You open the carrier, and before you can say hello, your new cat is gone. There's a scramble and a flash of fur, and then nothing but the dark gap under the couch. If you get down on the floor, you might catch two eyes looking back at you.
It's easy to take that personally, especially after you've spent a week getting the place ready. A new cat that hides is usually just doing what cats do in an unfamiliar place. When something feels off, a cat slips out of sight instead of standing there waiting. Your home is full of sounds and smells that don't mean anything to it yet.
There's no fixed schedule for how long this lasts. Some cats poke around by the second evening. Others need weeks. Here's a rough sense of what the hiding often looks like as the days go by, and what tends to help.
The first night and the first few days
For now, the space under the couch is doing a job. It's small and covered, and your cat can take in the room from there without being seen. Pulling it out, however gently, takes that away and teaches it that the hiding spot doesn't hold up. Let it stay.
What helps more is making the area around it easy to live in. Put food and water within reach, and a litter box a little apart from both. Offer a couple of alternatives to the couch: the carrier with its door left open, or a cardboard box on its side with a thick blanket inside. If you can, keep the world small for a while. One quiet room is often easier for a nervous cat to figure out than a whole apartment. A bolder cat may be fine with more space.
Don't be surprised if you never see it eat. For the first few days — longer, with a shy cat — some cats only come out for food and the litter box once the house is dark and quiet. A very anxious cat may skip even that for the first day. Keep putting out fresh food and checking the box. If the food still hasn't been touched after that first day or so, call your vet.
A radio or the TV left on low can help, too. The sound covers noises your cat can hear but can't place. A steady murmur of voices gives it something ordinary to get used to.
The first week
This is usually when the urge to do something kicks in. You might sit by the couch calling its name, or lie on the floor with a flashlight just to check on it. Either one puts you at the center of your cat's attention — which is about the last thing a nervous cat wants.
It works better to be around without making a big deal of it. Bring a book or your laptop into the room and stay a while. Sit on the floor; you're a lot less imposing down there. Don't stare into the gap under the couch. Act like yourself. Tiptoeing and whispering can make a room feel tense, and a cat picks up on that. Your normal voice and normal footsteps tell it nothing here is wrong.
When your cat does come out, let it set the pace. Hold out a hand at its level and wait. If it walks past you to the food bowl and goes straight back under the couch, that still counts. A few treats in a bowl near where you usually sit can help, since they give your cat a reason to spend time close to you.
The second week and after
By now, a lot of cats have started to split their time. They still vanish when the doorbell rings, but they spend longer out in the room, especially in the evening. This is where an in-between spot helps: somewhere out in the room, close to where you sit, enclosed enough that your cat can tuck in and watch.
Cats are picky about where they rest. As far as its instincts go, a sleeping cat is an easy target, so it looks for somewhere quiet, away from the foot traffic of the house. Offer a mix — some up high, some tucked away. When your cat is resting in one of them, leave it be. A cat that learns it won't be bothered in its spots is more likely to come looking for you when it wants company.
For the longer run, set aside a quieter corner as your cat's own. Keep food, water, a litter box, a scratching post, and somewhere to rest there. Your cat should be able to come and go as it likes. When it's in there, everyone else in the house — people and other pets — should leave it alone.
At MENODORA, we designed the Nest Side for this in-between stage. It's a side table that sits next to the sofa, with a tabletop for your mug and a shelf below for a book or the remote. Built into it is a nest your cat can tuck itself into while you're right there in the room. It comes in Cream and Charcoal, and the Cream settles easily into a light, neutral living room.
If it's been several weeks
Every cat is on its own timeline. Some cats need several weeks before they feel settled in a new home, so a cat that's still cautious in week three isn't necessarily behind.
What's worth watching is which way things are moving. If your cat is out a little more each week, even slowly, it's adjusting. If several weeks have gone by and it still spends most of its time under the couch or the bed, and bolts whenever someone walks in, that looks more like a cat that is staying fearful than one that is settling in. That's when to pay closer attention.
Letting it come out on its own
The couch will probably stay part of your cat's routine for a while, and that's fine. The hiding spot is how it gets through the unfamiliar part. Each time it comes out and nothing bad happens, the room becomes a little more its own. Give it time. Let coming out be its idea.
If you're planning a living room with a shy new cat in mind, here's a closer look at the Nest Side in Cream, coming this fall.