Try to create an open and safe place for your kitty so they can adjust to their new surroundings.Įven with people, a little positive encouragement can go a long way! Maybe you can entice your kitty to come out by tempting them with a new toy. No matter how familiar a cat is with their environment, they will always want to know where the nearest escape route is! If your new kitty has taken to hiding, be sure to leave doors open and never block the exits to a room. Once they feel safe and a little braver, your kitty should start to come out and explore and begin marking the house - and you - with their scent to establish that “Yes… This is my house and you are my human!” That is mine… and that over there will be mine as soon as I make it clear that this is mine.”Ĭats will even mark their favorite people with their foreheads - also known as “the head-butt” - while furniture and other inanimate objects are usually marked with the sides of their cheeks and their chins. Cats have scent glands in a variety of locations - primarily on their forehead, cheeks and chin - and they will rub against things to mark territory with their own scent. How will know they believe this is their new home? Well, they will mark their territory. Give them time to understand that they are safe and this is their home. It may even smell like another cat or a dog, who may not even be there anymore. Remember, cats are very territorial, so they will feel a little unsettled until they believe this is their home! It doesn’t look like “home,” and more importantly for your new kitty, it doesn’t smell like home. To establish their territory, cats will rub their scent on things in the home. This will only make them withdraw tighter into that corner. Don’t crouch on the floor, reaching under the sofa in an effort to drag them out. If your new kitty wants to hide, let them hide. Just be patient and give them time to adjust to their surroundings. If your new kitty is hiding it’s important to understand this is normal. So now what? What can you do to calm and comfort your cat, and assure them that it’s safe enough for them to come out from under the furniture? While it didn’t seem like the most logical place, our precious Queen Kitty Kitty hides under the dog’s bowl when she was first introduce to him. They were “home.” They knew they were safe and they knew of all sorts of places where they could hide if they felt threatened. At the shelter - like at the Humane Society of the Nature Coast - they probably lived among a family of other kitties and they were familiar with the faces of shelter staff members who provided food and attention. When you met your new kitty at the shelter, they were in familiar territory. Well, don’t worry! For a kitty in a new or unfamiliar environment, hiding is a healthy and completely normal reaction. Now you’re asking: What happened to that super-affectionate bundle of fur I adopted after our super-cuddly Meet-and-Greet at the shelter just yesterday? Why is my new cat hiding from me? You have imagined how wonderful it would be, just snuggling with your new fur baby and spending long, special hours together… but as soon as you get home your new fur baby has tucked itself tight into the corner, under the sofa, and it won’t come out. You bought the toys, the bed, the adorable bowls and the gorgeous new collar complete with an engraved name-tag. So, you finally adopted that precious kitty you’ve been dreaming about for so long. Until out Little Bit was familiar with her new home, she would hide is baskets.
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