Reply to tips for blocking off our cat's (potentially unsafe) hiding space

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[quote=Anonymous]We recently adopted a cat. She had been a neighborhood stray. A friend of a friend took her in, got her spayed, shots, checked out for feline leukemia and AIDS, etc. But she has other pets and didn't want to keep the cat. The cat came to our home 15 days ago... and we literally have not seen her since. She comes out of her hiding spot to eat, drink, and use the litter box in the middle of the night or when we're not around, but otherwise we have not seen her. After the first four days or so, I figured out where she is hiding: There's about a 3 inch square gap in the baseboards under our kitchen cabinets, and she's squeezing herself into that space! I didn't even know that space was there. We live in a small apartment, and we don't have a separate laundry room or powder room or low-traffic space that we can give to the cat to help her acclimate; we're just doing our best with what we've got. All of the spaces in our home are fairly high traffic. We don't have any other pets. It's just me and my teenage daughter.

I have created an alternate hiding space (box with hole cut in it and a soft towel inside). I am only putting out her (preferred) wet food when we are home, and not in the middle of the night, so if she wants that wet food she'll have to come out when we're home. I'm leaving some dry food out all the time, including in a few hiding places around our home. Water is out all the time. I've used Feliway spray near her hiding spot. I've put out some old, unwashed t-shirts of ours near her food bowl. I sit on the kitchen floor sometimes and talk to her softly or read aloud. I put out treats that she likes to lure her out. She does eat, drink, and use the litter box. Just not when we are near her or when we are awake.

I know it takes some cats a very long time to acclimate to a new space. I just would like to get her out of this particular hiding space, because I can't see her or get to her if she is sick, injured, etc. I can't block off the opening completely, because any time I am nearby, the cat is IN the hiding space. I'd be blocking her in if I totally seal off that hole. I tried making a flap with cardboard on one side (her side, the side she'd touch when leaving the space) and aluminum foil on the other side, so she'd have to touch that to get back into hiding after eating or using the litter box. I know cats don't like aluminum foil. She just ripped the whole thing off of the opening!

Any suggestions for how I can get her out of there, or just make it more difficult or unpleasant for her to get back to the space in once she is out? I understand that she needs to hide right now, but I am worried and really just want her to be in a hiding space that's accessible to me if she's sick, hurt, or otherwise needs me. Thanks![/quote]

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