Adapting Kitty

Question
i've raised 2 cats for the past 5 years now (male & female).  i'm expecting my first child, and now i'm moving.  unfortunately i can't bring the cats along.  i wanted somebody to take them together as a "package deal", but a coworker of mine only took the male.  so far i still have the female.  i took the male over 3 days ago (she also has another cat... female).  so far he's been hiding out in her basement, and ventures upstairs to eat and sits by the fridge.  he's let her pet him, but she says he's very tense, and she can feel him tremble a bit.  she thinks because there's so many people in the house than he's used too (she has a husband and 2 daughters, and they keep wanting to play with him).  i think he's still in "shock".  i gave him toys, but i think the other cat's been playing with then.  but no telling what he's doing when everybody's gone during the day (maybe exploring the house).  i guess my question is... is this normal for a cat to feel and act this way, and how long does a cat adapt to a new environment?  i feel bad.

Answer
Hey !

Oh my gosh, okay put yourself in this position if you were about 11 or 10 years old ok here it goes:

Your parents tell you they are going out and they want you to stay with (Anna the next door neighbor) Now Anna lives with her creepy old husband and there two teenage daughters who constantly pick on you by pulling your hair, chasing you down the hall, and the thing is day after day your parents never return your thinking wtf happened ?

Now thats how your cat feels, he's in a new territory that you didn't introduce to him slowly, so yes he is in shock and at this time he is highly stressed. This is what you do. Come by and visit every now and then, and since you really love this cat (as you would love your own child) go to www.drsfostersmith.com and purchase FeliWay and give it to your co-worker and tell her to go to the site and purchase re-fills whenever it runs out of just get the bottle of spray. Either way FeliWay is a stress relieving agent that helps calms pets in stressful times as this is a stressful time for your cat, its like giving a child up for adoption. This will help calm your cat down, another thing to do is tell your co-worker to control her daughters, especially at this time because this is a stressful time for the cat and he needs to adjust, tell your co-worker to tell the rest of the family to ignore him as if he wasn't there. You see him in the kitchen by the fridge, just open the fridge get you something to drink and leave. He will eventually start coming around and when he does thats when the family starts to say (Ex. Hey max (bend down pet him) go about your buisness. Don't beat yourself up about it (Even though you gave away your cat you had for five years and now he misses you and wants to come home but he cant and now he blames you for ever and ever and he wished you bad luck for eternity LOL) I'm kidding, he will eventually bounce back from this, cats are normally solitary which means they really don't depend on people, he will just have to adapt to his new surroundings. Make sure he has his own seperate litter box from the female, make sure he has his own seperate bowels from the female, make sure all of his things are seperate. Don't worry he'll get over it just give it some time, print this out and give it to your co-worker as these are important guidelines for her and the family to follow to make him feel more welcome in their home and especially the Feliway thats a must. Also make sure he gets neutered and the female spayed or either she'll have millions of fur balls running around her home. I hope all goes well, and don't beat yourself up over it.