Patience + Positive Reinforcement = Purrrfect

Environmental changes can be very overwhelming and stressful for cats, especially if they are anxious or fearful. It can take new pets around three months to feel fully comfortable and settled in a new home, but for some it may be even longer. Patience and compassion are the most important things you can offer your new cat. Use positive reinforcement to reward calm, appropriate behaviors that you want to see more of and use counter conditioning to help your cat create positive associations with you and their new home (For more information on positive reinforcement and counter conditioning, see the "Avoid Punishment" and "Relationship Building" sections below). Remember: while you may feel excited to have a new cat to interact with, your cat may not be ready to interact with anybody yet. They will most likely just want to hide, rest and decompress, for the first week or so.

From your new cat's perspective, they have been removed from their familiar environment, and taken to a strange, new place with unfamiliar people, things, sounds and smells. Your shy cat is likely to be in a "fight-or-flight" state, which may cause them to act more on-edge, defensive or "spicy" than they usually would. They are only trying to protect themselves, so try to give them grace, forgiveness and space. Do not pressure or force your new cat to interact or share space with you. If your new cat is showing signs of fight or flight, this does not necessarily mean that they are "aggressive," unfriendly or "anti-social." Try not to ascribe these labels to your new cat, because they likely haven't show their true personality yet. It is important to remember that your cat's behavior will change depending on the context and environment. A cat may act "aggressive" or overstimulated in one specific scenario, but this does not mean they are an "aggressive cat" or an "overstimulated cat."

Avoid Punishment

Do not punish your shy cat for hiding, fleeing, hissing, growling, spitting, swatting, or biting. These are signs of fear and stress, and should be listened to and respected. (For more information on signs of fear or stress, see the "Body Language" section below.) DO NOT yell at your cat, spray them with air or water, tap or smack them, use loud noises to startle or intimidate them, or use any other form of positive punishment. Punishment will only confuse and frighten your cat, increasing their fear and stress, and causing them to create a negative association with you and their new home. Note: when discussing training methods, "positive" refers to adding something to the environment. So, "positive punishment" refers to adding (or doing) something unpleasant that your cat does not like, in order to discourage a behavior. "Positive reinforcement" refers to adding (or doing) something pleasant that your cat likes, in order to strengthen a behavior. For more information on positive reinforcement and positive punishment, check out: Positive Reinforcement, Positive Punishment and Positive Reinforcement: Does it Work?

Body Language 

Cats can’t directly tell us how they feel or what they want, but they do communicate with us through body language and behavior. You can better understand what your cat is feeling by observing their ears, tail, eyes, mouth, body and fur.

Ask yourself: Are my cat's ears perked forward or pulled back? Is their tail hanging loose or up and stiff? Are their eyes soft and relaxed or wide and alert? Is their body crouched and stiff or relaxed and loose? Is their fur flat, puffed up or rippling? All these questions can help you notice and identify your cat's body language.

From there, you can interpret these signals to determine what they are trying to communicate. It is important to listen to your cat's signals and respect their boundaries, so they don't feel the need to escalate to "louder" forms of communication (i.e. growl, swat or bite). To learn more about these signals and what they mean, check out our Reading Body Language YouTube playlist.

Space Isolation and Confinement

When you first bring home a new cat, begin by giving them access to just one small room in your home. A bathroom, a walk-in closet or a spare bedroom are all excellent options for a "safe space." Ideally, this safe space would be a quiet area of the home that is not frequently used or passed through. Avoid choosing a high-traffic area of the home for your shy cat's safe space. The calmer the better! 

The safe space should have everything your cat will need. Food, water, a litter box, options for hiding (crates, carriers and hidey-holes) and enrichment items such as toys or scratching posts should all be offered in this space. After about two to four weeks, this space will become your cat's “home base.” Your new cat now has a space in your home where they feel comfortable and relaxed!

This smaller space will allow your cat to adjust to their new home much more quickly, making the transition easier — especially for cats adopted from a shelter. In most shelter environments, cats are housed in kennels or small rooms. It can be overwhelming and stressful for cats to suddenly move from a smaller kennel environment to a much larger space (i.e. an entire house or apartment). 

Immediately giving your new cat access to your entire home may cause them to find a single hiding spot (i.e. under a bed or behind a couch) and remain hidden. A "safe space" offers your newly adopted cat a quiet, transitional space to ease their stress and help them adjust to their new home before they are given access to the entire home. Once they become more comfortable in their safe space, they will start exploring more and hiding less.  

For more information on the importance of a "safe space," check out this article on Cat Confinement in a New Home. 

Safe Space Setup

There are several things cats need to help them feel comfortable in their safe space:

• Low Traffic, Minimal Activity. Choose a space that is relatively quiet and calm, without many people passing through daily. For example, choose a guest bathroom over the main bathroom that the family uses every day. 
• A litter box should always be available. Place the litter box away from their food and water. Scoop the litter box one to two times daily. Clean the litter box and replace the litter around once per month (4-6 weeks). Additionally, keep the room tidy without piles of clothes or blankets to help discourage your cat from going to the bathroom on these items outside of the litter box. For more tips or if your cat is experiencing litter box issues, check out: Litter Boxes 101.
• A food bowl and a water bowl. Place them away from the litter box. The water bowl should always be full of fresh, clean water. Feed your cat as directed by your vet, depending on their age and weight.
• Somewhere to scratch. Offer at least one surface for your cat to scratch and kneed, however offering multiple scratchers and a variety of different types (vertical scratchers and scratching posts, horizontal scratching mats, angled scratching boards, etc.) is ideal. Offer different scratching textures (carpet, sisal, cardboard, or wood) to discover your cat's preference. A proper scratching surface will be at least one and a half times the length of a cat’s body so they can fully extend their arms to stretch and scratch. For more information on the importance of scratching, check out the article: Scratching: Why Cats Do It.
• Places to hide. Offer a variety of hiding options where your cat can hide completely, such as a carrier covered with a towel, a cat tree cubby or a hidey-hole. You can also drape blankets or towels on furniture or cat trees to provide make-shift hiding spots.
• Rest and relaxation. Provide multiple areas for your cat to rest (cat beds, blankets or mats). There should be at least one resting area up high, between 3-5 feet off the ground, because cats often seek safety this way. Other resting areas may be located lower or level with the ground. Many cats prefer to stay hidden while they rest, so make sure their hiding places are comfy enough to double as resting places.
• Enrichment! Enrichment is any rewarding activity or item that encourages species-typical behaviors, such as scratching, playing, foraging, hunting, licking, running, climbing or jumping. Enrichment that requires animals to use their brains and nose will burn energy, reduce stress and promote relaxation. Cat toys, puzzle toys, cat trees or shelves, treat balls and puzzle feeders are popular enrichment items for cats. For more ideas, check out: Enrichment Resources YouTube playlist and Enrichment: Indoor Activities.

Relationship Building

• The Power of Food: Offering meals and treats will naturally help you build a relationship with your cat, as your cat begins to associate you with food. Through counter conditioning, we can use food to help our pets create positive associations with us and other things. For more information, check out this article: What is Desensitization & Counter conditioning?
• High-value Treats: Try a variety of treats, such as Temptations, canned chicken or tuna, or Churu lickable treats, to find out what your cat likes. Gently place treats near your cat and step away. If your cat approaches you, you may offer treats from your hand. However, most shy or fearful animals prefer to eat treats from the ground at a distance away from people and other animals.
• Scent Swapping: Your newly adopted shy or fearful cat is likely to be unsure of you and your family at first. Don't take this personally — they will just need time to learn you are their new family! You can help your cat become more comfortable with the people and other pets in the family by getting them used to your scents. Place a used blanket or worn item of clothing in your cat's safe space so they can become familiar with your scent. If you have other pets, place one of their used blankets, pet beds or toys in your new cat's safe space. Try sprinkling treats near or on these items so your new cat associates those smells with good things! (For more information on introducing cats to your other pets, check out: B&T Lecture - Introducing New Pets, Introducing Cats, and Introducing Dogs to Cats.)
• Treat Retreat Game: Gather all your cat's most favorite treats. Find somewhere to sit down in your cat's safe space where you can see your cat but are not too close to them. Avoid pressuring them to interact or come near you (Check out this video on Social Pressure & Animal Interactions). Sit with your body in a non-threatening way (check out our video on body orientation to learn more) and avoid directly facing your cat or making direct eye contact. If you are going to talk to your cat during this exercise, use a calm, soothing voice (Check out this video: How to use your voice as a training tool). Gently and carefully toss treats to your cat — avoid hitting your cat with the treats! Aim for the treat to land farther away from you, so your cat gets to move AWAY from you to get the treat. Do not use the treats to lure your cat to come closer to you, as this creates pressure and stress and can cause your cat to associate you with those negative feelings. We want your cat to associate you with the treats AND the feeling of relief they get when they move away from you (the thing they are unsure of). For a video example of this exercise, check out: Greeting Games - Treat Retreat.
• Play! Cats are predators and enjoy chasing and catching things. Play fetch or use toys that allow you to play with your cat from a distance — such as a Cat Dancer (a wire with cardboard bits on the end) or wand toys (a stick with a string and a toy tied to the end) — to engage your cat in chasing, grabbing and catching. Present wand toys at a distance and allow your cat to approach and chase the toy, moving the toy away from your cat. If your shy cat is not comfortable with interactive play: don’t force it! Provide them with ways to play on their own, such as a toy with a ball on a track or scratching post with toys on an elastic cord. Let your cat enjoy solo play until they are ready to play with you. Note: always supervise your pets when they are playing with toys that have strings or other things that they could swallow or get tangled up in. 
• Follow your cat's lead: Allow your cat to move at their speed and choose whether or not to interact with people (Check out this video: The Importance of Choice in Animal Training). Read and respond to your cat’s body language to ensure that they feel comfortable (Check out this article: Does Your Pet Not Like To Be Touched?). Allow your cat to choose to come toward you to consent to interactions (Check out this video: What Consent Looks Like in Cats). Do not force your cat to be pet, especially if they are displaying body language consistent with discomfort, fear or aggression (Check out this article: Study: Letting cats decide when to be petted avoids hostility & increases their affection).

Signs of Stress 

When an animal encounters a trigger or experiences a stressful event, their body releases the stress hormone, cortisol. After a stressful event, it takes time for cortisol to decrease and go back down to normal levels. If an animal experiences multiple stressful events or triggers in a short amount of time, cortisol can build up in the body faster than it has time to diminish. The more cortisol that builds up in the body, the longer it takes for an animal to recover from stress, the more on-edge an animal may seem and the more extreme they may react to another trigger. For example, if you get a flat tire on a stress-free, good day you may be a little frustrated and annoyed but will recover quickly. But, if you woke up late, skipped breakfast, stubbed your toe, lost your wallet, missed the bus and then got a flat tire, you might react with much more anger or stress. You might cry or scream. You might take out your frustration on the innocent employee at the tire shop. The same goes for our pets; this build-up of stress and cortisol, referred to as "trigger stacking," can push an animal "over-threshold" and beyond their tolerance level. Imagine a cup of water: each time your pet experiences stress and/or a real or perceived threat (trigger), water (cortisol) is added to the cup. The more triggers they encounter, the more full the cup gets. Eventually, the water will reach the top of the cup (threshold) and the cup will start overflowing (over-threshold). It is important to allow your pet to decompress after a stressful event, to prevent them from becoming trigger stacked and pushed over-threshold. When an animal is pushed over-threshold, they are more likely to react in an extreme way to a seemingly mild trigger or small stimuli. When a cat is stressed and pushed over-threshold they are more likely to hiss, growl, swat or bite. For more information, check out: Trigger Stacking & Stress Hormones.

Your new cat has likely experienced multiple triggers and/or stressful events in a short amount of time. So, assume your new shy cat is already very stressed and trigger stacked by the time they get to your home. This is why it is important to do everything you can to avoid causing your new cat any additional or unnecessary stress. Here are some of the triggers your new cat has likely already experienced before they even get home:

• Put in a carrier: possible negative associations with carrier from vet visits or shelter environment
• Removed from their familiar environment (their previous home or kennel/room at the shelter)
• A car ride: possible negative associations with car rides from vet visits or previous transports, unfamiliar place, unfamiliar sights, unpleasant sounds and smells, vibration of the car, possible bumps and sharp turns, possible motion sickness, etc.
• Exposed to new and scary sounds, sights and smells (shelter environment, car ride, new neighborhood, new home, etc.)
• Taken to an unfamiliar place
• Surrounded by unfamiliar people, smells, sounds, etc. when they arrive at their new home
• And more.

Keep an eye out for any signs of more severe stress in your new kitty, including medical issues or changes in behavior. In addition to reading their body language, assess their behavior and physical condition for any potentially serious issues such as:

• Consistent fleeing or hiding.
• Excessive vocalization or extreme change in vocalization habits.
• Signs of extreme fearfulness, aggressive behavior, or being shutdown.
• Changes to or loss of appetite.
• Sudden disinterest in playing and/or scratching, or other changes in behavior.
• Inappropriate elimination, litter box issues, spraying or other changes in elimination habits.
• Decreased grooming, over-grooming, chewing at fur or skin, or other forms of self-harm.
• Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) triggered by stress, causing your cat to avoid using the litter box or avoid eating/drinking (dehydration).
• Upper Respiratory Infection (URI) or other illnesses triggered by stress or exasperated by stress.
• Other illnesses or medical issues.

Enrichment!

• Mental enrichment: Mental enrichment is anything that works your pet's brain and fulfills their natural species-specific needs. Think: puzzles, brain games, sniffing, foraging, digging, licking, hunting and even training! Mental enrichment is calming, relieves stress and burns energy. For more information and ideas, check out: Feline Enrichment Facebook Group.
• Visual stimulation: Provide a perch near a window where your cat can look outside at birds, bugs and other interesting sights. You can also use a phone, a TV or a tablet device to play “cat videos” to provide visual stimulation. On YouTube, search "Cat TV" to find a plethora of videos made for cats!
• Interactive play: In the wild, cats are natural predators, meaning they catch and eat prey (smaller animals). Most cat play consists of games that appeal to natural feline characteristics, such as stalk-and-pounce games that mimic hunting for prey. When playing with our cats, we can appeal to their natural predatory behavior by utilizing the "cat prey sequence" of activities. The cat prey sequence — staring, stalking or chasing, pouncing or grabbing, biting and eating — refers to the order of behaviors cats perform when they catch prey. Interactive play and enrichment activities that allow a cat to complete the entire prey sequence are ideal because they are the most rewarding and fulfilling for the cat.
• Pheromone diffusers: Pheromone sprays and diffusers, such as Feliway, can help cats feel more calm and comfortable, especially in a new environment with new, unfamiliar smells. Cats are very sensitive to scent — new smells and the lack of their own scent in an environment can cause stress and discomfort. Pheromones provide cats with a calming scent that can reduce signs of stress. 
• Catnip: If your new cat is older than a year, they may have a positive response to catnip, which is an herb that stimulates cats and increases their energy level. Be careful using catnip if your cat is easily overstimulated or overexcited as it can exasperate overstimulation (Check out this article: Overexcited & Energetic Cats).
• Training & Confidence-building: Introducing positive reinforcement training and teaching our cats new skills or tricks is a wonderful way to boost their confidence. Similar to how taking up a new hobby or learning a new skill can boost your happiness and confidence, the same goes for our pets! Training is great for confidence-building, not only because our pets are learning something new, but it also shows our pets that they have some control and impact on their life and environment. Through training, our pets can learn that if they do one thing (i.e. sit, look, lay down), they get another thing (i.e. treat, praise, attention, toy).

Ask For Help

We understand that being a pet parent can be challenging, but San Diego Humane Society is here to help. We offer numerous options and resources for pet parents in need. 

Here are your options:

1. If your cat has access to the entire home or a large area of the home, confine them to a smaller area of the home, ideally their original safe space. It is possible that your shy cat gained access to the entire home before they were fully comfortable, causing them to become overwhelmed. Confining your shy cat to a smaller area of the home can reduce their fear and stress, and help them feel more confident and comfortable.
2. If you adopted your cat from San Diego Humane Society, you are provided with a cost-free, 1-hour Post Adoption Consultation online over Zoom. One of our Community Animal Trainers will help troubleshoot while providing starting points and next steps for you. Book here: Schedule a Post Adoption Consultation.
3. Enroll in our live online Shy Cat training class over Zoom. This five-week class for owners (we don’t expect your shy cat to attend!) will help you better understand your shy/fearful cat and what makes them different from other cats. You’ll learn exercises to help your cat feel more comfortable and confident in your home, with your presence and with new stimuli (anything they can perceive, hear, smell, see, etc.). This class is designed to move your pet forward each week within your home. Sessions are recorded so you can refer to the material as needed as you move at your specific cat’s pace. Please reach out to us if you have additional questions!
4. Book an online Private Lesson (1 hour, online over Zoom), for advice and training exercises from one of our Community Animal Trainers. Open to all community members, these sessions focus on environmental management, troubleshooting and training exercises. 
5. Find a positive reinforcement trainer that can come to your home to assess the situation. Look for a trainer who specializes in fearful cats. Find a trainer here: Local Positive Reinforcement Animal Trainer Directory. For additional help finding a trainer, check out: How To Pick A Trainer 101 and Trainer Danger: How To Find A Trainer Who Won't Harm Your Pet.

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