New kitty hiding

I must need my head checked, lol, but I fell in love with this cat and had to bring her home. My daughters friend was giving this cat up because she said she had too many (she had this one and one other) I laughed... because now I have 5. Anyway, our new kitty is re-named Isis (her name was Ashley, but that is my daughters name so I had to change it) She actually responds quite well to Isis. She is sooooo beautiful! (in my opinion ) and such a sweetheart! How anyone could give her up I'll never know... she cuddled right up into my chest, and purred, and rubbed under my chin,lol.... Anyway I brought Isis home, she is half siamese, half something else. She is tortishell, kind of brindled color, orange and black, with amber eyes, but she has the physique of a siamese, very long and sleek, wedge shaped head, large ears, so elegant. She is ten months old and already spayed.... oh I just love this little girl so much! I had to tell someone! LOL
Ok, now that I've rambled for half a page, the problem is she is used to older children, my daughters age, and seems a little frightened of the noise my two younger children make. My youngest son sat with her calmly and petted her for a while after we brought her home and she loved it, but when he and his brother get playing around the house she just hides, and it is very difficult to find her! She like to get into dresser drawers, or hide in my bookcase in the narrow space between the tops of the books and the shelf, and right now she is in my closet somewhere and I can't find her for the life of me. At only ten months old she should be able to adapt to a slightly noisier household right? I guess I just want to spend time with her so much I wish she would stay out of hiding but I also know that many cats in a new home will hide out for the first few days and evntually come around.... My other cats don't seem to be aggressive towards her, so I'm grateful for that, but one of my girls promptly peed on the dresser that Isis was hiding in... I guess to make it smell like her again and not Isis. Hopefully that doesn't become a habit! I don't think it will though, Jasmine is very clean, I think it's just her way of letting Isis know she was here first. My big old furball Winston couldn't care less, as long as he still gets my pillow.... As soon as I can figure out how to post pics on here I will post some....

Congrats on your new addition.

Katie

I'm sure I'll get people on here that would slap me for this, but I'll tell you what I did for my boy Pookie.

Pookie was found in a woodpile at about 6 weeks old. The very adept gals at the HS had tried very hard to socialize him but when I walked in they said he was going to be put to sleep in a few minutes as he was "untamable." He hid. He hissed. He was terrified of noise, especially. But my daughter is disabled and VERY active and VEEEEEERY loud. Plus, we have an incredibly loud train 40 feet away.

So I tried a few things that didn't work and then I bought a harness and tie-out. I put a cat tree in the middle of the living room and a brand new kitty house that he could hide in against the wall. Every once in a while I'd move the feather kitty toy outside of the hiding place and he couldn't resist. He'd come out and I'd talk to him and eventually pet him. Whenever he'd hear something he'd run for cover, but could only go as far as his lead. Then he'd head for the little house. This became his safe place and the ONLY place he was allowed to hide - but a place that was in the living room and right smack in the middle of the noise and the action...our living room.

It took two weeks, but he became the sweetest guy and not afraid of noise or movement at all. I just made sure he had a safe place to hide where I could actually get to him (ie not under the dresser or the bed, etc.) and he got over it

Good luck with your new baby! I love the name, too!

Isis's behavior sounds pretty normal to me. You just have to be patient, and let her hide when she wants to. She'll probably adjust to the noise level, and, failing that, your kids will get older. JC used to have a real problem with kids, whom he treated with aggression. Now that our nephew has gone through puberty, he's accepted, and JC is making his peace with our niece, now eleven, and calmer than she used to be. My parents had a cat that had gone through a very traumatic experience - her owner was run over by a truck, the husband moved with the ten-year-old cat, and the cat kept coming "home" to look for her mommy. My parents, who lived across the street from Ginger's former home, took her in, with the widower's consent. She hid for almost 6 months, only venturing out at night to eat and use the litter box. One day she suddenly emerged, made friends with the dog (a catlover), and became an integral part of the family. She even managed to cope with my parents' move to another house. She died of old age in 1999, and is still sorely missed.