Why won't my scared cat come out from under the bed?
Because under the bed is the only place she is sure of yet. Hiding is a healthy, self-protective reflex in a cat still deciding about a new home — it is not a verdict on you. She stays until somewhere else feels as safe, and your job is to build that somewhere.
To a frightened cat, an unfamiliar home reads as danger, and hiding is the safest response she has. To a cat the unknown reads as danger, and a brief startle-and-hide is normal rather than a personality quirk (ACVB, Decoding Your Cat, ch.9; Galaxy, Total Cat Mojo, ch.19). That is why the fix is counter-intuitive: you do not take hiding away — you give her a better place to hide (a covered spot she can peek out of), so that leaving the deep, unreachable spot under the bed stops feeling like a risk.
One welfare note: brief hiding is normal, but a cat hiding all day and eating or drinking less — or a cat who was out and suddenly retreats — should see a vet first. Cats mask illness well.
The full article is here: how to get a scared cat to come out from under the bed.
Behaviour and wellbeing only. Nothing here diagnoses or replaces a veterinarian — if something about your cat worries you physically, that’s a call to your vet.
New articles, as we publish them
The everyday moments and the behaviour questions — and first word on what we make, offers included. From Deni & Helen.