Rescue cat is terrified

[Squaretoe]

We picked up our new little girl yesterday! She is from a Romanian shelter and apparently she was in a van for over three days before she got here so she is not a happy girl at the moment! She has been here for just under 24 hours and has been hiding behind various bits of furniture basically the whole time. She has eaten next to nothing, and has used the litter tray once. I don’t know if she’s had anything to drink since she’s been here.

Feliway is arriving later on today, and I’ve been playing relaxing music for cats to try to calm her down . What else can I do? The lady at the shelter has been in touch to check on her and has been helpful. I’m freaking out a bit that she’s traumatised and will hide forever.

[StrangeLookingParasite]

I am having exactly the same issue (though our kitten is not from Romania). We picked her up from the SPA on Wednesday, and she has spent all the days following finding the most out of the way places to hide. We found her up until last night. She has completely vanished.
I'm worried she will dehydrate, or starve to death.
At one point we got her out of one of her hiding places, to get her a bit more used to being held, and she was trembling. I wrapped her up in a tshirt, and held her, patting her sometimes, until she stopped trembling and purred.
Our greatest current worry is that she has gone into the one cupboard that allows access to the subfloor of the apartment. There is no way of getting her out of there, if so.

[BovaryX]

Hi OP,
It might really help to get her a place which is high up and she can escape to or that is inside a cupboard. How about a really tall cat tree with a sleeping post at the top? A cat basket that you can put in a place she can escape from everyone? Like a cupboard?

[BovaryX]

Strange
If your cat is hiding because she's really frightened, pulling her out and handling her will probably make things worse. Leave some food and water out for her and she will access it when she's alone. The scratching tree with a sleeping place at the top will also help.

[MonsteraCheeseplant]

Strange - just have patience and allow the cat to go at it's own pace.

[madcatladyforever]

She looks lovely.
My first two kittens were completely feral, they were 10 weeks old when I got them, I got home and opened the box and there was just a cat explosion - it was three months before they stopped hissing and freaking out at everything.
After that they were just unbelievably soft and loyal but girl cat always looked a bit shifty.

[StrangeLookingParasite]

Thank you so much for your advice, I should have posted here earlier.
She has adopted the back kitchen cupboard as her hideout, so we've brought all the bowls and the litter box near to it (as a side issue, how can one tiny kitten do such huge smelly poos?).
She's eating, drinking and eliminating, and getting braver. I played with her with some feathers on a stick yesterday and today, and she came out as far as under my chair tonight!
Big cat is less unimpressed than before; she has stopped hissing and growling (after plenty of reassurance).

[Tarrarra]

Awww she is gorgeous! Sounds like you are doing all the right things! We’ve had our rescue cat for 2 weeks now and she is still jittery but is getting braver by the day. We had a bit of a setback as we had to take her to vets for 2nd injections last week. Reading all these stories gives me hope!

[Squaretoe]

Beautiful girl! Good luck :)

We are on day 10 and we’re making progress slowly. Madam now summons me after her evening meal for play time. Once she’s eaten she sits under the dining room table and yowls until I come and play with her, with string or a dangly fish toy. She still hides for most of the day but is definitely more confident in the evening which is lovely! Still very wary of the children but hopefully she will come around. I can’t wait for the day I’m allowed to touch her! 😂

[Fluffycloudland77]

She’s training you 😀

[Squaretoe]

@Fluffycloudland77

She’s training you 😀

I think you’re right 😂 and it’s working!

[Squaretoe]

She’s been here nearly two weeks and still hides for most of the day. She comes out at night and is getting braver but still very skittish.
She’s been yowling at night (bored I’m guessing) which was fine, but it’s now waking the DC up so we’ve had to shut her in the kitchen tonight. I knew she’d hate being picked up but we didn’t even get that far, we ended up sort of chasing/following her around the house while she got more and more distressed, until eventually she ran into the kitchen and we shut her in. I feel so sad for her now and I feel like all of our patient hard work has probably been undone. Poor thing will probably have trashed the kitchen by the morning!

[Cailleach1]

Could you have led her into the kitchen by pulling the string or dangly fish toy along towards the room. When in there, just close the door.

I had to bring my two to the Vets today. After a substantial breakfast, I enticed each separately onto the landing where an a cat carry basket was discreetly waiting. One chap puts his paws out to stop going in, so I had to turn him and gently ease him in backwards.

We're friends again after lots of unforgiving, accusatory looks all day. It sounds as if you are on the way to easing her slowly into the family. As long as she has a hidey place, she will do it in her own time.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Two weeks is nothing to a cat, it’s a nano second to them.

Have you tried zylkene in her food?.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Is she ok?.

[Squaretoe]

Sorry I hadn’t been back to update! She’s fine, not traumatised, but no developments either. She comes out when the kids are out of the house or asleep, otherwise she hides under a bed, which I suppose is better than behind the fridge (which we blocked off but she managed to get over the blockage!) She seems less terrified and more generally timid now.

I contacted the shelter for advice and they said to just give it time. She’s had Zylkene in her food for nearly two weeks now and I’m not sure if that’s helping or whether she would have become calmer without it, but she’s definitely improved since she came home two weeks ago. Like you said, two weeks is nothing really, I just wasn’t expecting this.

[Squaretoe]

Also, I’m wondering at what point do we let her out? I feel like if she got out now we’d never see her again! Should I be waiting until she starts responding to being called?

[Fluffycloudland77]

Oh god not yet for sure, wait till she’s bolder & is more bonded to you. At least she’s not as scared.

[thecatneuterer]

Don't even think about letting her out until she is properly relaxed, no longer hiding and coming for strokes.

[Elieza]

Poor cat. I’d be scared of noisy boisterous small kids too!

If you lock her in a room make sure she has food and water as well as a litter tray in there.

[JennyWr3n]

Is she the right fit for your family? I would have thought a boisterous kitten is better suited to younger children - it'll enjoy playing and the kids will enjoy having a pet they can interact with rather than a cat who they have to tip toe around

[Squaretoe]

We’ve stopped shutting her in the kitchen overnight now as I felt so guilty.

I’m wondering if she’s right for us too. Would it be awful to contact the shelter to say we think she should go back to them? This is no life for her, hiding for 18 hours a day.

[mosquitofeast]

She will be sleeping for most of that, not just hiding, I really hope it works out for you.

[Oldestchild90s]

This is a long term thing, and a few weeks simply isn't enough time to give a rescue cat who has been through god knows what. I think you should persist 🤞🏻but that's up to you!
I know it's no life for a cat but another family might do the same, and the next, and the next. Please give her a chance 😭

[Fluffycloudland77]

I think it’s too soon to send her back. They come out of themselves in time.

[Squaretoe]

The thought of sending her back makes me want to cry! I just feel terrible that she’s having a shit time here. And yeah, there’s no guarantee that her next home will be any better I suppose. We will keep going. The DC are obsessed with her and I don’t know how I’d explain to them that she’s gone!