New cat hiding in the house

Factual Questions
1

This may not be as much of a GQ as a GR (General Reassurance).

I brought home a new cat from a shelter yesteday. He has spent all of his time hiding, although I managed to get him out of my coat closet and into the kitchen where his food, water and litter box are.

From what I’ve read online, it seems that he (working name Casey) will come out on his own time. I shouldn’t try to force him out from his comfortable spot should I?

I’m keeping my kitchen door closed for the time being until I notice him wandering around in there. Strangely enough, I have not heard the cat mew once.

He seems like a nice enough cat. Short hair, lynx point, neutered male, adult. (1 1/2 years old). I remember the experience though when I brought home my previous cat (about 13 years ago). She was in my face immediately and was always pretty sociable. But I know some cats aren’t. Although he might want to come out from behind the stove. Especially if I have to cook something because he might find that uncomfortably warm.

2

Yep, just let him be. Hiding is perfectly normal kitty behavior when introduced to new surroundings. When I brought Pepper home, she hid for three days straight before venturing out to begin exploring. He’ll be fine, just give him time.

3

I didn’t expect the shelter to let me take him home right away so I didn’t have any cat stuff at home. So at least when he hid right away, I could go out and buy bowls and a litter box.

The shelter said he had just been dropped off earlier in the day so he obviously had a busy day.

4

We brought a cat home from a shelter once. He was an older cat whose owner had gone into a nursing home. He hid in the basement, and we never did find him.

I’m serious. He didn’t get out through a door – he was a large cat and couldn’t have slipped out unnoticed. The only outside egress was through the fireplace chimney, the opening where the ashes landed. We never used the fireplace, and I hope if he did hide there, that he managed to crawl all the way up and out. Poor scared kitty.

Our cats hid for a couple of days after we moved to this house. One of them in the basement rafters, and one in a dresser drawer.

5

Hiding for a few days is normal. You’ll probably notice the food disappearing even though you don’t see the cat.

6

So even though he’s hiding in the kitchen and not coming out, should I still keep the door to the kitchen closed so he doesn’t hide somewhere else?

7

I would keep it open, and let him explore when he’s ready. If he decides he wants to hide somewhere else, that’s probably a good thing; it means he’s moving about the house.

8

I must admit that the fact he’s hiding doesn’t make me too worried about leaving him alone while I go to work for a few hours. I doubt he’s going to “miss” me.

9

Nothing to be worried about, IMO. I once looked after a friend’s cat while he was on vacation. I felt sorry for it all on its own for most of the day, so brought it home with me, and installed it in the spare room with litter tray, food and so on. The poor little thing was so freaked out that it just stood in the corner of the room, facing the wall, for three days. I suppose that this was as “hidden” as it could get, since there was little furniture in the room. After a week or so, however, it was happily venturing around the house, and eventually ended up beating up my own cat, who is about three times its size.

10

AuntiePam, that’s just plain weird.

11

I’m just amazed at the nooks and crannies he can find to hide in.

As a followup, let’s say by Wednesday that Casey (the cat’s name) is still in seclusion in his feline Fortress of Solitude. I had an appointment to take him to the vet that day. If he’s not coming out on his own, should I try to go and get him or should I wait until he’s ready. I can’t imagine he’s going to enjoy a trip to the vet all that much more.

12

If you wait for a cat to indicate its willingness – let alone enthusiasm – for a trip to the vet, you’ll wait forever. You’re not going to traumatize it permanently by stuffing it into a box and taking it to get shot with needles – but he’ll probably start warming to you when you save him from the ideal by bringing him home again.

Totally normal that he’s hiding – my cat hid for a day and a half when I moved into this house, and he knew me, and recognized the furniture. I’ll cast another vote for leaving the kitchen door open and letting him explore as he’s comfortable.

13

Um, “ordeal,” not “ideal” in the first paragraph.

14

I had a shelter cat go into hiding for over a week…we knew he was around because the cat food would get eaten. Though I recall it being a few days before we saw evidence that he was eating anything.
Anyhow, I finally got tired of having an invisible cat. I crawled around in the basement until I found him jammed way under an old clawfoot bath tub. I pulled him out by his tail (gently mind you) and carried him upstairs. I held onto him for about an hour and wouldn’t let him disappear again. Then he warmed up, realised we weren’t going to turn him into cat casserole and became a very sociable and affectionate cat.

15

Definitely. Since then, whenever we’ve brought a new cat or kitten into the house, I make sure that he doesn’t have access to anyplace where he might have trouble getting himself out – like openings around vents and pipes, under the kitchen sink, behind the lazy susan, etc.

Cats can squeeze into the tiniest places!

16

Try luring him out with tuna. Just a tiny bit, mind you.

17

We’ve made progress. Casey has turned around and faced the other direction behind the stove.

I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do when I want to use the oven? I would assume that would bother him. I don’t want to torment the animal.

18

I broke my cat in by locking it in my bedroom. The cat hide for days untill one day I abruptly woke up to it playing “Attack Kitty” on my big toe that just happened to be barely sticking out of the covers. :mad:

:smiley:

19

When I brought my kitten home (from the barn at the farm), she hid underneath the living room couch for a couple of days. She must have ventured out when I was away, because the food & water got eaten.

About the second day, as I was sitting in my recliner reading, I noticed that she had climbed up onto the couch, and was sitting on the far corner, looking at me. I didn’t move, just spoke to her, and kept on reading. She eventually moved along the couch, closer & closer to me. By the end of the evening she was probably within arms reach, if I had tried to reach her. But I didn’t, just spoke to her but let her be.

That night (or the next morning, actually), I awoke to find that during the night she had come upstairs into my bedroom, and was sleeping curled up on the foot of my bed. She spent much of that day exploring and following me around. I tried putting down treats, she wouldn’t take them from my hand, but if I put one down she would come to eat it as soon as I was just out of reach.

The next night, when I went up to bed, she followed me upstairs. Once I was in bed, under the covers, she jumped up onto the foot of the bed, looked right at me, and prepared to find a comfortable spot to sleep. I decided to try a treat, and she came right up onto my chest to eat one. That set quite a precedent; now every night, I have to give a treat as soon as I get under the covers. I’m not allowed to go to sleep until I do.

Don’t worry about the hiding. He’ll come out when he feels safe enough to do so. And then he’ll proceed to take ownership of the house!

P.S. Do you have a cat carrier? Put that out in the kitchen, as a safe place for him to hide. Or take a cardboard box, cut a 4" square hole for an entrance, and put an unwashed towel or blanket in the bottom of it. He will probably adopt that as his very own space.

20

One more thought - catnip? If he’s the sort of cat who gets drunk with joy over the stuff, it might be a useful tool.