progress???

I first posted about a month ago when I adopted my cat, Kenley. She is a stray who hung around my house for four months before I finally gave in (my neighbor fed her but she always stayed at my house . Anyway, i;ve had her for about a month now. The vet says she's in good health and about a year old. My question is this: when she first came inside she was confined to my bedroom where she adopted underneath the bed as her home. Since then I have made a point of having the bedroom door open anytime I'm home. I used to think she was just nervous, but she still prefers under the bed to anywhere else in the house. Within the past week or so she actually came out and layed on the couch with me for about 5 minutes, but then the front door opened and she took off. I understand that some cats just aren't very cuddly and that's fine if it's just part of her personality, but how so I make sure she isn't actually very uneasy or scared of me or her living arrangement? I'm not sure how to make that distinction pLeAsE give me advice on how to calm my scared kitty (if she is???)


Shannon and Kenley

Really just leave her be. Don't peer at her in her hidey hole, or try and drag her out from under the bed. Once she understands that the pressure is off of her, she will come out. You can try sprinkling some catnip in the carpet of the room toward the door and then just leave. If you hear her out, don't make a big deal about it. She will be watching you like a hawk and the more you ignore her (other than see to her needs) the easier she will have of it.

Yup. Cats hate being ignored. Ignoring a cat is actually the best way to get them interested.

The fact that she came to sit by you is a great sign. Just give her more time. She has established under the bed as her safe area, so will use that to hide when scared. But she will slowly get more comfortable in the rest of the house. Just give her time!