Nearly three months ago I adopted a 5-year-old cat from the local shelter. She was very friendly there, and enjoyed being petted and sitting in my lap. The adoption associate said that she's very shy, though, but she seemed so sweet and certainly worth the wait. She really freaked out on the ride home, though -- crying out, scratching in her carrier, etc. And when I brought her home, she immediately ran and hid in a closet.
I wasn't very surprised, and I'd heard it can take cats several days or even weeks to adjust. The adoptions associate even told me it took her over a month to get used to the shelter, so I figured it would take her time. But since then, she has not come out to approach me at all. She hides all the time. She's getting slightly better -- she likes to play with her toys at night (when I'm not around lol), and she no longer minds if I'm watching her from afar when she eats. She responds fairly quickly when I feed her most of the time. But she does freak out over the slightest thing too; I tried to coax her towards me when I saw her early one morning and she actually seemed curious, like she might approach me, but when I reached for a treat to give her she ran and hid again. She also can be very skittish if I talk to her.
Also, most of her things -- litter box and toys -- are in one room, where she hides. I put her food and water out in the hall though, which is why I sometimes catch her eating.
Does anyone have any advice as to what I can do to help her be less afraid of her new home and of me? I worry that she was traumatized by the car ride and associates my voice with that now. And I also worry that the lack of interaction with me will be detrimental to her, psychologically, like she'll always fear me. I feel like I've done everything I can, and a couple friends of mine told me that there's nothing I can do but wait, but I also feel like if anyone else has any advice, I'm willing to try it. I just feel like I've seen her potential at the shelter, and I'm hoping she'll be okay.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/e7mwg1/adopted_an_anxiouspossibly_traumatized_cat_who/
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