Cat Chat Feline Forum

Woffles, my cat has always been good with transition, new places, new people. I've had her 3 or more years but the last year I haven't been living with her since I couldn't find a rental in my budget that would allow a cat.
I've finally gotten her back, and though it's been less than 12 hours since she's arrived at my house, and she is behaving better than most other cats would, I'm still worried.
She's not acting scared of me or my house mate, she's only seeming scared of the house, hiding as much as she can either that's under a bed, under my doona with me or behind a curtain or fridge or washing machine.
The owners and previous residents of this house owned cats, and though I can't smell a cat smell and they cleaned the house thoroughly, even professionally cleaning the carpet, I'm wondering if Woffles can smell those cats and thinks they're still around and she's hiding from them especially since there were more than one cat. (Woffles is territorial when it comes to a new cat or dog coming into the home but she's usually find when the other animal is already there and SHE is the one being intruduced into the home)
If anyone has any answers, suggestions, ideas or guesses, will be very appreciated. I'm sure she'll be ok in a few days, I'm just hoping she'll be back to her normal self by tommorow noon when I have to go to work, it's mid evening now.
Thanks in advance

New territory is scary for cats - there might be anything out there. I would make a safe place for her, plus several high spots to survey her new world, and let her get used to the change in her own time. There may be old scents that are adding to her anxiety, but I suspect it is mostly fear of the unknown. If you have familiar items from home that you can spread around, particularly bedding and soft furnishings that smell familiar, that may help. At 3+ years old she will be rather more concerned about new stuff than when she was younger, so allow for that too.

I once moved house with a young cat. The carpets had not been put down as planned, and that first night we camped out on a mattress, him under the duvet with his arms wrapped round my leg to make sure I didn't leave him - the only time in his life he ever did it. Next day I shut him safely in a small cloakroom with bed, tray, food and water while the carpet fitters came and went, then arranged one big bedroom to look as much like the studio flat we had left as possible. I carried my poor frightened cat up to it. He went from bed to chair to settee to bookcase, touching everything and relaxing into familiar sights and smells until he sprawled purring on a cushion and fell asleep. Nothing like familiarity for contentment!

Good advice from fjm, just let her settle in at her own pace. It’s more fear of the strange and unknown than anything else, but once she learns this new place is her safe space, she’ll be fine.

Thank you guys. It's been over 12 hours now since she's been here and now that she's used her litter box for both number one and number 2 she has seemed a lot more comfortable, walking up to sniff my hand when I put her on the bed rather than burrowing into the nearest part of the blanket. Thanks again.