u/CobblerWobbegong

I’m a first-time cat owner and adopted a 3 y/o female cat. I’ve had her for 24 hours and she’s settling in really well! She’s eating, drinking, playing, cuddling, and constantly purring/asking for attention. The only issue is she hasn’t gone to the bathroom? I’ve heard it’s common for cats when they’re first settling in (not using bathroom/eating) but she wasn’t hiding or nervous like many cats in a new environment. She’s also confined to one room so her litterbox is easy to find.

I’m thinking it could be because of the type of litter? It’s Tuft&Paw tofu litter (unscented charcoal). She seemed hesitant to step in the litterbox, maybe it’s the texture? The shelter was using pine pellets but she was only there for a week. Was it too fast of a transition? She was spayed/vaccinated 2 days ago if that affects anything or makes them picky. Or could the litterbox be too big? It’s an XL stainless steel (23"x14.6"x10") with a 5” open top lid, and she’s only 7-8lbs.

Mainly looking for advice regarding cat litter type/transitioning and anyone’s experience with Tuft&Paw (did your cats hate it?). If she is just picky, I’d like to figure that out because I have no idea what to look out for if it’s just a preference thing. There’s also the possibility that she peed in the litterbox (and I’m just dumb) but she definitely hasn’t pooped.

Medical Care: She saw a vet and had a basic wellness exam at the shelter. My shelter is no-kill and very transparent with health conditions. They will keep an animal on hold until it’s healthy and even perform major surgeries (+will follow up with the vet during recovery process). If she was displaying bathroom issues they would’ve had her reevaluated, so I don’t think it’s that considering they monitored her for over 24 hours after her spay and she had been in their care for a week. I have my own initial vet visit scheduled for next week (and ofc I will get her checked out sooner if she doesn’t use the bathroom by the end of tomorrow).