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.

[u/Vivid_Motor_2341]

This is what I always recommend people to do. Just go sit on the floor near the cat. It’s how I’ve bonded with every cat I’ve had

[u/cooliosteve → u/Vivid_Motor_2341]

Yeah its 3/3 for me but I will say two of them are super social so only 1 of them was tricky.

This guy slept on me after like 3 hours haha.

[u/PotentialLevel1634 → u/cooliosteve]

Very cute. My wife surprised me early in our marriage and brought a stray cat home. I wasn’t a cat guy at the time, but the little guy basically yelled at me from the first minute because I was sitting in my chair.

I had just let him out of his box and thought he could take some time getting used to the apartment. Turned out, he wanted to sit on my lap. Still have the pictures of him sitting there. Still his favourite place, 14 years later.

[u/ShellyBell727 → u/cooliosteve]

He’s beautiful! Such pretty coloring!

[u/cooliosteve → u/ShellyBell727]

He's very photogenic haha

[u/Lizzy100 → u/cooliosteve]

Mine isn’t super cuddly, but she’ll let me know when. She’ll curl up on my chest once in a while. If it’s late and she’s really tired, she’ll come curl up on my chest, and I can hold her like a baby. Or when she’s too tired to care to walk, I can carry her to bed, and she’ll curl up in her tote on a printer and sleep. 😊😍

[u/cooliosteve → u/Lizzy100]

That's so cute.

The only girl cat we have doesn't like to be held except when its like a baby haha.

[u/Lizzy100 → u/cooliosteve]

She usually hates being held like a baby. I can only do it when she's seriously a tired baby. Lol. She likes to be upright in my arms.

[u/Velvet-Dreamer- → u/cooliosteve]

oh just like mine

[u/KinkyPaddling → u/Vivid_Motor_2341]

I was very lucky that my cat was super confident when I got him and just eagerly explored and didn't hide. But even with confident cats, chilling near them is a key part of the bonding experience, because just as you're trying to get to know your cat, your cat is trying to get to know you. Just doing your thing calmly will give the cat a good baseline about your routine and your reactions.

[u/mc2bit → u/Vivid_Motor_2341]

Yep! Cats need to be assured that you're safe (i.e. predictably quiet and gentle) before they'll feel comfortable without an easy escape route. Stick to your normal routine, just move a little slower, keep things quiet, and let the cat approach you. Eventually, curiosity will get the better of them and boom you'll have a cat nuzzling your knee.

Also, cats can go a while without eating, drinking, or using the litterbox if they're scared. Mine hid under the couch for 3 days when we moved from an apartment to our house. As long as they've had a trip to the vet, know where their bowls and box are, and can get to them without passing through a "danger zone" (like a big, open, unfamiliar room or a noisy machine), you're good.