Help! We moved here in feb and brought our cat with us. The journey over was remarkably stress-free,Oscar travelled in the cabin with me and seemed to have no lasting after effects. For the first few days in our house, horizontally terraced with a huge stone area all around it and wide concrete flower beds (plenty big enough for him to do his 'business' in without falling over the side!) he was fine,went out explored and generally acted 'normal'.
Since then he very rarely goes out, but sits at the open doors and watches what's going on. When it gets dark he does venture out a bit more without much persuading, but the slightest noise and he's in like a bat out of hell!
On top of that he's gone from the cat who NEVER used a litter tray if he could possibly help it....to one that ALWAYS uses the litter tray even if the doors are wide open and he can see the flowerbeds. I've tried sprinkling some of his litter on the earth, putting his tray outside to encourage him and even gone to the stage of digging little holes to remind him of how he used to do it (I know......how sad am I?)
I can't believe that my out-going, adventurous boy has turned into this introverted character that won't say boo to a goose.
I did see one huge cat just after we moved in....who would have put Garfield to shame...but apart from that one sighting he hasn't appeared again, so I don't think it's the fear of other cats that has done this to him. Had he not been perfectly normal for the first few days I would have put it down to the trauma of the move, but I don't think that's the problem either...we've also brought all our furniture with us,he's got all his stuff,his bedding/chair/toys etc. so he should feel at home.
I know this is a pretty trivial thing compared to what some people are going through after moving over here.......but it's upsetting to see the change in him that's been caused by us moving.
Any help/advice will be really appreciated. Thanks.

What kind of plants are they? Some plants are cat deterrents - so if those are that would explain not wanting to do his business there...

There are lots of different plants.....most of which we had in our garden back home. There's also a big area of earth that has no plants on it which isn't raised up. (I did wonder about buying one of those little trays of cat grass from Migros for him, but is that just to 'keep him regular'?!)

Your cat has been through a massive upheaval too and it can take time to adjust. Speaking as a vet who has worked in the UK including in feline rescue centres I can give a few pieces of advice.

It is normally suggested when you move house that the cat is kept indoors for at least 3 weeks so that he can bond with the new home and imprint his scent into it, if there have been cats there previously this can take longer. It can sometimes be necessary to confine him to one or 2 rooms first. Placing cloths in his sleeping areas and then rub them around the house to help transfer his scent, especially around doorways etc. Obviously whilst he is indoors then he will need a tray.

After a few weeks let him out around mealtimes, or even put him outside if necessary, the first few times he may only stay out a few minutes but persevere. Once he is secure that his home is his territory then he will be more confident in trying to explore and establish further limits but he needs to be secure in his home first. When he is starting to go out it is a good idea to use the cloths from the house to rub on corners, garden chairs etc outside too.

As for the litter tray, once he is confident outside he should start to toilet out there but to help him you can put soil from the garden in his tray indoors or actually put his litter in the tray outside, both techniques are usually successful.

Good Luck to him and you,

Jo

Our cats absolutely love that grass. They are indoor cats nbut whenever they go out on the terrace, they look for grass to chew, so the cat grass is great and it lasts quite a while if it is kept outside and watered once in a while.

We've been here for three months now.....I thought he would have realised that this is IT by now, and that we're here to stay.
I like the idea of putting earth in his litter tray though, I'm going to try that one today. Here's hoping.....

There is also a cat hormone you can buy at the vets office (perhaps Stephanwolf remembers the name) that puts the cat at ease. Perhaps buying that in "plug in" form for the house or getting a spray bottle and spraying the stuff around the house and outside he might start feeling more relaxed.

Sorry - I missed the bit in your first post that said you moved in February!

To be honest in this case it does sound like he is intimidated by another cat out there. It can happen even if you don't see the other cat much for instance if that cat scent marks a lot in your garden. Also if he had a negative experience when he first started to go outside in those early days.

The fact that he is interested and looking outside is very positive though.

We're going to the vets on friday for his annual jags (Oh,no......more stress!) so I'll ask if they can recommend something along those lines.

Its called feliway and can be very useful although his own scent is usually better. You may be asked to make an appointment to see a vet before you can get it.

Any idea what I could do to get rid of another cat's markings....apart from spraying the whole area in industrial strength bleach?

I use a great animal behavior forum

http://www.understandinganimals.com/forum/

Perhaps you kitty is also depressed? I know mine were when we first arrived because it was winter and the sun wasn t out. The difference was I have two and they have each other for doing "cat things". Did your little guy have a playmate back home? Is he outgoing with other cats? That might be another thing to try. Really sorry about what s going on. . . . good luck

Thanks Joeyjo.....at least now I'll know what to ask for on friday.

Don't use bleach because many contain ammonia and that can make things worse!!!

You can't really get rid of scents just encourage your own cat's scent but if you find droppings or anything biological in nature then clean the area with a strong solution of biological washing powder/liquid.

Gooner....I just looked on that forum

http://www.understandinganimals.com/forum/

Absolutely brilliant! I'm supposed to be spending my day ironing, but I can see me sitting here reading these stories instead.

BTW I'd like to thank you all for your input re my problem, but for some reason the 'Thanks'/'Groan' icons aren't appearing at the foot of the replies.