Rescue Cat Hiding 4 weeks

[HenryGTom]

Hello everyone, any advice would be great. I got a rescue cat 4 weeks ago, he's about 4/5 years old and was told that he was very shy & timid and needed a home with only one person. He was found in someone's garden and they think he was stray (they don't really know). I put him in the kitchen with everything he needed, but unfortunately on day 2 he found the lose kickboard and is now hiding behind the kitchen cupboards. He's not in any danger where he is, and I could get to him if needed. He only comes out for food and using the litter tray at night, and if he does pop out in the day he goes into hiding as soon as he can hear me heading for the kitchen. I've hardly seen this invisible cat..... I've been in touch with the rescue home, whose reponse was that he must have had an awful life and that's it.... Not very helpful. Does anyone have any ideas on how I help this cat, as I want him to feel comfortable and safe, and it's not a problem where he is and I have the time and patience. I sit and talk to the 'hole' where he's hiding daily, everytime I go in the kitchen I talk and tell him what I am doing. When I go out I leave the kitchen door open and a line of treats to tempt him to have a look in the hallway, but he doesn't even get that far. I just feel so helpless and sad for him.... Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Mollycat]

I've been there, with my Molly. Several people on this forum have had similar experiences. I'm going to say exactly the same thing the rescue said to you, but believe it or not, it is actually really helpful.

Regardless of his past, he is telling you what he needs - to be left alone, to be given all the time in the world to come to terms with his new home and new life, and figure out for himself his new world is safe and the human he shares it with is truly trustworthy. Passive help is the hardest to give and the most valuable to receive.

You can do active stuff though. Get a pile of cushions or blankets, and make yourself comfortable on the floor. Whatever you do - laptop, reading, TV, whatever - just talk to him quietly from his level on the floor, without making any attempt to move towards him or lure him out, don't even look in his direction. Just talk - the words don't matter, a reassuring but light tone, encouraging, gentle, singing or just low, let him get used to your presence, your smell and your voice.

Some people say treats, I don't believe in them. My girl won't take treats from you until she trusts you a certain amount anyway, but the priority is to teach them that you mean no harm and that you will leave them alone. Let him come and sniff you when he plucks up the courage, without reaching out to give him a treat or a stroke, just use your voice to encourage. The rest can come later. My Molly is 14 years old and has been with me for 8 years, and she let me pick her up for the first time last month.

I do recommend what I wish I'd done though, keep a diary. It's amazing what you think you will never forget, but you do. If I had kept a diary I'd be able to tell you how long it was before Molly stopped bolting under the bed every time I moved. it was a very long time.

[Kay]

wise words as always from Mollycat - the fact that he is eating and using his tray is reassuring, as severely traumatized cats sometimes do neither

the hardest thing in such situations is not to react when the cat makes its first overtures - I can remember how hard it was to ignore my late Tosker when he first came into the house through the cat flap, after living for 3 months in my neighbour's garage, but because I did, he never regressed in his slow but steady path to full lap cat status

getting down to his level is important too, as some cats have good reason to fear human feet and hands

the whole process of bonding with a timid cat can be incredibly rewarding, and you sound like a very good candidate for achieving complete success

[Ka hi 28]

Completely agree with previous answers. The cat is doing well by eating and using the tray. Talking to cat is great and sitting near. My suggestion would be leave a sweater or tshirt on the floor near the kickboard. Cats do use their sense of smell. It would help make you more familiar. We take on these cats for the long term reward. It will come out and on that day you can say hello nice too see you, but resist contact. The cat will come to you when it feels safe. One cat I had first let me touch just the tip oh his tail. Head touching is too much for nervous cat.

[alanc]

I can only echo what the others have said. It took my rescue cat Misty some 3months to come out of his shell (an igloo bed in my attic room, in his case). When he finally did, though, he became a very loving cat although always prone to retreat to his igloo if frightened.

[HenryGTom]

Thank you for your replies, it's comforting to know that I am doing the right thing even though he doesn't like coming out to see me. I had considered removing the kickboard so that he could have a better view of what's going on around him, but after reading your comments it seems best to leave him so that he feels safe and not exposed. I've put an old t-shirt in the space where he's hiding, so hopefully in time he will appear!

[ccL58]

Hello, I'm new to "chatting". I found this forum when I was looking online for advice about taking in a feral/stray cat. An acquaintance who lives a few miles down the road from us had a cat hanging around her place so she started leaving food out for it. She has a couple cats & dogs of her own so she didn't want to try to adopt it. I agreed to catch it & bring it to my house since I had previously taken in a juvenile-age litter of 5 semi-feral cats, which had suddenly appeared out here, about 2 years ago and had success in taming them (I still have 4 them. They are FeLv positive and, sadly, one died last February. My husband & I fixed up a cottage for them since I had 2 older cats already who didn't have the virus). Anyway, I live-trapped this "new" cat, which probably traumatized it a lot, and turned it loose in a spare bedroom (which is where the litter had spent the first 9 months before moving into their cottage). So far, I have barely seen it as it hides every time I enter the room. It eats, drinks water & uses the litter box, though. That's pretty much the only evidence of its presence! My computer is in the room so I do spend some time near where it's hiding but it never emerges when I'm there. I don't even know if it's male or female! I leave it dry food but I've brought a dish of canned food into the room a few times & placed it near where it's hiding (I used canned food as a taming tool with the other cats). I take the canned food with me when I leave though so the cat will hopefully associate it with me. This cat has been here 2 weeks & I worry that it might be too feral to tame. If that's the case, I don't know what I'll do if I can't ever handle it in order to take it to the vet, etc. From reading the previous posts, though, it sounds like this isn't unusual and I'll just have to give it lots of time. I really doubt if this cat was completely feral as it chose to be nearby humans and had shown up suddenly, like it had been dropped off by someone. I hope it'll get over being so scared.

[Whiskasgirl]

Hi I’m in the same position as you!! I adopted a female a yr old about 5 weeks ago and she currently hiding behind a wardrobe she comes out to eat and toilet and when it’s quiet you can hear her play in another bedroom but sees me and she off, what I’m concerned about is she was de-flead before I adopted her as the rescue foster home did that so as I can’t get near her do I just leave that until I can ? I hope one day she’ll trust me enough to come out while I’m there and sometimes I just need reassurance I’m doing the right things by her , talking to her etc she plays in a different bedroom to the one she’s hiding in as it’s bigger but we’re waiting on new wardrobes to be fitted so I hope she doesn’t get spooked by the change as we’re in the spare room at the minute so we’ll be moving in there , any advice would be appreciated.

[booktigger]

Honestly, if she is an indoor only cat and you have no other pets, I wouldn't worry about de-fleaing once a month, especially with her temperament. I've mellowed a lot in recent years about de-fleaing, and I have two semi feral untouchable cats who haven't been de-flead for nearly 4 years!

[Mollycat]

I second booktigger, I have had my indoor girl for 8 years now and she has been flea treated a number of times I can count on one hand. That's in spite of having a dog that obviously goes out, and he is treated twice a year, last month we had to go into temporary housing briefly and the people wanted the dog de-flea'd before we went. The vet checked him over and refused to sell us a treatment because she could find no evidence of fleas. Even my old in-out cats were done as required, about once a year.

My indoor girl now is or maybe was also extremely timid, booktigger's pair are among very few that are even more so. If you want any support with helping an extremely timid cat to settle and become as relaxed and comfortable as they possibly can, there is plenty of help available here. My girl made some progress in the first years, but the last 4 she has faced big challenges (like moving to a temporary house, accepting a man and a dog in our lives, a 2 week stay in hospital, and the whole house being moved, packed up and redecorated and carpeted). The more she faces and copes with, as long as I'm with her, the more she can handle. It's a never ending journey but incredibly rewarding.

For handling wardrobe fitting so soon after she has arrived, I would start with something that will make her nervous enough to leave that room and find a hiding place somewhere else. Maybe the vacuum cleaner? Give her plenty of space to run and hide. Praise her and encourage her - yes talk to her, all the time, read to her, sing to her, give her a running commentary on what you're doing and what you're about to do. If she bolts when she sees you, move gently but not silently as much as you can, and talk to her upbeat and kindly. Do not look at her, and whenever she tenses up ready to run, stop and take one step backwards away from her, keep telling her it's ok and nobody's going to hurt her. Always give her space and time to go and hide, like when the doorbell rings, or when you are cleaning or doing something noisy. My girl had a huge fear of plastic bags. Gradually she will learn that it's ok and the house is safe and she is safe, and she will develop trust in you. A scared cat that runs is so much easier than a scared cat that turns on you. It's a long journey and you will make many mistakes along the way, but it's all worth it the first time you get a slow-blink back, the first time they let you touch them, the first time they look to you for guidance and calm down because they see you are calm.

[Whiskasgirl]

Mollycat, thank you for your reply it’s very helpful as they all are on here, I’m glad I’ve found this forum as I think I’m gonna need it. And I’m glad I’m not alone in this as I realise what she and I are doing is completely normal, I will update on Raven in the coming weeks as I’d love to hear others updates too.