Adopted cat not settling at all

[BlueBirdsNest]

We had the addition of a new cat to our house at the end of last week.

See is the most timid cat I have ever met and is hiding under a book shelf in the living room.

She has ventured out a few times but will not let anyone approach her.

She is so nervous that she is spitting and growling if anyone gets close.

I am experienced with cats however I have never met such a scared cat so am a bit lost really.

I am wondering if we should contact the previous owner to say she is not settling but then I'm not sure what we would do?

Does anybody have any advice?

Thank you

On Monday my confidence of being 'a cat person' took a real knock , because i always been around cats and , I'm suppose lucky, had cats that instantly fitted in and played and purred from day one

I've never had, nor known a nervous cat, so I suppose in a way I was questioning my ability to look after her , because she was hissing and spiting and scratching and biting......it was just something i'd not experienced before and it did make me question 'well are we the right home for her and would it be easier on cat (Lucky) if she was rehomed quickly to someone she was happy with

I'm now falling in love with her and also realise she and me have come on leaps and bounds more than many other rescues cats have , for which i am grateful for

I know I have weeks and months of years to go through with her to make her feel completely safe but I am prepared to do that.

I don't she was abused but she was definitely mistreated .........the previous owners squirted a water pistol on her in the house to keep he of any surfaces ....sofas beds worktops, I only found this out today.

She'll be happier here because she will be allowed to be a cat

Poor little tike, I'm glad she has ended up with you guys. If and when she does come out, totally ignore her while she explores. If she feels crowded, it will just drive her back to her safe spot.
It sounds like you are making progress but slowly slowly catches the monkey.
It's a lot for her to adapt to, new home, new people, new routines. If she comes from a feral background, she probably will be slightly 'programmed' to be wary of humans but with love and patience, I'm sure she will come into her own.
The waterpistol stuff sounds utterly awful as well. Good Luck.

I'm glad things are going better. It really does sound like she is much better off with you than in her previous home.

The main socialization period for cats is between 2 and 7 weeks, so if she was taken in at 5 weeks that's young enough for her to have started being handled and so on. (Too young normally for a kitten to leave its mum and siblings, but maybe the best thing for her in the circumstances). It can be hard to say if a feral cat is really feral or just a stray that has had to adjust to life without its humans.

Keep taking things slowly and she will learn to trust you. Like fridakahlo said, ignore her a lot. If you do look at her, try to scrunch your eyes up a bit as that will make her feel more comfortable. If you give her a slow blink, and get a slow blink back, you know that she likes you.

Our cat will do the slow blink thing.

We had a cat who was owned, then mistreated and abandoned but all in a 100yd radius so we knew her from newborn when we found her living rough in the coalshed. Her collar was cutting into the flesh as it had been put on when she was a kitten and never taken off.

She did calm down with us eventually but was always ready to run away if a loud noise startled her. She was a cheeky tortie.

I cant believe they squirted her for getting on the sofa, poor thing must have been scared to move.