Fostering a stressed adult cat
He hid for a week. We let him.
I saw the shelter’s email and inquired about him almost immediately (I have a weakness for orange cats). Bo is an adult behavior foster who was brought in after his owner passed. The new environment was likely too much for the big guy who was fearful, stressed, and not showing well in a kennel. When I visited they had Bo’s kennel covered with a towel and a sign that it was for staff only.
We’re still in our kitten timeout after the panleuk scare in June, but we’re allowed to take adults (although opportunities are pretty rare). The plan was a few weeks to help him de-stress and see who he actually is outside a shelter.
a rough start
We set him up in our guest bathroom as usual, but the first two days were rough. He hid in our covered litter box and stress peed the first time I came in to check on him. We uncovered the box so he’d move back to his carrier, which he did after hissing and stress peeing once more (and thankfully the last time).
taking things slow
After that he mostly stayed in his carrier and we let him. Just fed him, scooped his litter, and sat in the room quietly a couple times a day. That was the whole routine for a week.
He started coming out after dark, once we were out of the picture. We left treats in the spots where he’d been resting and otherwise kept everything the same. He started tracking us instead of freezing. Felt a breakthrough was coming.
the morning he came out
A few days after that I saw some real curiosity in his eyes, so I stayed with him longer than usual that morning. Soft talking, closed hand out, no reaching. He came out to smell me and took gentle pets. He retreated back to his carrier after small movements and sounds, but he came out again with some encouragement.
what’s next
It’s been over a week since then and Bo’s slowly becoming more confident. We want to give him more free roam, but that also depends on how Nori and Kaya handle a new cat in the house. Nori has hissed at him a couple times, but they smelled each other face to face today!
Talked to the shelter about next steps. We think he’d adopt really well: he’s vocal, sweet to people, and able to be picked up and have his paws handled. We’re just worried a return trip to the shelter would put him right back to square one, and we’ve seen how much patience he needs.
So we agreed to foster him long-term for now.