General advice for adopting a new cat and/or relocating a cat:
Put cat in a small room, with the door closed
This allows the cat to familiarise itself, on its own time, with its immediate surroundings. You are aiming to make this feel like a 'safe space' so the cat has somewhere to go/hide if it gets spooked. Once it has a 'safe space', it is more likely to adventure out and gain confidence.
Keep the room supplied
Litter tray, wet and dry food (cats are fussy, see which one they prefer), somewhere DARK/covered (blanket over a chair, an old box, just anything it can hide under/in). This just helps fortify the safe space thing. Don't try to interact with the cat when restocking the room - remember, you want the cat to feel like it owns the room. The dark/hidden spot is so the cat can 100% hide if it wants to, especially when you restock.
Get it used to your voice
This is usually done by just you having constant conversation with someone in the house. If you live alone, you might want to try talking to yourself a lot. It sounds dumb but cats HATE new noises/voices/etc. It took my cats (that I've had for years) about two weeks to get used to our new house, from the floorboards creaking alone. The idea here is that you want the cat to get used to your voice, so it isn't a surprise and it knows hearing you is safe. Ditto for any ambient noises your house has, loud footsteps from neighbours, cars, etc.
Never force the cat out
Once it's in the room, ideally you want to just leave it alone. Don't keep trying to get it used to your presence until it's used to the environment/your voice. This can take days. Yes, you sometimes need to grab at it and shove it in a carrier to relocate it or take it to the vet, that can't be avoided. Just minimise your contact till it settles.
Slowly introduce yourself
Maybe once it's been a few days, start leaving the door ajar so the cat may come and go freely from the room. It'll return to that room when it gets spooked (if the safe space has anchored). The cat may spot you, come to see you, just lay somewhere visible, etc... Get low to the ground (squat basically), put your hand out (from a few metres away), and call the cat over. If it comes over, let it sniff your hand a lot first - never try and pet it too quickly. It'll usually let you know if you can pet it (rub against your hand, get closer to your actual body, etc.). If it doesn't sniff you, or does then moves away, just talk to it (again, reinforce your voice) and let it be.
thank you!
mattymad posted...
Oh, in the room, put something of yours that is worn a lot. A hoody/jacket maybe, a blanket/throw from your sofa, etc. It'll associate the smell in the safe room with you.
