# Scaredy-cat won't settle in



## ghostie (Oct 13, 2008)

We adopted a 6 year old cat almost 2 weeks ago. She was very reluctantly rehomed by her owners who had had her since she was rescued as a kitten. 

She has always been a nervous cat but since she came to our house she has very rarely come out of hiding. We tried to keep her in one room for the first couple of days until she snuck out and now spends most of her time hiding under the sofabed upstairs. If I sit with her she will now come out after about 5 minutes of encouragement to say hello and let me stroke her but will very quickly go back to her safe place, especially at any noise.

I'd really like some advice about the best thing to do to help her settle. Should we put her back into a more secure and quiet safe room and start again? HELP!


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## ErbslinTrouble (Sep 1, 2008)

She might just need a little more time. Depending on the envirnment she was in before she might have some serious memories of things that worried her. How long has she been with you now in the new place? Do you have food and water for her in her 'safe' room under the sofabed? as well as a litter tray. is her litter tray in a quiet place? have you tried some of the Feliway products? some of these can really help. but I think it depends on your situation, some people swear by it and others say they didn't notice much of a result. I personally have had good results with it. I also have a timid one. she's just moved her about 5 weeks ago, she's 10mths old. We found locking off the areas that she hid in when we were home so she could get used to the 'frequented areas' with all the noises we make helped. for instance she would hide under the bed so we would tempt her out with toys and treats and then once she was out we put a lot of stuff under there to keep her from going under. she then found other places in the house that weren't so far from us. the more she was with us and around the more she comes out. We make our feeding times regular as well so she has a routine. This helps her have something she can depend on and can help with nerves. She then associates us with food and play. Maybe these might be things you would want to try? It's not easy i know but with older cats they might have a little more memories of things that weren't very pleasant for them than a kitten might so will be a little more reluctant to come out at first. My ex husbands cat took about 3 weeks to finally come and sit on the sofa with us. Now he can't get her off!!! lol


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## ghostie (Oct 13, 2008)

Thanks for that Steph. That's very helpful. She's been with us for almost 2 weeks now.

The room she's hiding in isn't a 'safe room' as such - although I guess it is for her! Her food, litter etc are downstairs and she does come down to eat and use the tray, mostly at night but a little more during the day these days (although she runs off to hide when she sees us).

I was considering putting her into a very quiet safe room for a while with everything she needs there. But the only quiet room is so quiet that it won't really get her used to having to deal with us or any action at all! So not sure what to do.


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## rottiesloveragdolls (Nov 2, 2007)

*Welcome to the forum 
If i were you i would just let her do her own thing for a while. you mentioned she has always been a nevous cat!  she needs to know you love her  sit in the room with her a little while with nibbles of her fav food sort of ignore her but with the nibbles put them down for her to see to get her to come out to eat them, as she gets more daring then each time put the nibbles closer to you, talk softly to her i dont mean for you to do this in just 1 day, it could take weeks for her to get to know you and her new surroundings, its all about trust,  and lots of TLC  feliway is very good.*


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## draculita (Jun 15, 2008)

Yes I agree. She could take weeks to settle..... but im sure she will. I find playtime helps, a bit of string or pipe cleaners made into spiders.


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## Selk67U2 (May 5, 2008)

*Nothing extra to add really, I agree with the above posts*


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## vinny (Oct 13, 2008)

She/he will come around. Sit in the floor with a nice can of tuna. I'd settle down for tuna.


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