New cat always hiding: Is this normal?

Factual Questions
1

We got a new female cat 1 week ago. The cat is pretty nice, but she is always hiding in small spaces. We got her mainly for my tween-aged daughter, but I’m a cat person as well, and we are both a bit bummed about the situation.

Some facts: She is 1 years old, and before we got her, she had some kittens, which were given away, and then she was spayed. She was with the “cat rescue lady” for about 3 weeks before we got her.

She seems very scared. Every noise startles her (dishes in the kitchen, doors closing, etc). She sometimes comes and sits on the couch next to us, and we pet her and she purrs, but she looks very restless, and in a couple of minutes leaves and goes and hides.

Only twice did she stay on the couch long enough to fall asleep for an hour or so.

The previous tenants of the house we are in had a couple of dogs. Is it possible that there is a lingering dog smell in the house, which she smells and it makes her scared?

The lady that we got the cat from had said that she is a very cuddly cat and loves people, so the behavior we are seeing is unexpected. Also we have had cats in the past, and none behaved like this.

My guesses as to what might be going on:
[ul]
[li]Being in a new house makes her scared (how long does it take to get used to a new house?)[/li][li]The lingering dog smell makes her scared.[/li][li]She is simply a “scaredy cat” and this is her character and she will always be like this.[/li][li]She doesn’t like human companionship much (compared, for example, with our previous cats who would come and sit on our laps and love to stay there and be petted)[/li][li]Other?[/li][/ul]

Any insights? Is this something that we just need to wait out, or will she likely always be like this?

2

Hard to be sure, since it’s dependent on the cat’s personality, but it’s not unusual for a cat to be scared – they’re in a new environment and have no idea what safe and what’s not. The dog smell only makes it more disturbing.

After a time, the cat will probably be a bit less afraid, though it also may stay that way.

3

Things will probably get better with some time. The fact that she comes up on the couch is a good sign. With love and patience she’ll be a lap cat in no time. Maybe. It’s oly been a week after all.

4

Especially when there are other cats in the house (which I realize is not your situation) it is normal to confine the new cat to a single room for the first week or even longer, with you stopping in to visit. It may be that a whole entire new house is a bit much to take in at once.

We recently got a new cat who literally cowered behind the toilet most of his first week, but is now pretty much an in-your-face lovemuffin.

Be sure to give the cat opportunities to play as well as to cuddle. Some of them like to interact through playing more than through getting petted.

5

Yeah, I would give her some more time. She was with the Rescue Cat Lady 3 weeks - I would give her at least that many weeks to get used to you.

6

I inherited a male cat from my sister. He was pretty freaked out from us collecting him from her apartment and the first week or so the only sign that he was alive was his little poopies in the litter box. We never saw him. After a couple of weeks he started making brief appearances and they increased over time. While he’s still pretty jumpy almost a year later he’s very friendly and lets my 6 year girls pet him and even pick him up (a big step for this cat).

7

How about bribery>
My roommates cat would sit on my lap if I ate dried (stinky )cuttlefish.

8

Some cats hide for a while when they go to a new home. One of my current cats retreated to a small alcove in the den, and he apparently emerged to eat, drink, and use the litter box for about a month to six weeks. He gradually emerged, at first he just hung around the room where his alcove, food, water, and litter box was. He’d allow us to pet him, but he didn’t want to venture into the rest of the house. I went into the room, and read him the newspaper. I didn’t think that he wanted to know what was happening in the world, he just liked to hear someone talk. These days, he has staked out various spots in the house as his…for instance, if my husband sits down in his recliner, Shadow jumps up and snuggles on Bill’s left leg. Bill’s right leg belongs to the Siamese girl, Sapphire. And the footstool belongs to the third cat, Charly.

I’ve heard that some cats take a few months to get adjusted to a new home. However, most cats don’t take nearly that long. An offering of tuna juice or gooshyfood might help your kitty find the courage to come out of her hiding spot.

Cats are excellent mothers, and generally don’t like having their kittens taken away, even if it’s best for the kittens to be adopted when they’re pretty young. So she might also be still missing her babies.

9

My WAG is that your previous cats were well socialized since kittenhood, and that your New Cat has perhaps not had that benefit.

A 1-year-old cat is on the young side to be having kittens. Was she a feral…? semi-feral…? before she was taken in by the Cat Rescue Lady and then by you? If she was living by her own wits for a while before Cat Rescue Lady got her at a shelter…? took her in off the streets…? then she likely had to be wary simply to survive, let alone breed and take care of a litter.

One thing about cats is, they need a lot of time to adjust to changes. A LOT. They are creatures of routine.
[ul]
[li]It’s possible that your New Cat will one day be a snuggly lap cat like your previous kitties. [/li][li]It’s possible that your New Cat will be - like my two kitties - very affectionate and loving, wanting to be petted, but not actually want to BE in your lap (mine will come sit next to me on the couch, lay by my feet while I nap, follow me from room to room etc. but laps are just not where they want to be). [/li][li]It’s also possible that your New Cat will never be the least bit affectionate … but I kinda doubt it. [/li]Most cats eventually come around, in their own way. Most cats do like human companionship, on their own terms.
[/ul]

Give it time. New Cat may have been through who knows what trauma before finding a happy home with you. Treat her like a war vet with PTSD, and be patient.
Also, do not underestimate the power of food to warm a cat’s heart. :wink: One of my cats went from being a never-seen ninja (like some other Dopers posting earlier) rescued off the streets to the giant snugglebug purring next to me on the couch, thanks to the magic of canned Friskies. Potent magick, those cans of Friskies!

10

The cat’s not hiding she’s finding place that feel “safe” to her. Once she gets used to the layout and knows exactly where she is and where she can run to she’ll gradually come out more.

One thing to encourage her is to make a very high place for her to sit. Cats love high places. I used to have a group of shelves. I made the top shelf for the cat. She’d jump from the floor, to the dresser, to the filing cabinet to the top shelf. Then she’d be up 7 feet high and felt safe and she could scope out the whole room at once.

We had the rule no one is ever to touch the cat when she’s on the top shelf. Worked like a charm, the cat got used to going on the top shelf and she made it her “safe place,” and love it.

Also get baby blankets. Cats love the felt like quality of them and they are cheap. You can get them at garage sales. Put down the baby blanket, the cat sleeps on it, and you just toss it in the wash when it gets full of cat hair and replace it with a new clean one

11

You should know by now that pictures are mandatory. :wink:

12

This is very true. I have a male cat (about 2 years old) that had been abandoned in the apartment complex I lived in. When I moved to a new complex I took him (and the cat I already had) in at my new place. He lived on top of our cabinets for the first week and then slowly moved to the top of the fridge. I then got a 7 ft tall cat tower and put it in the living room so he could look over everything that was going on with out having to be “in” it. He was very stand offish for about a month or two and then slowly came around. About 2 years later and he was a pushy, affectionate lap kitty. This may never happen with your cat, but being patient and understanding can go a long way and sometimes it just takes time.

13

We have several baby blankets scattered around the house. Some are cheap fleece storebought ones, and some are just knitted acrylic ones that I’ve made to keep my hands busy. Mostly, these blankets are on the top shelf of various bookshelves, though one is on top of the dryer.

14

It sounds like she may have started out as a feral cat. If that’s the case, she’s been conditioned to look for hiding spots. Since you say her previous human said she is a cuddly cat, she probably just needs time to settle into her new home. Even my Tiger who has always been around people tried to hide in a radiator when I first brought her home.

The best thing to do is to let her do her thing and wander out when she feels like it. Try to avoid having your daughter (or anyone else) track down the cat - it may make her (the cat) feel like she’s being hunted and reinforce her behavior.

Some cats can be bribed with treats while others just need to come around in their own time.

15

I used to have a cat very much like this. Very, very skittish. It took years for her to become more comfortable around the house, and even then sudden movement or noise would send her bolting. She did, however, come to see my room as some kind of sanctuary. If we were ever unsure where she were hiding, the first place we looked was my room.

Long story short, go out of your way to avoid startling your cat, and I think eventually (s)he’ll become more comfortable in your home.

16

When I got a 2-year-old cat, she acted like this at first, hiding in a hollow space behind the couch for a couple weeks.

This may sound a little silly. I used to sit on the floor next the couch, in her sight if she wanted to peek, and sing and talk to her. I also put one little fish-flavored cat treat next to the couch opening when i sat down there. When she started sticking her head out, to eat the treat, I would talk to her more. When she stepped out of the hiding place, I used to brush her hair (she really liked this as her skin was itchy from stress). After the third week she started coming out of her hiding place when I walked in. The next week, she was walking around the room, and after almost 2 months, the whole house.

Edit: I don’t know if all this was really necessary, but it was fun and she seemed to like it :slight_smile:

17

Yeah, kitty doesn’t sound too odd to me - she’s just acclimatizing to the new surroundings. I’d keep on talking to her, paying attention to her, encouraging her (at her own pace), and just generally giving her time to get used to the idea that this is her safe new home.

I haven’t tried baby blankets, but what my cats particularly love is used dishcloths and washcloths (yeah, I know how gross that sounds, but the mustier the better for the little kitty weirdos). They rub all over them and sleep on them.

18

Just adding to the many replies that this seems like perfectly normal cat behavior to me. One of my cats lived with me in one place for about six years, and then we moved. She was a lump under the bed covers for a week or so, then I started seeing her around in various places every so often, and pretty soon she was walking around, sleeping in the middle of the floor, and acting quite normal.

One of my other cats, to this day, will dive under the couch pillows whenever strangers come into her part of the house. She looks and acts as if the devil himself is after her. But five or ten minutes after the strangers leave, she’s out and about and no one could tell that anything had ever been wrong.

19

Not to worry, you’re cat is cool. I had a cat that spent the first week in my apartment huddled next to the refrigerator motor, and the next week up in the transom of the back door (transom open, with a vertical screen like a window screen on the other side). Two weeks later he was very affectionate. But he was one of two, the other being more courageous. How many you have may make a difference.

20

Sounds like Piper Grace. Some cats are just shy. Piper’s about eight and she’s still insanely shy. You can’t approach her – she spends most of her days in the living room, hiding behind the sofa, or in her bed under the end table.

Piper’s deal is, if you’re sitting on the sofa or the love seat watching TV, she’ll come up behind you and purr, and want to be petted. Sometimes, you just have to let your cat come to you. She’s not a social butterfly, but she still wants attention. You just have to let HER initiate it. All cats are different.

(She will, however, follow you and cry if it’s dinner time. Oh, does she cry. “Piper the Pitiful”)