help – new addition to family is hiding for 2 weeks now!

You might want to confine her to one room with food, water and a litter box till she gets use to the house. Of course you need to find her.

Poochi7, you’ve already gotten some very good advice. The trick will be to get Snowy down and into a smaller, confined area to give you both the time to develop a better relationship of trust.

If she was stray or spent a lot of time on the streets, I’m not at all surprised that she’s hiding, full-time, in your house full of barking dogs. Stop and think what barking dogs are, to an outdoor stray… they’re excited, dangerous, and something to GET AWAY FROM! So Snowy’s trying to get away, but she can’t. So she’s just hiding as hard as she can, somewhere the dogs can’t get to her. From her point of view, she’s doing exactly what’s helped her survive outdoors.

Have you taken any steps to train your dogs to bark less? I know when one dog barks, it can set the rest of them off… but having them bark less will probably help your new cat adjust better.

In addition, if you can help ensure that the basement is somewhere the dogs don’t go, that will give her an area where she will feel safer. Do you spend much time in the basement? Do your cats spend much time in the basement?

In the rest of the house, do you have cat furniture or areas where the cats can get up high, away from the dogs? Her very first instinct, with the dogs, for a very long time will be to get away from them – even after you spend time with her in an enclosed room, to develop a relationship of trust.

When she’s confined to that room, after a few days or weeks, you might be able to bring in your most cat-safe dog (the one meekest, oldest, and/or most patient with cats, and least likely to snap back if the cat takes a swipe at its snout), to meet Snowy. However, keep in mind that your dog will need to be on a very short lead, and Snowy will probably not react well. Patience and repetition will be needed, in large supply.

(As much routine and predictable behavior as possible is needed right now, for Snowy to understand her new family.)

Is Snowy deaf? What color are her eyes? If she is deaf, that could add an additional layer of work to develop trust. (Even if she’s deaf, she can certainly pick up the vibrations in the air, when the dogs bark.)

Last, if it turns out that she’s not adjusting well to the rest of your family within 4-6 months, what will you do?

Not knowing the experiences prior to coming to live with the vet AND the possibility that she hadn’t truly adapted to the dogs while there, maybe makes her feel in her new environment, more unsure than we can perceive. Different dog smells, different people smells, new cat smells. All overwhelming to say the least. Routine and patience with my 4 feral kittens seemed to work out over a period of 7 or 8 mos. Nothing worked out overnight but with love and perserverance we all won in the end. What if you removed just a few of the ceiling tiles every couple of days? My husband suggests that when all else fails…SALMON…should help speed up the process. My instincts say be cautious where the dogs are concerned..One mishap could undo much positive progress. God Bless you for your kindness and generous spirit.

poochi7 keep us posted.. it sounds like you have a great little furry family!

Any chance that you could get a have a hart trap with some very smelly tuna inside to catch this kitty? Because I agree with all of the other helpful suggestions that the best thing is to have Snowy confined to one room and slowly introduce het to her new world.

We took in a feral some years back that appeared to be friendly but when taken into the house did the exact same thing, hiding for two weeks within the basement walls. The have a hart capture worked!

Good luck and great job being patient with Snowy, she will come around…

If it is any consolation, all cats come around at last to loving people. A friend of mine adopted an abused feral cat that was very fearful. It took two (TWO) solid years, but in the end, that cat thought my friend was his mommy and her husband was his daddy. Bearclaw turned out to be a loving and affectionate baby, but because of his past it took a while.

My Ruggles was a feral, abandoned in a winter field and starving to death when he was finally rescued. After the first couple of months that he lived with me, he became very loving and affectionate. However, it took him a full 18 months to climb into my lap.

Some cats have a lot to get over. Just make the house as quiet as possible, and let her come down to you on her terms, and she will be fine.

As I type this, Ruggles is sound asleep on his back on my bed, snoring softly, and making strange noises in his sleep. I think he must still be dreaming of his rough kittenhood. When I leaned over to scratch his belly, he woke up, blinked at me, purred loudly, and fell back to sleep.

Just takes some loving, honey, and some quiet. You might ban the dogs from the basement and see what happens. They have to stay away from your new cat for her to get her bearings and decide that she likes living with you. It’s no fun to do this to your sweet doggies, but Snowy is the new, scared little girl in your house and she needs some quiet time. She deserves that.

You’re going to have to be the disciplinarian with your dogs — they are pack animals and they will welcome the presence of authority, or they will vote themselves as the Runners of the House.

Much love, and keep us in the loop.

Auntie Emma

This is wonderful news, Bobby. I am so happy for you and Snowy. Way to hang in there and let her approach you at her own pace!