Animal Welfare Professionals

My wife and I adopted a 3 year-old neutered male cat who was rescued from the Camp Fire in Paradise, CA last year.  We have no clues as to his background history, other than he was housed in 3 different shelters prior to our adopting him.  We are discouraged because we have had him for over 2 weeks and he still hides all day and refuses to interact with us.  We have never mistreated or spoken sharply to him and have spent hours on the floor, petting and talking to him in his hiding places and giving him treats, which he will accept.  He lives being brushed and petted, when we can reach him, and will roll over, purr, and act happy, but he refuses to come out of hiding and expose himself, except for a few times when he has bolted from one hiding place to another.  He does not have a mean bone in his body, but he is just frightened of everything.  We don't want to give up on him because he is a sweet cat and we feel he is worth saving, but are getting more discouraged every day.  Please, no admonitions to consult a vet or "pet therapist", but any other advice would be sincerely appreciated.  Thank you all in advance.

Ah, It's Erica again. I didn't read your post well enough. Your cat is doing really well! For two weeks after being in the fire (I live about 70 miles from Paradise) and he's letting you give him treats and letting you pet him at all! You have a loving cat there! Do not give up! He'll come out and you will be petting and loving for years to come. Congratulations. AND thank you for adopting him!!!!!!!!!!!!! You too are the lucky one.

Bless you for giving that poor boy a home!! He is clearly traumatized. You mentioned that he runs from hiding spot to hiding spot. I would go back to Square 1 of introducing a cat to a new environment: Establish Base Camp. That would be to give him a small "cave" (such as a carrier or box with holes) in a confined area (like a small room) or bathroom. As he feels more comfortable, he will come out on his own and re-establish territory. I would offer him plenty of scratching pads and multiple litter boxes placed apart from each other, to use as scent soakers. I would also use Feliway-type diffusers and floral essences.  And I don't know if this is allowed or not, but please visit (and hopefully join) The Cat Site. com and look up Jcatbird-she is having phenomenal success in rehabilitating extremely difficult cases that include adult ferals abused by neighbors and stray hurricane survivors - cats for whom home suddenly wasn't safe and they narrowly escaped death. She can be reached via the forums or by private message. She has a very long blog (over 150 pages!) but you can chime in anywhere & get the jist of what I'm talking about : https://thecatsite.com/threads/my-feral-and-rescued-cats.365435/page-147#post-4925302

Hi SierraAutumnGirl,

Sharing resources is always good! Thanks for the tip!

Just be patient and give him all the time he needs. He will probably never come completely out of his shell. Please love him on his terms. Thank you for taking him!

Agreed, patience, patience,patience.  Two weeks isn't very long.  A friend recently posted her calico had just,for the first time, sar in her lap, after having ger for three years.   When patience is hard to find, remember you are doing this for him/her, not for you,  and it sounds like this scared kitty has the potential to be very appreciative.  On a more practical note, the cat MAY gain more confidence with the companionship of a stable confident cat. but he/she may be afraid of other cats as well.  Perhaps you could speak with a local rescue group to find out what they think.  Thanks for what you are doing.

I'd like to second (third, fourth?) about giving him more time. I know it's hard, you just want him to integrate and become a part of the family. But like you said, you have no idea what he's been through prior. Cats are territorial, and not only was one disrupted by fire (I'm assuming), but he's also been shuffled through three different shelters. That's a lot for him to take on. I also second establishing "basecamp" as SierraAutumnGirl mentioned. Super important. You can even use a blanket or towel that he's willing to lay on in his deemed "safe space" and once he has his smell on it, place it somewhere else in the room - somewhere he can still feel safe, but in another part of the room - slowly expanding his world. Also, if you can use a wand toy to get him interested, this can also help builds his confidence. Moments of catnip, pets, treats, his smell in various places, and whatever he finds "Interesting" to play with, will all help him come out of his shell. You can also try Bach's Remedy for Pets (the pet version, without alcohol) that may help ease anxieties. It works on some, and others it doesn't. It all depends on their chemistry/what's causing their behavior. I know it might be a little hard, but you adopted him to give a home he could feel safe in - provide that for him, on his terms as needed, in order to heal. It's much easier to adjust your expectations than to adjust his healing response. You can never rush recovery. I hope, in time, you will both get what you need if not want.

Thanks to all of you who hve responded.  I agree that patience is what it will take, and am prepared to do all that is necessary to bring Fat Louie around.  Yesterday, we converted my home office to his "safe room".  That way, when we have house guests later this month, he won't have to be bothered with their presence and they can utilize the bathroom where we originally had him.  In addition, I can go in and talk to him from time to time as I go about my normal daily routines.  He has had the run of most of the house for the past few days -- unfortunately we did not know to keep him confined to one room when we first brought him home -- and some of his hiding spots were pretty accessible to me, so I could lie on the floor, pet him, and give him treats.  I almost thought he was going to come out two days ago, but he has not.  He found a hide in his new safe room that was so good that we looked for him all day yesterday and didn't find him until evening.  When I finally found him, he didn't seem afraid -- enjoyed petting and more treats -- but still would not come out.  I think that now he's ensconced in his new room -- still has the run of the house -- that his confidence will increase.  He is beginnning to eat like a horse, and I think that's a good sign.  We did try the Feliway spray, with very little effect, and I got some of the Bach flowers pet's formula yesterday and put some in his water -- we'll see if that helps.  I'll keep you posted on Louie's progress.  Again, thank you all!