New Rescue Cats Hiding - Will They Come Round?

[dianec401]

I adopted two 9 month old rescue cats (sisters) and collected them from their foster home last Friday. Their mum is feral and they were taken from her when they were between 2-3 months old so socialisation would have been borderline. However they were very settled in their foster home and after a period of hiding etc progressed to sitting on laps, being petted etc.

I have them in a small living / kitchen area and they have no access to anywhere else in the house. They have access to their carriers and bedding from their previous home which they haven’t gone near. Plus of course, toys, food, litter tray set up in different areas of the room.

However since they have come to me it's been very hard. I am quite experienced with cats and I know it will take time to build trust but they are very traumatised by their new surroundings and seem to have regressed. They aren't making any sounds at all (worrying as I have heard feral cats don’t meow) and have hidden in the most extraordinary places.

They found a tiny gap between the skirting / kickboards in my kitchen area and for the past 3 days have been hiding underneath the cabinets which must be so cramped and uncomfortable for them. I had to take the kickboard partly off so they can get out (one of them had become trapped) and they use the litter tray and eat at night when I'm asleep. But there's no budging them at all during the day or the evening. I live alone and have a quiet house so there are no loud bangs or frightening goings-on. I've played talk radio and I've had to go about my day cooking and pottering etc. I try and talk to them and once or twice a day check underneath to make sure they're still there but they won't come near me at all. I haven’t pushed this though and am trying to leave them be as much as possible so they can approach on their own terms.

I know it's early days but this does seem excessive and very ‘wild’ behaviour to me. Is it?

I expected them to hide in a corner behind some furniture for a day or so but to gradually explore their environment even when keeping a safe distance from me but they won’t tolerate me being anywhere near them.

I was quite happy to have a timid cat and I know getting rescue animals often means you aren’t aware of what has happened in their early life so they need understanding and patience. However I don’t want semi-feral cats. I need to be able to interact with my pets and when necessary, get them into their carriers and take them to the vets.

I guess I’m just beginning to lose hope and to think that maybe these are little wildies who are not going to adapt. I feel like they met their first human, bonded with her and then that’s it. They’ve had enough.

Will they come round? I’d really appreciate some advice from knowledgeable owners. Sorry for the essay but I wanted to try and give as much info as possible

I would suggest moving them to a place with more privacy and quietness than the living room/kitchen area if you have that space available. They then need time to become completely comfortable in their new environment before they will even consider interacting with you. Cats will ignore humans they know well in new environments. Whenever we move house, we ignore the cats till they come back to find us. Some cats (we have many!) will be back for a cuddle in hours, some take days.
I would then go in a couple of times a day and just be in their space without interacting with them at all - take a book or watch a film on your iPad. After a couple of days take a long cat toy in with you and flick it around. Don’t look at the cats at all but just let them see the flicking cat toy. Let them take it at their pace and they’ll come round.

They will be impacted by their previous experiences. One of ours is 7 now and even though she loves a cuddle it can only happen in one particular part of the house as she is just too frightened anywhere else. I wouldn’t think they will have bonded to just one human but I expect the fosterer gave them the space they needed to come round their way. My sister is a cat fosterer and her first “foster fail” (cat came but never left!) was a cat that apparently didn’t want cuddles and was always nervy. My sister ignored her for weeks and whenever the cat came interacted the way her cat wants and now this cat is the snuggliest of all her cats. Our scared-y cat used to run from the kids and only let me stoke her but they’ve all won her over by giving her space and not crowding her.

It can take time but it will be rewarding. I love a snuggly cat too - which is why we have many. I have some I have rescued so I can give them the gentle home they need and a couple more who love nothing more than to sleep on my head, as that’s what I love! We do have a smallholding though so lots of space for multicat home - although often they can all be found on our bed together!

also get a few fellowship plug-ins. I was sceptical but they do really help.

Thanks for the advice Arucanafeather. Lots of good ideas!
My place is tiny and the only other place I could move them to is my main bathroom (I have an ensuite that I can use in the meantime) and in hindsight I wish I had put them there right at the beginning. It's small and uncomfortable for me to stay there for more than a couple of minutes but it wouldn't have been as overwhelming for them, poor things. I'm not sure how I would get them in there at this stage though and it would probably cause them even more trauma to try and do so.
I will get some Feliway plug-ins to see if they help and I suppose the rest will just be time. I'll have to live with the kickboards being off for a while longer and just pretend I don't have them at all and hopefully over the next couple of weeks they'll start exploring and eventually will be a bit happier.

Of course they’ll come round! They’ve arrived somewhere unfamiliar & they don’t yet trust you - they’re scared.

I took on a feral cat years ago & it took her 3 weeks under the bed hyperventilating- came out for a drink/food when I was asleep! Panicked every time the tv/washer went on & sat under the bed panting.

let them come round in their own time, expect nothing yet & give them lots of patience while they settle.

they will end up happy, grateful & lovely cats, you’ll see! 🐱

When I bought my rescue cat home she flew out of the cat carrier and went to hide under my bed. She stayed there, hidden for 2 days....I just put water, food and the litter nearby and went about my business.

Eventually on day 3 she came to see me while I was watching TV for a bit then went back into hiding. I think it took a week for her to walk around confidently and to accept a little petting without trying to scratch me to death...

So yes, give them more time, don't try to force them to do anything and they will eventually see that you are not thread, more of a willing slave, and they will settle in.

True story....

Someone I know went to the rescue to get a cat.

Came back with three kittens.

He was in a one bed flat and they hid behind the sofa for at least a fortnight.

Now, he has three fully grown cats who run around everywhere, then sprawl on the sofa and look huffy if he wants to sit down.

They'll come out, honestly.

Took one of my rescues a week to come out from her hiding place. She ruled the house from that moment on. Her less shy sister was unimpressed!

My advice would be let them come to you, they will come around but they are still young and its a big change for them. Some cats take longer than others to adapt.

I actually disagree with moving them to a different room, they will get used to being alone and may take longer to come round if you are only around them for a short while at a time. I foster cats and keep them confined to my open plan living / dining room / kitchen so I'm around most of the time so the cats quite quickly get desensitised to my presence. There are plenty of places for them to hide away from me, but they do get used to me knocking around and having the radio or TV on. I chat to them a lot so they get used to my voice but otherwise basically ignore them and carry on as I usually would until they come to me. Some come straight away, others take at least a week or so before they even come near me. Some cats never become lap cats though.

Seems that the key is ignore. Sound advice from kind people on here.

Someone on here read to her rescue so they got used to her voice. I thought that was a good idea. My rescue hid under the sofa for two weeks.

Thank you all for your advice and personal stories. It's reassuring to hear them. Especially from CatsAreCrackers - that was exactly my thinking. I was hoping they would just get used to me pottering around and as long as there was nothing too loud or crazy going on they would gradually get to know my voice and my movements.

It's still early days and I'm obviously being too impatient and catastrophising! So thank you for the reminders that it takes time.
I'm going to ensure there are some cosy hidden spots around the room so when they do come out to explore they will see there are better places to hide than underneath the kitchen cabinets! Let's see what the next 2-3 weeks bring.

I put my 2 rescues in the Utility room, I closed the washing machine door but not the tumble dryer because I never dreamt they would get in there!

They were there for 24 hours! They are now happy confident cats! No issues at all!

When we moved house our cat of 8 years hid under the bed for a week.

she emerged eventually

Be thankful when they hide in obvious places. When one of mine arrived I made sure all the windows and doors were closed before I opened the cat basket. She shot out of it and zoomed up the sitting room chimney! Fortunately she decided to come down of her own accord after about 20 minutes, I was worried about her spay scar but the vet said she would be fine, he did suggest I wipe as much soot off her as possible which she didn’t like.

It is amazing how they find spaces to hide where you didn’t even think there were spaces, I was looking after a friends cat and searched the house twice before I realised there was a cat sized gap at the back of a bookshelf, I didn’t know it was there so how the flip did the cat find it!!!!

Mine are ex-feral, were a year old when they went trapped by the rescue then spent another year at the rescue because nobody wanted a bonded pair of very shy black cats.

There was no sight of them for days, only sign they were alive was food going and the litter tray being used. Took weeks before they would come out for more than a few moments when I was in the room, 6 months before I could touch one & about a year for the other.

I'm currently being whinged at because I'm not long in from work and they've only had one cuddle each - in their view, if I'm out "enjoying" myself at work all day then it's my duty to fuss them all evening.

So they WILL come round, just be (very) patient & let them come to you in their own time.

Firstly, well done on adopting them!

we adopted to ex-feral black kitties earlier this year, and had exactly the same issue with them hiding. We put a motion camera in the room, and at night when we weren’t there they used to play and chase each other around, but as son as they heard us they darted back to their hiding places!! It took a while (and a lot of Dreamies / cooked chicken / tuna) but we eventually gained their trust, and they are now super affectionate.

Do you have a feliway plug in? That could help them settle. Good luck, and keep us updated with progress!

Ahhh my two are obviously very similar when it comes to games of Hide and Seek. Yours are real cuties

Thanks for all the kind thoughtful messages, advice, ideas and reassurance. It has put my mind at ease and I really appreciate you taking the time to respond.
And it's great to hear stories of all these poor terrified cats coming into their own and becoming the bold and mercurial creatures we know they are!
My two are both beautiful girls with bags of personality (so I'm told!) and I am so looking forward to getting to know them. And it's good that they have each other at the moment while they are so scared and are adjusting.
I have ordered Feliway (and out of pure curiosity, a camera for the nighttime shenanigans) and on the advice of another friend have put a pillowcase and some catnip on it underneath the cabinets so they can get used to my scent. It's not too close beside them tho.
You are all right - this has to be on their terms, when they are ready. And there's no rushing it.
I will carry on the chatting, 'ignoring' and gentle pottering and will let you know how I get on.

My feral kitten came to us at 4 months. He hid in our snug for weeks, under the bookshelf, sofa and chair. It took a bit of time and he'd come out for food, then playing with a fishing rod cat toy (invaluable part of your cat toolkit!) now he rules the roost (unlesss the female is downstairs lol!) even keeps our new puppy in place, was eating her food earlier ... here's a pic of him next to me now cooling after a bath (me, not him!)

Ours were sisters adopted at a similar age. Took them a week to venture near us. Then they promptly disappeared and we thought we'd lost them. Found them a day later in the sofa bed mechanism. Much panic! They now join in Teams calls

Our cat was a rescue kitten and she behaved as you described. She was terrified of everyone and everything and for the first couple of days barely came out from between the bed and the wall. Once we let her into the main house we could lose her for hours at a time and found her in the most extraordinary places - drawer under DD's bed which was closed but she made it in, under chest of drawers, top shelf of bookcase, in tiny gaps between furniture and wall. She'd flinch and run off if we came near her and the first time she got out in the garden screamed a very loud meow shot under the garden shed and didn't come out for 24 hours. We couldn't stroke her and getting her in the carrier was a complete nightmare - first we had to catch her and it was far from easy - it once took me and DP an hour to get her in the box.

It took months before she started to settle but gradually she got to trusting us and now she's 4 and you couldn't meet a more laid back cat.

We don't know what happened to her very early on but she was properly terrified :( I'm afraid it's a case of endless patience OP

We adopted siblings who were supposed to have been surrendered from a loving home. They went behind the built in furniture in our bedroom and for a good 6 weeks we didn't see them in the light- after 4 weeks they would come on the bed in the dark if we stayed still. It was a long haul with them, but they are both very affectionate now.