So I got my cat from the animal shelter and she’s doing well, mostly, but she’s not eating much of any food I’ve given her, and I tried like 6 different varieties of stuff ---- I can’t tell some times if she’s being friendly or is super hungry, she likes me and purrs on my lap, but she is kind of destructive with my apartment — she’s only been here since Thursday of last week, so I was wondering if it’s a ‘cat thing’ and she can adjust and eat the food I give her, quit scratching my stuff and meowing at me for reasons I can’t always tell (hungry, friendly, playful etc)
I’m kinda on edge — I don’t feel comfortable if she is hungry, I’m willing to take care of her and I don’t want her starving but she was a stray at one time, maybe that’s a factor?
Is this kinda a normal passing phase or not?
So far my plan is to just be as nice as I possibly can and give her lots of attention
I don’t mean to be disrespectful or rude but sometimes the cats or dogs in the shelters are the most fuced up ones. Often, they’ve been mistreated, abused or abandoned or they just naturally behave badly and no one wants them. You can still find good cats and dogs at the shelter but sometimes they’re pets that nobody wants because they bite or scratch or have other bad habits. That said, your cat sounds like she has redeeming qualities.
Do you have a scratching post for her? One problem will be solved if you can get her to scratch a scratching post instead of your furniture. Finding the right food for a cat is a common problem, maybe call the vet or the shelter and ask for advice on what food to try. She may be stressed out being in a new place with a new person and it may affect how she eats.
Is she going to be strictly an indoor cat? If so, I would recommend buying a cheap laser for $4 for $5 and playing with her with it. Cats love those and they’re great exercise. Indoor cats are just as healthy and happy as outdoor cats and in fact live quite a few years longer than outdoor cats on the average.
She’s gonna be an indoor cat.
She doesn’t show much sign of being abused, she’s very sweet and affectionate, she sleeps on my chest and is definitely a lap cat— she learned about the litter box real quick, I just can’t get her to eat normal food and I’m just hoping it’s a phase of being in a new environment that she’s not eating normal cat food and she will warm up to it
Well, I’m glad you got a good one. Yeah, it may be a phase, all you can do is keep trying to feed her and maybe time will tell and she’ll start eating right.
Get a scratching post and maybe try some wet food for some variety. Cats can be destructive but you can train them a bit and they can be quite clever. Good on you for adopting.
She is 13 months old and she has plenty of water
I bought 2 varieties of dry food and 7, varieties of wet food, 3 of which I’ve tried already
So far fresh pet is the only one she will eat
Cats like my Colette can be extremely picky when it comes to their food.
Try giving your cat wet foods at first, also make sure you offer him/her a scratch post so she doesn’t scratch your furniture.
At 13 months they won’t be that playful but you can still play with her by using a wand and make sure they have enough catnip filled toys to play with.
Just feed her what she’ll eat and give her a couple weeks to adjust. Then, slowly start adding a little kibble into her wet food more and more over time until she’s eating mostly kibble. Unless of course you can afford to feed her all wet food.
She’s still nervous so it makes sense she doesn’t have a huge appetite.
Have you taken her to the vet for a checkup yet? She really needs one after being at the shelter. She could easily have picked up a virus or other illness
Cats can be very selective about ‘where’ they eat just as much as about what. My cat doesn’t like her food dish near her water or her litter box. Her box is in a different room and her water and food are on opposite sides of the room. We set out dry food all day and wet food twice a day at the same time every day.
Nico and Bella have separate litter boxes. They also eat in different places of the apt. They get along okay. Nico likes the same food as Bella. The vet said to keep bella on dry bc her teethies need cleaning… she was a stray kitten my mom. Brought her to me. I hope your cat is okay.
Blehhhh lol she went from not eating at all to eating like a pig
I got it boiled down to a science — 1 can in the morning and 1 can at night with dry food laid out to snack on all day in between
When I got her I think she was under fed but I’m happy to see that now she has some meat on her bones
