Helping a terrified cat! Urgent. Advice needed.

[Shinygoldbauble]

Yesterday while I was away from home my elderly neighbour was taken seriously ill. Her cat escaped and got into our garden. Dh tried to help but knows nothing about cats and is inclined to be over-enthusiastic. He somehow managed to chase it into our house and after running scared for some time it has taken up residence in my bathroom cupboard.
It is beyond terrified. It has barely moved since last night and seems to have barely touched any food.
We are not in the UK - tried the only cat rescue around and as it is in a safe place and not a stray they can't help.
Neither the neighbour or we are in a position to pay for an emergency vet callout.
I think we should leave it in the peace and quiet with access to food and water til it calms down and then try to coax it out.
Has anyone any suggestions of advice?
Thanks.

Hooray! That's brilliant.

Congratulations on your house guest.
You must feel all warm knowing you are doing such a good turn for your neighbour and her dcat.

Glad that puss is doing well. How is your neighbour?

Try blinking at it really slowly - it's basically cat language for 'everything is ok, I am no threat'

My neighbour is doing really well. She's recovering from surgery and very please to hear her cat is ok.
I've been doing the blinking. In the beginning Biscuit wasn't even blinking himself, just staring with huge wide eyes so perhaps the blinking helped because he is much more relaxed. He doesn't leave the cupboard fully when we are in the room but I think he will soon.

The blinking always works! Sitting nearby on the floor with a newspaper and turning the pages slowly is another good one, a gentle thing but too fascinating for them to completely ignore.

Glad that your neighbour is doing well too!

He came out of the cupboard briefly while we were in the room today!

Hi all, I am back looking for more of your good advice. We've had our feline guest for several months now as neighbour developed complications.
He settled with us to some degree but is still a very nervous cat. He still spends a lot of time in the safety of the cupboard but does venture out around the house when it is quiet.
He has been eating well and allows us to stroke him and feed him treats.
He will not however allow us to pick him up or do more than lightly stroke him.
All fine except that neighbour has now left hospital and gone to live with a relative and is anxious to get her cat back.
Neighbour isn't well enough to travel so relative will collect cat once we have him in the carrier.
But it's impossible. He's a big cat and we cannot grab and keep hold of him.
We've let him play in the carrier, our treats in etc but no way can we keep him in.
He is terrified of DH and quite wary of me. He likes dd who is 13 best but he is a bit aggressive when she tries to get him in the carrier and I am worried about her being bitten or badly scratched.
Any advice on how to handle this?
I know it should be neighbour's problem but she is still quite unwell.
Thanks