Expert: Karen Craft - 5/3/2009

Question
Hi, i currenly owned chinchilla cat and he is now about 1.3 years old. I just currenly moved to a studio apartment and my cat has been hiding under the mattress for days now.. We used to lived in the big house with backyard for about 6-7 months. i gave him food and he eat but he only wants to do it under the mattress he wont come out. The cat litters is still clean which that mean he has not been pissed or taking a dump for almost 1-2 days now. Am so worried because he is afraid cat in nature especially now i lived in the studio apartment .. he goes really skitz or hiding everytime he heard someone outside the alley from ppl walking or coming into the building etc. What should i do? i dont want him to take piss or dump inside the mattress.

Answer
Hi Andy,

Your cat is stressed out by the move and the new place. There are a few things you can do to help him out. First off, get something called Feliway Comfort Zone. This is a room diffuser of a synthetic happy cat pheromone. This will help calm him down. Next, play some quiet music in the room. Classical or country works great. This works to mask any strange noises and soothes the cat. Start to move the food and water out from the bed a little bit at a time. Try to tempt him with some roasted chicken. Talk to him quietly. Your cat can and will pick up on any anger or annoyance towards him.

If he doesn't come out in a couple of weeks, you might have to take some drastic steps next. This would involve lifting up the mattress and removing him from there. And then placing boards around the bed to prevent him from going under there again. But if you do something like that he will get stressed again. He needs a safe place. Maybe the bathroom would work.

The biggest thing he needs is time and a chance to get used to his new environment. You can also speak to your vet about getting some Valium for him for a short time. This will help calm him down. Here's a link that has some good advice for relieving stress in your cat.
http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-stress.htm
Good luck. And give him a little time.

Ciao, Karen