Newly adopted 7 year old still under the furniture after a week….

I'd love some suggestions / reassurance. We adopted a 7 year old snowshoe siamese on Sunday, 8/17. She was found in an apartment after spending 3 days with the deceased body of her elderly mistress. She had been fostered for 2 months and 3 weeks, and then was brought to an adoption center inside a PetSmart, where we found her. She was extremely nervous at the adoption center (no surprise, as there were constantly people tapping on the plexiglass of her cage).

We've had cats before, and felt really badly for her, so brought her home. There are just my partner and I in the house, and we're very quiet. Since we don't have a single room available, we decided to shut off all of the doors to our house with the exception of the living/kitchen/family rooms (open concept).

It is now a week later, and she's started to eat / drink (has always used the litter). We know she's out and about while we're not home (saw her sitting on a chair looking out the window), but when we come in the house, she hides. I have been able to pat her occasionally, and she purrs like crazy and seems to enjoy the attention, but she's still so timid. We've used Rescue Remedy, which does work for a bit, but doesn't seem to last for more than an hour or 2.

Any hints as to what we can be doing differently?? We really want this cat to be comfortable, but also want an animal who will socialize with us and not be a constant "hider."

Thank you for any feedback! 

Aww, what a sad story! I'm glad to hear she has a loving and patient home with you now.

Does she seem food-oriented? Maybe try offering her some treats by hand? Maybe interactive play? I've met some cats where associating a person with a treat is where they *click* and have that turnaround to start seeking social interaction on their own, and others who have been lulled out by enticing them to play so they briefly forget about their nervousness. If you know she likes being pet, take the opportunity the few times you can lure her out to gently pet her and eventually she won't run and hide anymore - she'll just hang out for pets.

I found when we brought out new cat home and used our bedroom as a safe room, she warmed up to us better when she saw us sleeping and could explore the room and sniff us out when we weren't trying to interact with her. Some laser pointer play and a small bite of duck and she was sold on me.

Ultimately, I would say just give her time. A week isn't all that long, and she must have had a very tough time with the loss of her previous owner and the changes as she was moved from place to place before her adoption.

I'm not sure if it's practical for you, but do you have a room you could keep her in that you could remove furniture that has space to hide under?  My feral kittens I took in have been living in our sunroom (I am just now the past 3 days starting to let them explore their way out of the room for a couple hours per day).  At first I removed the couch, which was the only furniture in there except for a coffee table that is easy to reach under.  I got one of those kitty condos, the dog crate they were in first, and a folded up quilt on top of the crate so they had places to hide but where I could still get to them.  I thought they were ready to have the couch back a few weeks ago, but they'd spend the great majority of the day under there!  So I moved the couch back out. 

That's my only advice, other than the PP's food idea, because I'm new to cats and don't know a whole lot.  Good luck!

Thank you pink dagger and wijody for your advice….Unfortunately, our new cat does not seem to be too food motivated - we've tried treats, and while she does eat them, she's not interested enough to come out in the open for them.  And cat toys just seem to freak her out (I think she may not have been played with a lot in the past).  

We do keep your bedroom open at night so she has the option of coming in to see us while we sleep, but we close it off during the day so she has one less place to hide.

Unfortunately, we don't have the option of clearing out a room for her, so we have to make do with our current set-up.

I guess more than anything I'm looking for reassurance.  Every time I think we're making a baby step forward, we move back two….I guess I have to remember it's just been a week, but our other cats were so demonstratively loving pretty much right off the bat, so this is a bit of a challenge….

I do appreciate your words of wisdom, so thank you so much!!  

So good of you to take her in, what a sad story.  

I agree with @pinkdagger  that a week is not that long of a time.  You might try brushing her, if you can get close enough.  Some kitties like brushing even if they don't like petting.  

We took in some kitties after a friend died.  One of them was like yours.  She seemed to want attention and purred when I could get close enough to pet her, but she was scared to death.  We discovered that she would stay out a bit longer if we brushed her, though.  Eventually we were able to combine petting with brushing.  Now she's affectionate and hops on my lap for brushing and petting.  It just took a lot of time.  

Thank you betsygee - I'll try the brushing….but it's a little tricky, as she's typically under things that don't allow a lot of room….I'll just take comfort in the fact that she does purr and seems to want to be loved, just having problems putting the thoughts into action….

Catie said:

 
Thank you betsygee - I'll try the brushing….but it's a little tricky, as she's typically under things that don't allow a lot of room….I'll just take comfort in the fact that she does purr and seems to want to be loved, just having problems putting the thoughts into action….

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We had that problem, too.  When Hannah would venture out--she hid under a couch we have--I'd have a brush in my hand, and just let her sniff it.  She was okay with that, so then I'd try to gently brush her side or something.  She liked it, for short bits of time.  It was a slow process but it worked for us.  Let us know how you all do.  

I'll try that brush introduction….will keep you all informed….thank you so much!!!

Hi All -

Just a quick update for the kind people who provided such good advice.  

It is a day short of Week 2 being under our belts, and our cat was pretty good this past week.  She came out from hiding and was a purring machine.  She asked for pats, did cute little "hello" meows and even laid down on her back right beside me.  It was all good….

The biggest issue is that when my husband returned last night from a week-long trip away, she seemed to regress.  She's back to being under things, and doesn't even seem to want to have anything to do with me (let alone him)….I guess we're back to Square One (again).

We're having furniture delivered this coming Friday and Saturday, and are having a day-long construction project done the following week (we're having our closets redone, so probably hammering, and definitely a lot of men's clumpy boots in the house).  I'm afraid she's going to really lose it with the construction, as it will be taking over most of the house (albeit for a day).  The plan for the construction phase is to just put her in a large carrier (dog sized) for the day.  Not perfect, but better than having her run loose and get into trouble (or run away).

Am I doing the right thing by this animal?  I feel like every time she starts to settle, she gets disrupted….I know the shelter thought we'd be able to give her the best shot at normalcy, but now I'm not so sure.  If she did live her life with a solitary old woman, then maybe she needs another situation like that?  It's just the 2 of us, and we're pretty quiet, but the first month and a half of her existence with us will be fraught with a fair amount of change, I'm afraid….

Anyway, probably just early morning angst, but if anyone is reading, I'd appreciate some feedback (even of the "brutally honest" variety).

Thank you -

Cate

Sounds like Olivia. She is getting more and more comfortable of being out and about, but once in a while see likes to retreat to under my bed.

You know, it still hasn't been that long of a time that she's been with you.  If you think about it, she spent 7 years, right, with her first 'mom' and it's only been a month with you so far.  Give it some time, it sounds like she's made great progress.   Do you have a room you can shut her in during the construction so she has a little more space for the day?  If not, a carrier is a good idea so she won't get scared and get out or something.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement….just what I needed….And Betsygee - she's only been with us for 13 days, so I guess I shouldn't be expecting too much too soon….baby steps, as they say….

And unfortunately, we're having ALL of our closets rebuilt, so there's nowhere for her to go, but we do have a very large carrier (built like a normal sized cat carrier, only LARGE, not a cage), so the aim will be to get her in there for the construction day.

I really do believe she'll be a good companion - we just all have to get over this initial hump together….

Thank you again kittendaddy and bestygee - you have no idea how helpful your comments have been!!

Catie

Hi i just read your post, I haven't been on in a few weeks. A few years ago I took in an adult cat and she stayed hidden almost two months. She later became our biggest cuddled(RIP DAISY, I've posted about her several times).
I'm so glad you took her in, very sweet.

Thank you Asherdash, I really appreciate your story….tonight our little Tosca came out as I was washing the dinner dishes, and squeaked her meow at me, then ran under the bed again….I just have to believe that this will all work out….

Catie said:

 
Thank you all for your words of encouragement….just what I needed….And Betsygee - she's only been with us for 13 days, so I guess I shouldn't be expecting too much too soon….baby steps, as they say….

And unfortunately, we're having ALL of our closets rebuilt, so there's nowhere for her to go, but we do have a very large carrier (built like a normal sized cat carrier, only LARGE, not a cage), so the aim will be to get her in there for the construction day.

I really do believe she'll be a good companion - we just all have to get over this initial hump together….

Thank you again kittendaddy and bestygee - you have no idea how helpful your comments have been!!

Catie

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Luckily, the construction is only for one day!  We took in some elder cats after a friend died last year.  They were ill and not used to us, and we had construction going on (a new roof and other things) for several days.  Poor cats.  After a few days, I had to call a halt to the construction to give the cats a break for a few days so they could settle in and calm down.  The construction guys thought I was crazy (you know "they're just cats!") but I'm glad I did it.  They needed a few days of peace and quiet!

I'm glad to hear Tosca came out for a bit last night--as you say, baby steps!