# Rescue cat still hiding after 4 months



## Francis Clarke (Mar 5, 2018)

Sorry, I imagine this topic has been covered a lot. But whenever I've been searching for advice it's often about cats that have been hiding for a week. I'm at my wit's end - I just googled 'do cats get postnatal depression'!

We adopted the lovely Francis and Gertrude in November. They're a mother and son, and the poor mites had been rescued from a rubbish dump (people are awful!). Francis was 8 months old when we got him, and Gerty is about 2. When we got them she was still breastfeeding him (poor girl...). Francis is now completely settled in and running the house, but Gerty just can't settle. Whenever we're in the house she hides behind the sofa, and often hisses at us if we try and approach her.

When we adopted them, the people at the rescue centre said she had been friendly. But the only sign I have of that is that _sometimes _(if I give her tonnes of Dreamies) she lets me stroke her, and will really lean into it. But there's no real progress on coming out...

I've tried everything: Feliway, lots and lots of dangly toys, pretending to ignore her, showering her with catnip, never entering her presence without a snack. We can see from our security camera that she romps around during the day, so I think she may just be really afraid of humans. 

Has anyone had experience of anything similar with rescue cats? Did they ever emerge? At the end of the day, she is healthy and happy (when we're not there), but I really hope that one day she will feel comfortable in our presence...

Sorry for the long post. *TL;DR: my rescue cat has been hiding for four months. Will she ever emerge!?*


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## Pepperpots (Apr 3, 2016)

I’ve found it often takes a very long time, but they do generally get there. I’m trying Zylkene with my highly anxious foster - might be worth a try?


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Don't approach her. Let her come around in her own time. If you leave her alone you are showing her that you can be trusted to listen to her when she tells you to stay away. You can sit by the sofa she is under and talk to her in a soft voice, but don't reach for her. You say she's let you pet her, that is huge progress. It takes as long as it takes for her to learn to trust. She has no reason to. She will.


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## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

What a wonderful thing you have done in rescuing these two unfortunate creatures. It’s great that Francis is so settled but I understand how you could worry about Gerty
The truth is , she may never be a confident cat but she IS safe and loved, and each tiny step she makes towards taming down will bring you incredible joy. 
Don’t stress, carry on as you are, try the Zylkene and enjoy!


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