It’s about Hour 93 since we brought The-Cat-Currently-Known-as-Cali home. She’s a rescue from a cat colony at the top of Aiea Heights. One of the people who feeds the cats up there has seen her for some time. She’s very friendly, and obviously had been someone’s cat. So he finally scooped her up, got her checked out, and saw that we were looking to adopt a cat or perhaps a pair of kittens. She is so friendly and sweet that we decided to bring Cali home.

Well, she has been mostly hiding under the futon in our small spare bedroom. She does come out to eat, drink, and attend to her bodily functions. I know because there’s evidence of each. Food disappears, the water level goes down in her bowl, and I have to scrape out the litter box. All systems are working. And she’ll let me bring her out from her under-the-futon comfort zone in order to properly pet her at least once or twice a day. But she’s happy under there, feels safe, and purrs loudly whenever I visit.

Just a few minutes ago, I paid her a visit, looked over the edge and she quickly appeared, purring. After a bit of petting, I reached down with my phone and snapped this photo of the two of us. It pretty much sums up the current situation.

I was a little worried that she was still mostly in hiding. But here’s some advice I found online at adoptapet.com.

Help! My new cat is hiding and won’t come out!
Posted by Jennifer on January 24th, 2011

kitten-hiding-in-shoeThere she is, under the bed, in the farthest darkest corner. Her eyes are round and big like twin yellow glowing moons, and she cowers away when you reach towards her. What happened to the outgoing, confident, super affectionate cat you adopted at the shelter yesterday? Don’t worry! Hiding behavior in cats is a TOTALLY NORMAL and healthy response to a new home! But we have some tips to help you and your new kitty relax and adjust, so you’ll have your new loving purring cat back in your lap in (almost) no time at all.

1. Give her time to adjust. Your cat may have been happy & relaxed in the shelter or their foster home, but since then, they may have been examined by a vet, put in a cat carrier, taken a car trip, and now are in a total alien universe filled with strange sights, sounds and smells. Every cat is different, just like every home is different. It can take a day, 5 days, a couple of weeks or more for your new cat to relax. 2 weeks is an average adjustment time for most cats.

As long as your cat is eating, drinking, using the litter box (even if its under the bed!) and not showing any signs of illness, it is generally safe to leave them in their hiding spot. Many cats will venture out at night when you are sleeping and the world is quiet. If she’s hiding in a closet, You can dust baby powder at the closet door to look for paw prints in the morning, to see if she’s ventured out.

And Cali is eating, drinking, using the litter box (and it’s out in the open, not under the futon), enjoys people, comes out at night, and seems quite happy, I’m reassured that all is well.