Moving - Cat is terrified and will not come out of hiding!

[Stepanovna]

I moved a couple weeks ago to a new house with my 2 cats. We put a kitty door from the kitchen into the garage, and put the litter box in the garage. We put the food and water iside the house. One cat is fine and comes in and out of the garage. The other is terrified and hides in the garage where he cannot be seen or reached. He only omes into the house at night to eat, and then howls and cries. But runs away from us if we get up. Now I have not seen him for days as he is hiding - how can I get him out?

[davet]

usually tincture of time solves these problems, i had a cat who stayed in the attic for about ten days..if it is possible that you get the cat out, it might be good to not let him back in the garage but give hime a den (covered cage) or someplace where he has to stay in the house till such time as he settles down...i don't think tranquilizers will help, it is more a matter of time....good luck

[Yzma]

Maybe you could try luring him into a room with all his old stuff and maybe some stuff that he recognises the smell of. Then keep him in there with his kitty litter and food and water for a couple of days... Or at least until he is familiar/very famiiar with the room. Then slowly let him out to investigate the other rooms and the house. Don't let him out for a while as he's probably totally disorientated. The only things that smell familiar to him now are the outside smells that's probably why he's outside so much.

If i were you'd i'd keep him indoors until he settles into a routine of some sort. The poor thing sounds totally disorientated. Cats are creatures of habit and when the get moved from one environment to another it can be very traumatic for them...

This link is very informative:
http://www.fabcats.org/is13.html

[E's]

An old-fashioned help for moving a cat and/or helping a cat adjust to new surroundings is to slather butter or cream on its paws... having first of course put it in a cage or comfortable room: grooming itself and savoring the butter is calming. I did this several times in other years and believe it did help. Right now, though, your problem is to see if you can find your cat and bring it into the house ASAP - if this kitty does get out of the garage, it is likely never to be seen again. Good luck!