Rehired cat, how long will he hide?

[1stTimeCatOwner]

We've just brought home a 6 month old cat. Rehomed as owner couldn't keep full litter. Ran under the bookcase and has stayed there for the past 6 hours. Have offered treats and proper food, not interested.

Any tips? Do we just wait it out?

Thread title should be REHOMED cat!

Ours hid for about 3 weeks, coming out at night after everyone was in bed to eat and use his litter tray.

He is now confident enough to attack family members when displeased!

Don't worry too much. When we got our kitten she hid in the sofa for about 12 hours in the end we cut the back of the sofa to get her out. Then she disappeared again for half a day. Still don't know where she went

More recently rehomed cat was 2 when we got her so harder to squeeze into small space but it took her a couple of days.

Safe to say they both now rule the roost. They boss us & the dog around.

Don’t worry, just leave the cat alone to get used to its new environment. Leave food, water and litter trays (2 ideally for 1 cat) and it will get used to its new environment in its own time.

I volunteer as a fosterer for a cat rescue and all cats are different. Some don’t need any time to be confident to explore, and some stay in hiding for ages.

Six weeks is the longest I’ve had a cat stay hidden. And that cat turned into a very sweet boy!

Couple of days I'd say, totally normal

Your title “Rehired Cat… etc” , thought you’d yr given yr cat a second chance….

Sorry slightly hysterical for some reason but it just tickled me.
🤣🤣🤣

The cat will decide when it’s safe enough to venture out, probably tonight, if food is left down and no-one goes into area.

All will be well.

You just have to wait it out until they are ready to come to you
Finlay was day 2, but we are very quiet household and left him to it

Thanks everyone, that's very reassuring. I've left food and a couple of dreamiest towards the edge of the bookcase, should I leave water too?

And will it figure out how to find the litter tray? I've left that nearby, but not too near the food.

Is there anything else I should do? Sorry to sound hopeless, we've never had a cat before but wanted to give this one a loving home.

Our 6 month old kitten hid for 3 days and wouldn't come downstairs for nearly a week.

5 y/o traumatised rescue was harder. She was mostly ok but if something startled her she would hide inside the wardrobe for a day or more. Lovely cat but still nervous.

But you can't force cats to do anything. Just give them time and space.

Our rescue boy was in amongst everything on night one, explored every inch of the house, and seemed super confident. Day two and three he hid behind the TV stand, hissed at me any time I went near, and ate/toileted “in secret” overnight. He’s currently curled up beside me on the sofa. I’d say it took a good three months before he was truly “our cat” though.

Our previous girl we rehomed directly from a family where she was getting stressed by their boisterous kids. Night one she hid under the sofa for a bit, but by bedtime she was cuddled up in my lap like she’d always lived here.

OP, yes, leave some water.
How is the cat doing today?

When I first brought my ragdoll girl home, she hid behind a curtain from 2pm until 2am when she decided she was home and wanted accompanying on a full tour of the house! She still has me wrapped round her paw.

Yes its normal and part of the process

tehy will come out in their own time and if they dont you need to cover any hidy holes so they are forces to explore, but usually they should do it in their own time

Still hiding but has moved around a bit. I think he ate some food overnight and is accepting treats left near his hiding place today. I am worried about water though. Not sure if he had water overnight. Should I leave a bowl of water near him?

His food tray has an actual water feeder but that won't fit under his sofa, where he has now decamped.

Also start with a small area so a downstairs loo is a good idea if you can isolate them, and then more space as they feel safer

Yes to the bowl of water. Some cats don’t like having their food & water close together so you might find the water feeder gets ignored.

He ought to know how to use the litter tray - keep an eye on it to see if he wees.

I hope the owner’s now got her mother cat & the kittens neutered.

He is probably moving around a bit at night or when you’re not around. If you’re feeding wet food, he should be okay - I was told this by my vet when I was worried about never seeing my cat drink any water.

Thank you, will leave a separate bowl of water now.

I doubt it re the owner. They didn't even know the sex of the cat we've rehomed (I think he's a boy but not certain!) and didn't even seem to know he needed vaccines. I've spoken to my local vet and they have been great, he's booked in next week although they said not to force him if he's still in hiding then.

The cat is very well looked after other than the vaccine issue.

Some people don’t deserve cats (I don’t mean you, obviously!)

One thing I do that makes vet trips easier is leave the carrier out all the time & regularly leave treats in it. It just makes it far easier to get the cat in there when needed.

Tell us about him 😻. What’s his name & what colour is he?

My rehomed 5 year old took 2 weeks to come out from behind the sofa. She would come out a night to eat, drink and use the litter tray but only properly emerged when I put an empty box out in the house! 😂 She still dashes off behind the TV when she thinks I'm going to pick her up and take her to the V.E.T.

His name is Haiku. We think he is a tabby mix. Very difficult to get a proper photo because he is always in an awkward place and I don't want to frighten him. But here's one taken earlier today and he's pretty much stayed there all day!

He is absolutely gorgeous! 😍 Since you”re giving him time to decompress, he will come out of his hiding place in no time!

Oh he’s a beauty, he will be fine. I can see his inner confidence. He’s waiting until you earn his trust and he can employ you!!!

Little love. Thank you for taking them on.

New cats need a room on their own. One single room with food, litter tray and water. Have all of those things as far away from each other as you can.

Go and sit in the room. Read, watch tv, chat quietly. Don’t expect anything for a few days.
Tonight will be very hard due to the fireworks, assuming you are somewhere where you hear them.

He's a handsome chap 😍. It really does vary, my timid girl hid and cried for days and only came out when I was home alone as she seemed frightened of my partner (he is now her favourite!) but my boy sauntered straight out the carrier confident as anything like he had always been here!

Yeah I was worried about the fireworks tonight. It hopefully won't be too bad as we live in a very urban area and there doesn't tend to be lots of fireworks generally.