New cat hiding

[redsmom79]

Hi! I haven't been on here in forever, but this is the first place I thought of for my dilemma.

My friend recently moved out of the country and had to re-home her cats. She had a 10-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy. The boy ended up going to a shelter, but I took the girl. I thought she'd have a harder time getting adopted. I have a 12-year-old boy who loves other cats, so I wasn't too worried about them getting along, although I tried to take the proper precautions anyway. Surprisingly, the two of them getting along isn't the problem.

I'll mention first that every time I went to my friend's house in the past, I never saw the cats. They'd both hide the whole time. Now, when I brought the new cat home, I sat her in the kitchen and left the carrier flap open. She didn't move for about an hour, and then I walked in when she was sniffing around right outside the carrier. Of course, she ran back in, and didn't come back out. I ended up setting her up in my daughter's room with food, water, and a box. When we left the house, I'd close the bedroom door. When I was home, I'd go sit and talk to her, but I never tried to pet her. She did sniff my finger once. A couple of times, I let my cat into the room to sniff around, but since the new one was hiding in the closet, they never saw each other.

Fast forward a week: I decided to leave the bedroom door open all day. Got home, and she was gone! Finally found her in the basement, where she's been hiding for the past 8 weeks. Her spots are behind the washer and dryer, behind my storage shelves, and squeezed in behind my trunk. She does have to come to the top of the basement stairs to eat and drink, which she does when we're gone or asleep. And she uses her box (both cats have kept to their own boxes). If I get too close to her, she'll run to one of the other spots. She doesn't look scared - she's not hissing or striking, ears are normal, no flinching or anything like that. She just looks like she's trying not to get caught. I go and talk to her every day, but I don't know if I'm helping or enabling her. I know hiding is normal, but this seems like a long time. I'm starting to think she'll never come up out of the dark basement. That's no way to live.

 

[mimi3908]

so at one point, you haven't seen your new cat for 8 weeks?  I think also early on, when you gave the kitty lots of room to roam, you never got a chance to bond with her because she disappeared on you. It is always easiest to bond with a kitty when the kitty has limited room to roam at first and must share some time/space with you as you feed her and she sees you as the one who bring the food to her... it takes time to build their trust even in an enclosed environment let alone in an open environment, and 8 weeks is a long time. Even my most shy kitty took 3 weeks max of lots coaxing to come out using food and games..now she won't leave me alone.the kitty sounds rather shy to me but overall quite friendly. I think you might need to entice her out with a game of dangling strings and shake a bag of treats for her when you get home to see if she is curious to see what you are offering her.. basically you need to probably try a bit harder to entice her to come out and pet her from time to time and play some games with her until she get use to you that you are not foe but friend and the hand that feeds her. She sounds like a good friendly kitty that needs more closeup time with you to bond with. Patience and time will do the trick. Good luck.

 

[redsmom79]

Oh, I see her, and she stares back at me. I did get another toy to try to entice her, but she just stares at me. Maybe it's her age? My 12-year-old still plays, but only for a few minutes and then he's done. As long as I'm a few feet away from her, she seems fine. Once I cross some invisible line, she bolts. I don't know whether to keep going down there to talk to her, or leave her alone and see if she gets curious enough to come up.

 

[mimi3908]

maybe you can try offering special treats to both your kitties. When the new kitty sees the other kitty gobbling up the treats, chances are she will be curious and then you put some treats for her and place the treats closer and closer to you ..sort of like placing a line of treats towards you.. it won't happen in one day for her to take the bait, but over time, she should start seeing you as the one providing the treats and also try to make sure the other kitty is in sight to eat the treats to make her feel hungry to come out. It takes time but it worked for me.

 

[annie_belle]

First off...yea for you that you adopted a senior kitty! 

A few things come to mind...if it were me, I would not let kitty live in the basement.  Even if you need to start over, somehow get her back into the main house.  Of course she is freaking out...quietly...having been uprooted from her home and "family". 

~Once you get her upstairs, try to confine her to one room...make it her cat "safe room"...a great room. 

~A perch by a window would be great...whether it's a cat tree or just a trunk with a carpet square on top....

~Realizing that she is stressed, get one of her bedding items, like a blanket or towel that has her scent on it, and rub it along the baseboards of her new "room" and on the wall corners.  She needs to begin feeling comfortable and familiar. 

~Does she have a scratching item?  When we rehabilitated our kitty (housecat, abandoned by prior "guardians" during hurricane, on her own for 4 years with no one being able to touch her,, we bought "her house" and began working with her, now she's our house kitty!) the first thing I made sure of was to get a cardboard incline scratcher...lots of catnip on it, and I sat with her in the room, scratching the cardboard to help her get the idea.

~In her "room" try playing very soft classical music...harp music is especially effective for cats...very soft volume.  Helps relax and reduce stress.

~Feliway plug-in diffuser in her room can aid in the de-stressing.  The pheromones emitted are the same as when they rub on the walls, etc....comforts them.

~I love the use of really long peacock feathers to initiate play with shy cats.  Even more than string toys, this really appealed to our senior cat, Britches.  In fact, while she was still a very aloof and distant outside cat, the peacock feather was the first way we really interacted.

~If you can get her into her own "safe room", then you can know where she is...created a great environment...and just go in and chill out with her.  Lay on the floor, take a nap...read a book, fold laundry....just being in the room with her will create the beginning of a foundation.

I've found that it is better to allow a cat to build confidence in one great room...then slowly be introduced into other rooms.

Oh...the way I really began to build trust with Britches, while she was outside, was with clicker training.  Using tiny pieces of plain, roasted chicken, I would put a tiny piece on a plate, then when she would begin to walk towards it, I would click.  Eventually, I was able to get the food on my finger and she would lick it off.  Small 2 minute sessions every day, took about a month...but worth it!

Please though...do not give up!  And free kitty from the dungeon!

Let us know how it goes...until next time...Annie

 

[redsmom79]

Well, her hiding places are going to be limited soon because I need to clean out the basement. Much of what she's hiding behind will be moved against the walls or thrown out. You don't think "capturing" her and putting her back into my daughter's room (the only room I can use) will set her back? Once the basement is cleaned up, it won't feel so dank and dark. There is a window, though you can't really see anything outside. But some light does come through. I just feel so bad that she's not comfortable yet. My friend who had her all these years said that if she moved too fast or unexpectedly, the cat would run. I guess it will just take her a lot longer than most cats. Poor baby.

 

[annie_belle]

Now...I wouldn't try to "capture her"...unless you could get her into a corner and safely pick her up. 

Instead, In this case, if possible, try to allow this to be a "positive reinforcement" exercise...perhaps using a good, "smelly" treat of canned cat food...place small bites on plates or bowls to "guide" her where you want her to go....this might also be the first spark of getting her out of her "rut"...she needs something to engage her...get her interested and active!

Though the light in the window is there...cats need to be able to see the world...she really needs to be "in it"...not hiding in the basement!

The reason getting her out of the basement and into the house proper would be important, is that is how she will become accustomed to the sounds, smells and site of the family.  She needs to find a way to connect with you all...

It sounds as if she is a real shy cat...sounds like she always has been. 

I know...it's easier for me to write these wonderful ideas than for you to put them into practice!  Hopefully, some of it will help both you and kitty to get to a happy place!

Until next time...Annie