Cat not adapting to indoor life :(

rainglow

A couple of months back I found out that other people in my apartment complex are taking my cat up into their third floor apartment and keeping her there. I obviously wasn't happy about my cat being catnapped and spoke to the offender about it. I was told that my cat follows them there, and has about FIVE other families she visits for food :eek: No wonder she was coming home and having explosive diarrhea all over my friggin bathroom nearly every night; god knows what she's getting fed.

I then tried letting her out only in the dark of night when all humans are asleep, but come the morning, the magpies screech at her incessantly, literally waking half the apartment complex at 5am with the noise. It's annoying, and embarassing!

So now I keep her indoors, and she is just not adapting at all. She gets the best food we can buy, I play with her until she gets bored, but ALL she does is sit at the window and cry, cry cry. She cries at the front door every time someone walks past...they must think she's being beaten! She cries at my bedroom door to wake me, cries for food, cries for the sake of crying. It's actually driving me insane now. She'll also destroy any food that is left on the counter, including bread and cereal. Sliced bloody pan - as if a cat eats sliced pan!

HELP ME! Does anybody else have an incredibly whiny cat, and what can I do? She's so sad but I really can't leave her out

Sigma Force

She might settle down in time, do you have a balcony?
If so it might be possible to cat proof it so she can go out on it. Also if not already Aldi are selling cat scratchers with the little houses in them she may like spending time on it and sitting high up. I think they come with cat nip to attract the cat to it as well.
There are lots of toys for cats to keep them occupied there's one called Da Bird people seem to find great. Also check out http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats
Although you might have already tried showering her with toys already.

Do you think another cat for company may help if they got on well together and bonded they would be company while you're out. Is she spayed?

She's so used to getting her own way and being allowed a lot of freedom that she's upset now which is understandable. But you're right to keep her in because you never know who may think of keeping her or feed her something that will make her really ill (people were probably giving her cows milk hence the runs).

Also check out this link most of it's for dogs but some say pets so perhaps those ones can help with cat issues too http://www.irishanimals.ie/care/behaviour.html

Don't laugh..well ok do if you have to..but there's also a Dvd for cats, it's called The Birdy Show and although some of it's for birds there's a section called Rodent Roundup that some cats love to watch. Just Google Norther Parrots and it's on that website under the Dvds.

The Sweeper

It takes about two weeks for an indoor cat to adjust. Have you bought her a scratching post? She needs some toys and a scratching post or cat tree in front of the window - if you give her somewhere that she can sleep, up high, and watch the world go by, she'll be fine. Also interact with her as much as you can.

I have an extremely vocal cat. He chirps, yowls, burbles, miaows, growls and roars - and it's near constant when he's awake. I've taken to talking to him - it seems to do a lot of good towards quietening him down somewhat. (My old house mate would scream at him in frustration, and subsequently he'd end up yowling the house down.)

doctor evil

Have you tried those plug in pheromones to calm her down?

How long have you been keeping her in now, well done for doing it.

rainglow

It takes about two weeks for an indoor cat to adjust.

It's been about 6 weeks

Have you bought her a scratching post?

Yep, she's had one for a year now, but it's not enough anymore. We've had to take up all our rugs as she's been destroying them.

She needs some toys and a scratching post or cat tree in front of the window - if you give her somewhere that she can sleep, up high, and watch the world go by, she'll be fine.

She has toys....little stuffed toys, ping pong balls, things that hang out of door handles. She's also got a chair that's about 4 foot high that she sits on top of to look out the window

Also interact with her as much as you can.

She kind of hates me She doesn't let me pet her and never sits near me....yet I see her frolicking around strangers legs in the hope that they feed her. It's like they're her nice grandparents and I'm the mean mommy who gives out to her for jumping up on the kitchen counter!!

Thanks so much for trying to help though. I'm not trying to shoot your advice down, I just wanted to get across that I've done everything I can to give this cat a nice home and she's a hateful, whiny little thing!

rainglow

doctor evil wrote: »

Have you tried those plug in pheromones to calm her down?

Just saw your post - no, I hadn't thought of those. She's spayed though. Does that make a difference to how the pheromones would affect her?

Gordon Gekko

rainglow wrote: »

It's been about 6 weeks

Actually I've been told by animal behaviourists before that it takes a minimum of 6-8 weeks to 'reprogramme' a cat's behaviour. Stick with it and you should start seeing results pretty soon.

lubie76

+1 for the plug in Feliway diffuser with phermone release. Really calms them down and the cat been neutered won't make any difference to how they work. Can be pricey though in shops so try ebay etc. You have to buy the plug first and then get refills as you need them.

I read before that it can take up to 8 weeks too for cat to settle indoors and I wouldn't mind the sulky teenager act as my cats go through phases like that and are my best pal at other times. Good luck.

Oracle

I agree with GuineaPigRescue, and I've seen the Aldi cat tree it looks great for cats: http://www.aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/2867_9335.htm It might not add to the look of your apartment though, maybe you could put it on the balcony in the summer. I think cats can take a long time to train and get used to new routine etc... so 6 weeks is in fact short time cat wise. It probably seems like a lifetime to you though; listening to a whiny cat. You're probably talking 6-12 months for her to get used to the new situation.

Regarding your cat hating you, you could play with her for 10-20 mins before you feed her. That way she should associate you with something good and pleasurable. Try to interact with your cat using the toys as well. I find cats are very perceptive, if I'm going through a difficulty or stress my cat will sense it and avoid me. So try to be in a good mood for your cat. For example, when you're feeling stressed leave her to relax on her own or be with others. Only play with and be around her when your reasonable relaxed and happy yourself. I think getting your cat to like you again could take a while.

I can tell from your post that you're a caring and responsible cat lover. We need more pet owners like you. Good luck.

The Sweeper

If a cat has enough stimulation indoors, it should stop 'charging' the front door when it's open within two weeks. (It won't work if you ever cave and let it out. One of my indoor cats got out when a visitor left my front door wide open a week ago. He's been 'charging' the front door when it's open ever since, and before this one instance he hadn't been outdoors in 18 months. It'll wear off within another week, but if I let him get out again, it wouldn't.)

Weeks three to six, they should make the indoors their own territory - they'll pick spots they like to sleep and play and scratch. If they can get somewhere up high - top of a shelving unit or bookcase, they'll be happier.

A former outdoor cat will never 'forget' about the outdoors, but if it has personal space that it likes indoors, it will adjust.

Also, be careful not to attribute human emotion to a cat's miaow if it sounds plaintive or miserable. My old flat mate has her cats on a diet, because she was convinced when they miaowed at dinner time it was because they were literally starving. They realised their 'feed us' caterwauling promped the food bag and she ended up feeding them four times a day. When she went on holidays, she returned them to the shelter for holiday care, and the shelter owner had stern words with her over the size of them.

Cats miaow for lots of reasons, and it isn't always that they're crying in misery. Sometimes it's for food, or attention, or a suggestion to come play with them. Sometimes it's part of a game they're playing on their own (or with each other, if you've more than one.)

If your cat has become strongly food reward driven, replace one of her meals (assuming you feed her twice a day) with appropriate treats (I don't mean a bowl of cream and some cheese). Take away any 24x7 kibble buffet you leave out. Even if it means you hand feed her the morning's kibble meal instead of leaving it out for her - she doesn't 'dislike' you and 'like' strangers. She's food driven - so make yourself the food rewarder, and she'll start to interact with you the way she does with them.

Finally, try not to take this so personally. Your cat doesn't hate you, you aren't torturing her, she doesn't resent you for it. Her brain just isn't that complicated. It just boils down to the simple fact that she wants to be out so she can suck up and get rewarded by other people with food. It's entirely within your power to become that food rewarder. (You have the opposible thumbs. She doesn't.)

w@ll3gurl

Oracle wrote: »

I Try to interact with your cat using the toys as well. I find cats are very perceptive, if I'm going through a difficulty or stress my cat will sense it and avoid me. So try to be in a good mood for your cat. For example, when you're feeling stressed leave her to relax on her own or be with others. Only play with and be around her when your reasonable relaxed and happy yourself. I think getting your cat to like you again could take a while.

I can tell from your post that you're a caring and responsible cat lover. We need more pet owners like you. Good luck.

Agree with you big time on this one!! they are incredibly perceptive. we have a lot of cats, and we find that if we are upset about something, they all look/stare with big wide eyes as if to say 'whats wrong' and seem stressed themselves, then when we have gathered ourselves together they chill out (god that sounds like i spend a lot of time crying or something, but hopefully u get what i mean) say if i was angry at someone i'd just spoken to on the phone and i'd be telling someone else about it, the cats get annoyed at the angry voice - end up having to turn going 'hey its not u guys i'm giving out to' hehe

If you talk to them, come into the room chatting away and get them involved i find cats will come over to you. some ppl probably find it odd, but i find talking to animals really helps. fair enough, they have no idea what you are saying, but talking in a calm tone of voice and all that will do no harm and only help. i talk to them like i talk to anyone else when i come home or whatever.

The Sweeper

I agree that if you talk to your animals they start to understand your tone.

Remember a huge proportion of our communication is also our body language.

My cats understand questions - they know a sentence with a raised tone at the end is a question, and they understand that when I ask them a question "What are you doing? What have you gotten yourself into? What have you got there?" it follows that I will then approach them and investigate what they're up to. Subsequently, when I ask my cats a question, they will usually look up, stop what they're doing, and wait for me to approach them.

The more you talk to them, the more of your communication they understand. It's not the words, it's everything around them to do with your usual behaviour.