you understand him and he understands you. He's a lovely boy by the way, I love tabbies.


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## SpringDance (Mar 18, 2016)

Also Google cat petting aggression.

I would also support the idea that he doesn't know you yet. 

Are you playing with him? How much? You say it's not playful, but is aggressive, it my sweet little gentle girl turns into an aggressive monster killing machine during play (directed at toys, not us!). Get something like a flying Frenzy and tunnels and stick toys. Play and play, but never let him play with your body parts.

I also love Jackson Galaxy - look for him on YouTube.he talks a lot about cats and their body language and understanding them.


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## SpringDance (Mar 18, 2016)

Start here:






I learnt a lot from this man.


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## SpringDance (Mar 18, 2016)

I won't post anymore, there are loads on YouTube. I also let my children watch these videos. They learnt far more from him than listening to me!

ETA my cat never stayed in a single room. We had one set up, but it became clear she wanted to be around us. She became more independent as she became more confident. We kept her indoors for a month.


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## BJM1980 (Mar 19, 2017)

Thanks everyone.. Happy to report Georgie is settling in now and we've been watching alot of Jackson Galaxy. Thanks so much for that tip off.

We are all building confidence with each other and the routine has helpped him relax a bit more at night.. So all in all things are going well.

Thanks

B&K x


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## claire8234 (Mar 8, 2013)

BLess him, he is obviously feeling secure enough to sit on you but is anxious when you stroke him (not suprising if he has had his tail pulled) If he comes to sit on you just leave him well alone and dont stroke him.

OUr cat has been with us about 5years (he is 7) and still goes into "stabby mode" as my kids call it!! You will learn to read his body language and know when he wants to be left alone or if he is about to pounce. 

TRy playing with him with a feather dangly toy, these are great for diverting a potential attack! Our cat loves his kong kickeroo, he happily bunny kicks that. 

COuld you let him in with you at night, he could be wondering where you are and is getting upset at not being able to get to you?

It could be worth using a pet remedy diffuser (I find these more effective than feliway) to help reduce his stress

EVen the sweetest, cat can be a bit jekyll and hyde in a new home, it will take a few weeks for him to settle so be patient, give him space and I am sure he will calm down soon.


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## cows573 (Apr 20, 2017)

Wow Jackson is fab! There were so many things he said that I already knew from having cats all my life and from taming feral ones... However, I would never have been able to say so eloquently the difference between doing the right and wrong thing with a cat that shows aggression.


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