# Newly adopted cat advice. Scared and won't eat



## Chloe445 (Apr 25, 2017)

Hello!
I adopted a new 8 month old cat yesterday. She's so sweet but due to her new surroundings, is very scared. She hid under my bed all night, understandably. It's a new surrounding for her and she had a long car ride home so she is definitely spooked. At night she ran around my room as I was sleeping and was whimpering and meowing. She climbed the cat tree and whimpered put the window as if she wanted to escape. It was so heartbreaking. My main concern is she hasn't eaten anything and hasn't had a sip of water. I know she is hungry, because th foster parent didn't feed her dinner last night due to possible car sickness. Any advice for me or is this completely normal? I just want her to eat.


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## eldercat (Jul 3, 2015)

Well, this sounds kind of normal to me. Maybe you can put the water bowl under your bed where she hides. Fresh water morning and night. And a bit of food also. Fresh, morning and night. Just a little bit until she's eating it all fairly quickly. It took my Minnie cat several days to be willing to eat, and certainly not in public! She did warm up but it took a while. Eating in a safe place is very important.


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## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

I would likely confine her to a smaller room, where she can't hide under something, such as a bathroom, with water, litter box and cat bed, a few catnip mousies. Feed her three or four times a day with some canned food such as _Fancy Feast_ that's usually irresistible to cats. Hand feed her some pieces of roast chicken, sit on the floor with her, talk to her quietly and pet her gently if she's receptive to it. She should soon come around, and be more comfortable with you, as you are the bringer of good things.  When she's eating well you can let her go to a larger room and decide where you want her to spend the night, as some cats can be quite disruptive to your sleep if you let them sleep with you....better to stick to a routine from the beginning then trying to change it later. You can also transition her slowly over a week or so to another type of canned food (no grains--wheat, corn, soy, rice) so that she doesn't have a digestive upset. All the best with your new girl!


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## porcupine73 (Sep 26, 2008)

Sounds like a nice kitteh! Do you know what food the foster was feeding? I had some trouble with that, trying to go from some dry food the shelter was feeding to a canned food, and the cat would not touch it. Then on here I learned about slowly mixing in a bit of the new food to the old and transitioning gradually, that worked great.


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