Nervous new cat hiding - any tips?

[thepastinsidethepresent]

Experienced cat owner, been owning cats for 20+ years, but I haven't often come across this before and would welcome advice.

We got a new cat at the weekend and she won't come anywhere near us - she's in our spare room with food/water/litter. She's coming out when we're not in the room to use the 'facilities', and I think she's spending some time lying on the bed too, but is always under it when we come in.

We're going in at regular intervals, crouching down by the bed so she can see us, talking quietly to her, not making any attempts to touch her or pull her out, just letting her get used to our voices/faces. Leaving a few Dreamies from time to time which she eats when we're out of the room. 😄

She's a rescue cat, had been abandoned by previous scumbag owners, and apparently the shelter had to do a lot of work to gain her trust so in a lot of ways I'm not surprised, and giving her time to learn to trust us isn't a problem at all, but I feel bad for her being stuck under there even though for the time being it's where she wants to be. 😥

If anyone reading this has had a hiding cat, how long did it take the cat to come out from its hiding place? Any tips on other things we can try to help gain her trust would be much appreciated too, thanks!

Just keep doing what you're doing.

Does she have a spot for looking out of the window? Plenty of toys?

Try not to look for her when you go in, just sit on floor and read or whatever.

She can get to the windows to look out, never seen her do it but hopefully she does when we're out of the room. Yes to toys, hopefully she's playing a bit although again she never has when we're in there. We've been sitting on floor to talk to her so she can get used to our faces, and I've been spending longer periods of time sitting in there and just talking to her occasionally so hopefully she is gradually starting to realise we're not going to try to dive under there and grab her! 😄

Unfortunately just after we got her here at the weekend DH picked her up, way too soon imo grr and she freaked, ran behind the TV (she was in the living room then) and then had to be got out from behind it, she objected strongly and I don't think it will have helped at all with the trust thing. 😥 I guess all we can do is give her time.

She will come around, as long as she's eating, toileting and moving about the space when you're not there, for now, don't worry.

My cat hid under the dining table for at least 2 weeks.
Eventually I made him a bed under there and there he stayed.
He was a homeless street cat born on the steeets so was feral.
You should see him now.He became more confudent after a couple of months, so there is hope.
Most do come round eventually.

One of mine took three months before he'd come out of "his" corner.

Just give her time. I wouldn't crouch down either, I would just sit on the floor, avoid all eye contact, and talk to her while throwing treats and/or toys in her general direction.

Eye contact can be quite threatening for some cats.

Have you tried Catnip ?

Yes I had a rescue cat like this - she never allowed me to pick her up until she went deaf aged 21! However she did learn to trust me and come sit in my lap on lovely rare moments, or next to me on the arm chair.

Agree with pp, no crouching. Just sit down on the floor fully relaxed. I assume as a cat lover you know about cat smiles - half close your eyes. Also don't make eye contact. Low energy, soft voices. I'm sure you doing this.

As and when the cat does approach just hold your fist out steady for her to approach and rub against but no sudden movements.

Do not try to pick her up. Let her rub against you or eventually climb onto your lap or sit next to you if she feels like it.

Be aware of managing noises that might scare her - vacuum, sudden music etc.

When she finally sits near you start using a comb or something so that she associates sitting near you to getting a lovely satisfying scratch and pamper.

Good luck, it can take months or even years but they are so worth it as you know.

I spent HOURS sat in the spare room with mine, chatting to him and throwing Dreamies from a distance. Husband made significantly less effort than me!

One day my husband went in and he marched up to him, dived onto his lap for cuddles and has been the neediest baby ever since..,, so much for loyalty!!!

Our feral kitten too a
Month or so, he LOVED the toys, fishing rod 🎣 was his favourite! He's fine now 🥰

One of my rescue black cats hid under the sofa for at least two weeks. I liked the idea I hear on here of reading to them. It's something children can do to be involved at a distance and gets them used to your presence.

And how typical of a cat to smooch up to the person making no effort.

Thanks for all the tips. I can't believe I hadn't thought of catnip! I'll give that a try.

I also spent quite a bit of time sitting on the floor this evening and talking to her without making eye contact. (@Summerholpls I never knew the eyes thing was called cat smiles!) She's perhaps a little less stressed now, hard to tell but she's definitely not showing signs of coming out any time soon, so I think we're going to have to be patient!

Most cat toys are catnip filled so you probably have provided catnip already!

This might be a bit thick of me but I never realised most were, I thought it was only some! 😄 At any rate, I've stuck a couple of new catnip-filled mice in the room just now, so we'll see if those pique her interest...

Sitting in the room reading out loud is a good way to get them used to the sound of your voice. You could put classic FM or radio 4 on as well to give background noise, so then stuff like noises from downstairs are less startling.

When she wants to be a bit more friendly and starts venturing out, using fishing rod or feather on a stick type toys is a good way to induce play and you can lightly touch her without a hand being directly involved at first.