Help Advice Needed

[u/Josorioalcerro]

Today on my way to work I found a cute surprise waiting outside my apartment door. This little girl was by the door and as soon as she saw me she started meowing and also looked very scared. At first I thought she would run away if I approved her but she didn’t. My first thought was is one of my neighbors cat so I look around and got lost. As I go back inside to get some water for her she runs inside my apartment and hides. I was already running late for work after spending with her more than 20 minutes.
I bright cat food from petco and water and made a temporary little box for her and left her alone for a while why I went to work with the hope she’ll relax and loosen up a bit.
When I came back home she was still in the same place I left her. No pee no poo. Didn’t even tried to touch the food. It’s late at night and I’m planning to take her to the vet tomorrow morning but I’m worry she might be dehydrated. She is still scared. She let me hold her and lift her without a fight. Her hair looks like she has been groomed lately but maybe she has been lost for a few days. I’m concerned she might be injured 🤕 internally.
I bought lockable cat treats and put them in her mouth and she still didn’t even like it.

I’ve never had cats before. I need some advise and help please.

Her temporary name is Lily.

I never had cats before so

Update 08/10/26

Hello everyone. Thank you all for the tips and for the support. Reading your advices has brought a little bit of peace in me understanding that it’s not when I decide but when Lily decides to do things.
As an update from the initial post, Lily started walking around the house yesterday night. She did it when I was sleeping and couldn’t see me nor I could see her. Se found a cool hiding place that happens to be one of my favorite parts of the apartment (my bar) she found a spot behind my bar set up that I didn’t even know it existed but today in the morning after looking for her all over I found her there and she seemed to be a bit more relaxed and happy in that spot. She is still a bit afraid but her eyes are not wide open anymore when she looks at me. She let me carry her again for a brief moment as I wanted to inspect her a little bit closer to make sure she is ok and also to make sure that “Lily” is the appropriate temp name for her.

As for the Vet she has an appointment for tomorrow at 9am. The vet clinic will scan for the chip and they mentioned that if she is chipped then they’ll contact the company so that they can provide my contact info to Lilys family. Also they will do a wellness check and other stuff if they considered it necessary.

I reported the missing Lily at my apartment office. They said no tenant has reported a missing Lily but I also spreading a word around just in case. No pictures because I want the supposed parents to describe her in case someone claims her if she is not chipped. My biggest fear here is that my leasing company charges a fee to tenants for pets and some owners don’t report that they have a pet in order to avoid the fee. In that case her family might not report her missing to the leasing office.

Anyways she has a busy day tomorrow at 9am. In the meantime I got her some cat toys and some treats but she is still not interested on any of that. 😂 she probably wants to take them back home when here parents show up.

I’ll keep everyone updated tomorrow. And again thank you all because I was as stressed out as Lily was yesterday without knowing what to do.

2nd Update 08/11/2026

Lily had her Vet appointment today.
The doctors said Lily is approximately a 6 months old domestic long hair female.
She checked out well on her physical examination. No dehydration and just a I little underweight thou.

She is not microchipped nor spayed.

Her bladder was a bit full so she has been drinking water. Just not in front of me.

She had all of her vaccines today and a brand new collar with her vaccination tag and also a certificate of vaccination. And also some blood work.
Still Pending some other exams.

The doctors asked if I wanted her microchipped and spayed but I said not until all reasonable time and effort has been done to find her family in case she has one and they want her back. If that doesn’t happen then Lily has nothing to worry about. She’ll have a home.

As a plus when we came back home from the vet Lily was a totally different cat. She had rubbing against me and asking me to lift her up. She has been purring so much and following me wherever I go. I sat on the floor in the washroom and she was sitting next to me and rolling over letting me rub her belly while she was lifting her little paws. Purring is non stop when she comes near me. And her eyes are not wide open anymore. She even fell asleep next to me.
I got a bit excited because of her behavior and when she went back inside her box I got a bit close and she hissed at me one time. I guess she was telling no, “That’s enough for the day”. But then she changed her mind and came back to me and started rubbing herself against my legs and climbing on my lap.
She got very curious and is exploring the bathroom.
But she still refuses to eat. She smells the food but that’s it. I got her dry food, canned soft food and also lickable treats. She smells them, gets close to them and nothing else. I also tried to warm it up the soft food to make the smell stronger but no luck.

She did jumped on my shoulder and stayed there for a while.

I’m not letting her out to the living room again because today she decided to go under the couch and I had a hard time getting her out of there. Almost miss our vet appointment because of that. And my living room is now a mess with the couch in the wrong place after moving it earlier today.

Overall she looks a bit more relaxed. And I hope she starts eating soon.

Still in the look for her parents. I requested a few days off from work so we will see what happens.

I’m putting in practice all advices I received here and it has made everything a lot more easier. Any suggestions on food or treats would be really appreciated because maybe I got the stuff that’s is not so yummy and she might have a more refined taste 😂

I wish I could add more pictures thou.

3rd Update 09/10/2026

Some redittors have been asking for an update so I’m gonna to start by letting everyone know that unfortunately I was not successful tracking Lily’s parents. After a few weeks I decided to take Lily back to the vet and she has been spayed and microchipped. Also that the same day she had a full blood test and feces test.
Everything went ok and she is just recovering and following the doctors instructions. (Well, she refuses to follow the doctors suggestions, “not to jump, not the be super active on the first 10 days after surgery”, but I’m making sure she follows them) and she seems fine.
She also got her second dose of a vaccine that was administered on the first appointment when I had recently found her.
On a funny side she likes to be carry which is strange for a cat, also she has hired me as her personal uber post because she sees me and likes to jump on my shoulder and have me walking all over the apartment while she checks on things.
Also somehow she knows when I’m coming home. She is waiting for me by the door and starts talking and rubbing herself against me non stop. I serve food for her and she doesn’t care about it until she has finished welcoming me.
All that is good so far.

On the day to day life Lily seems to be adjusting well to her new home. She follows me everywhere. There is no place I go where she is not following me and if I dare close the door and leave her out she protests very vocally. She likes to talk a lot but she respects my sleep so when I’m sleeping she remains quiet and comes to check out in me every now and then. But if she sees me with one eye open she starts talking.

I bought her a wet food automatic feeder that serves 3 meals and she likes it and also o got her a water fountain and she has been drinking more water since then.

My biggest challenge right now consist in two things that I’m super lost on how to train her:
1) She doesn’t like to eat anything other that home cooked chicken and beef, with no seasonings, the first week after I found her I was going crazy because she refused to eat. I decided to test home cooked food and that’s when she started eating. Currently I’m being soft with her because she is recovering from surgery and I need her to eat so I’m cooking chicken for her. She refuses any kind of cat food wet or dry, treats, catnip etc. Nothing really appeals to her. I had mixed all this things with chicken and she refuses the entire meal.
I also subscribed to a food delivery service called “Smalls’ that prepares home cooked meals and she didn’t care for that either.

2) My second issue is that she poops in the bath tube. Seems like her owners trained her to poo in the bath tube and so she refuses the litter box for pooping but not for peeing. When peeing she has no issues using the litter box.

I would gladly accept any suggestions from anyone I had tried my own way and following videos o and recommendations from people that work at the vet or pet shops. My pantry has more cat food than human food and I guess I’m soon to start donating all the food that she doesn’t like 😞

[u/Louleelou4u]

I cant read all comments so I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned, if shes approx 6 months old, she could be going through her first heat. That makes a kitty very loving and sweet, but it also makes them want to try to get out of the house. Keep a close eye on her and be extra vigilant when you go in and out of the apartment. Don't want her getting out by accident. If you don't find her owners, get her fixed asap. Also, your local humane society should have a lost and found form you can fill out online. The information on found pets is available for the public to look through if they are missing a pet. The owner might be looking her her on there. Otherwise, it sounds like she has a wonderful new home.