Dealing with the shyest of cats
I recently adopted from a local shelter and now have an adorable but incredibly shy cat around. I know this is far from an outlier case though she does seem to be, from my experience, definitely more shy than the typical shy cat. She was apparently a stray that came to the shelter and they put her at about a year old, and it shows that she is not very used to humans at all. I totally understand it will likely take a good while for her to truly get comfortable and start warming up to this new environment as well as myself, but am wondering what other little things might be doable to help that process more.
She has decent vertical space to utilize, though about half of the house is not really catified in that sense quite yet, she has options. Since she is so timid she naturally sought whatever hiding spots she could and I have had to block off the back of the TV stand (never thought she would fit there but she found a way) and other than that should have no other areas that I couldn't reach her if need be. I've set up a good few spots for her to hide and sleep and do as she wills (including a couple forts) but she seems fairly apprehensive about using these places despite being just about the only places she can sort of hide in (she seems more willing to sit in what is just the corner of a room that is open on all sides rather than go anywhere else high up or cozy). She will come close to me when it's time for food but otherwise will very intentionally stay far away the rest of the time and is definitely not about human hands in any way, shape or form yet.
Without rambling on too much, what other things may be doable to help her along this process? I'm out of ideas for the time being as far as the little things go and just the passage of time.
Posted May 4, 2022, 1:56 AM UTC