New cat. He's not up to much.

[Boosted LS1]

If he's thirsty then he'll drink water. He's not stupid. If you want him to be a companion cat then see how he responds to sitting on your lap and being stroked but don't force the issue. Maybe stroke him when he's begging for his food. Don't leave food out all day.

[Crook]

Smart looking chap.
One of our cats sometimes gets a bit dehydrated (he's a bit special) so we pour a small amount of water into his food bowl. He then happily laps it up before eating the food but he would never ever drink from the water bowl.
Also worth running the tap for a minute to get rid of any traces of stale/ metallic tasting water.

Also as others have said, he just needs to get used to you and his new home. Let him know he's cared for but don't get in his face.

All the best.

[bexVN]

Boosted LS1 said:

If he's thirsty then he'll drink water. He's not stupid. If you want him to be a companion cat then see how he responds to sitting on your lap and being stroked but don't force the issue. Maybe stroke him when he's begging for his food. Don't leave food out all day.

You'd think on the drinking wouldn't you but sadly not always. They are actually quite lackadaisical about drinking particularly if they don't like how the water is being offered.

[Boosted LS1]

^ To the point of death? They'll drink if they need water :-)

[bexVN]

Boosted LS1 said:

^ To the point of death? They'll drink if they need water :-)

To some extent (kidney failure, blocked bladders)

This explains why (from International Cat Care) their tolerance for low water intake unfortunately has consequences long term. I remember one lecture where they said that for desert living animals they didn't have the best kidney function to deal with it very well!

'Todays domestic cats retain a number of characteristics from their desert-dwelling ancestors, including the ability to survive with a very low water intake through the production of very concentrated urine (more so than dogs) and the production of relatively dry faeces thus minimising water loss'.

This is just an interesting extra fact that was in the same paragraph

'They also tolerate extremes of heat, not showing signs of discomfort until skin temperature exceeds 52 degrees C, whereas humans start to feel uncomfortable when skin temperature exceeds 44.5 degreesC. There is also a lack of change of body temperature in the domestic cat during a 24 hour period (as they tend to be active both during the day and at night).'

Edited by bexVN on Wednesday 30th November 23:06

Edited by bexVN on Wednesday 30th November 23:08

[Crook]

Boosted LS1 said:

^ To the point of death? They'll drink if they need water :-)

With ours, yes. However he is a bit special after surviving being run over and having one eye popped out, but I digress.

[Boosted LS1]

^^ & ^ Well you learn something new every day.

[Slushbox]

Nice looking cat. They need a few months to settle in and mould new owners to their whims.

Had a semi-feral mistreated cat from Cats Protection League some years ago. I asked to take home the one that was 'un-homeable'. Ended up with an attack cat, terrorised to the point where she couldn't be touched.

Fed her, played with her (string and laser pointer) left her to do her own stuff without touching her, at the end of three months she was utterly affectionate.

CPL Home visit to check I had eaten her couldn't believe change.

[MitchT]

Being indifferent: Normal. Spending all day in a chair and only getting up to do the occasional turn: Normal. Hiding: Normal if he doesn't know you well. Not drinking much: Not unusual - many cats go out and drink pooled rainwater before drinking tap water provided at home. Also, cats generally prefer running water.

I'd get him registered with the vet, if you haven't already, just so he's on their books. Get them to give him a health check which can be repeated annually. Make sure everything he needs is available to him at home. Make sure his water isn't too near his food - this can put cats off drinking. Leave him to settle in and make his home his own. He may well start eating better once he's settled. Finally, cats' personalities vary so maybe this is just how he is, so don't worry too much as long as he's healthy.

[Zoon]

Ours is the same.
Goes to sleep all day and very rarely comes near us.

[Upatdawn]

cats are indifferent obnoxious high and mighty and fickle....

[ali_kat]

He looks lovely & content

As others have said, he just needs time

Ours prefer to drink from glass or running water, so we have a couple of old cut glass fruit bowls around the house (charity shop finds) and a China water fountain.

Cats prefer wide bowls that their whiskers don't touch, if that helps anyone.

[paintman]

They do indeed.
In our Louis' case that's the washbasin in the bathroom and the bath.
Once his staff respond to his meows he runs upstairs to the bathroom where he expects to climb onto a lap & be fussed.
Cold tap on basin & bath have to be turned on just so during the fuss phase & he will eventually deign to drink from one or the other.
After that he just jumps down & wanders off to bed without a backward glance at his staff.
I sometimes wonder why I bothered buying the cat fountain which lies in the kitchen.

[Ace-T]

Upatdawn said:

cats are indifferent obnoxious high and mighty and fickle....

Your point being?

bigandclever said:

Let him settle in at his own pace. From your post he's had (at least) 3 stty places to live in, give him chance to work out yours isn't like them.

This. Our two rescue boys only really started to trust that we wouldn't be awful to them after 6 months, then it gradually got better over the last 2 years. Little Gomez now will come up to us asking for fusses and Fester trades head bumps for food. Occasionally they will both climb up on to our laps to sleep now too.

Edited by Ace-T on Saturday 3rd December 12:33

[Upatdawn]

Ace-T said:

This. Our two rescue boys only really started to trust that we wouldn't be awful to them after 6 months, then it gradually got better over the last 2 years. Little Gomez now will come up to us asking for fusses and Fester trades head bumps for food. Occasionally they will both climb up on to our laps to sleep now too.

Edited by Ace-T on Saturday 3rd December 12:33

They do what they want, dogs have owners, cats have staff

[egor110]

Upatdawn said:

They do what they want, dogs have owners, cats have staff

You haven't owned a irish setter have you ?

[Otispunkmeyer]

Bad news I think.

He got worse...in fact Sunday he didn't touch a bite and barely drank. I took him to the vets this morning and on the check up she said actually he seems seriously ill.

Rushed him over to the main surgery to get bloods and an ultrasound. Blood reports low proteins (?), High white blood cells, the ultrasound shows lots of fluid building in his belly and reduced liver size. So looking like liver failure.... they are just testing for FIV etc to rule those out.

Got an appointment in an hour to see what they have to say.

fking hell

[bexVN]

Oh st , I'm so sorry to read this, if he does have FeLV or FiV stress can exacerbate symptoms. I really hope they can turn things around for him. FiP would be the other concern maybe.

Edited by bexVN on Monday 5th December 17:12

[Ace-T]

Fingers and paws crossed.

[Patch1875]

Paws crossed for him.