Bill Graham wrote:
Thumper wrote:
Recentlly I had to re-home my male cat due to moving. I found a home
for him, but the owner said that he would hide away and only come out
at night to eat. Wasn't very affectionate, which is unusual for him .
Would growl if any one went near him and he had a very bad habit of
toileting everywhere else apart from his litter tray. She only had
him a few weeks and other people I spoke to about this said that
she'd not given him time to settle into a new home, but she decided
to rehome him again. I found another home for him, a friend of mine
took him in. We thought he'd like it there better as my friend has
another cat too, a female and it would be compay. Unfortunately up
until only a few days ago he's been very good on the toileting side,
but my friends now finding toilet mess not only in the litter tray
but around the home, particularly in the kids bedrooms. He's treated
really well and the family love him. We are all bewildered by this.
Has any one got any idea's on this one. Thanks.

Yes. Cats, like people, become attached to their family and are
emotionally hurt when they are abandoned, and/or given away to
someone else. You would act the same way had your mother and father
given you away to some stranger when you were young. As a matter of
fact, most of the people on death row in our prisons were given away
by their parents, and/or grew up with no love or permanent
attachments. You should have introduced your cat to the other family
slowly. Had them come over to your place and meet him several times,
and make friends with him by feeding him for a while, until he was
comfortable around them, aqnd brought him to their house to visit
several times before forcing him to live there.

Now, you might be able to help the situation by good follow-up treatment.
Try going over there and sitting with your cat on your lap for twenty or
thirty minutes every day, or as often as you can. Let the cat know that you
are still alive, and still love him. Perhaps he will come to understand that
for some reason, you can't keep him in your home with you.