Please help. I just moved my cat into my new apartment and she's so used to living at my parent's. I don't know if she's homesick or what but she's just silently hiding in the bathroom and refuses to come out or do anything. She won't eat or drink or play with her toys. And the sounds of doors opening and closing nearby seems to scare her. What do i do?
>pic related
>>17238535
get a dog.
>>17238535
This is normal behavior. She is very scared and anxious about being in a new place. It can take up to a couple of weeks for cats to acclimate to new surroundings. That's an extreme case, though. Every time I've moved, it takes mine a few days at most.
Leave her alone. Put her food, water and litter box in a quiet place that doesn't receive much foot traffic. Let her explore when she feels comfortable. In the meanwhile, avoid her and do your own thing. Don't invite strangers over until she has become comfortable in her new home. she needs as few new elements as possible.
>>17238535
When I moved with my 3 cats they all hid away too, give it time kitty will get used to it. Give her a kitty snack or something.
>>17238535
Cats are animals that live in a very strictly defined territory. Their territory is their safety. You've taken her off territory and understandably she's scared as hell. Don't worry though, you can help her establish this new place as her territory.
It's all about smell, you want to encourage her to do that thing where she rubs her head on things, it's a type of scent marking (Yes, that's why they do it to humans as well, they're claiming ownership of you) If she wont do it herself, you can help by stroking her face on some fabric and then rubbing on things head height for her. Anything from your previous house that strongly has your or her smell on it shouldn't be washed for a while.
Generally when you move it's not great to let the cat have free reign of the house, because a bigger unfamiliar area is more scary for them. If you can, try and relocate her into a more comfortable room and slowly introduce her to the rest of the house. It might seem mean to keep her shut away like this, but to cats small spaces = safety. It's probably part of the reason they like boxes so much. Once she has a room she's wholly comfortable with, it'll help her to explore the rest of the house more confidently, it's like a home base for her where she can run and hide.
She's very cute btw.
The way I did it with my cats would be I put their toilet where it's going to be and let them out where their toilet is facing the toilet.
Then I leave some food a little further away from the toilet and let them do their thing.
They wouldn't really explore shit at day unless the whole family was in every room and they felt comfortable ans had hiding spots like couches and beds and other shit.
Then at night they would explore it more openly and after they did their nightly exploration tour it was time to put their food where it's going to be and then after like 1 week they got to the point where they enjoyed chilling with me and after about a month they'd be back to sleeping inbetween doors and causing a ruckus.
>>17238743
Put their box we carried them in facing the toilet*
>>17238535
hey op, i heard there's a spray or something that'll help entice your kitty to feel more at ease at home. you can ask /an/ about it or try googling.
have you tried cat nip by the way?
damn, i'm preparing for this myself since i'll be moving out soon too with my 4 cats.
Some cats are extra nervous. When we got a new dog, one of our cats decided to live upstairs and not come downstairs at all for 6 months. She is totally fine now, but even look at her wrong in those 6 months and she would go hide.
Your cat will get over it, just be patient and try not to add any extra stress.
>>17238535
Just give it what it needs in the bathroom and let the cat adjust in its own ways. Cats are very finicky and dislike change.
