First, work out what the hiding is saying
Hiding is a normal feline tool that becomes a problem when it swallows the whole day. A newly arrived cat hiding for the first days is doing exactly what a sensible prey animal does in unknown territory, and the answer is time and quiet. A cat who has lived with you for months and still vanishes from morning to night is telling you something has not yet felt safe — a noisy household rhythm, a dog who stares, children who pursue, a housemate cat who controls the open floor — or that something hurts. Sudden hiding in a previously sociable cat jumps the queue: book a veterinarian before any confidence work, because cats mask illness and injury by withdrawing, and appetite change, altered toileting or a new reluctance to be touched alongside hiding makes that visit urgent. Only once health is cleared, or while you wait for the appointment, does behaviour work begin. Map the pattern before changing anything. Where does the cat hide, when does it emerge — often the small hours, when the house is still — and what does it do then? A cat who eats, toilets and explores at night is healthy in routine but not yet in confidence, which is a much better starting point than it feels.
Make refuges safe, plural and closer to life
Do not block the hiding place, drag the cat out, or carry it around to meet people. A cat whose refuge is invaded learns the home has no safe place at all, and hides harder and deeper. Instead, upgrade the refuge: a box or covered bed with the cat's own bedding, in a quiet but not exiled corner, with water nearby and a tray within easy reach, so hiding costs the cat nothing it needs. Then add stepping-stone cover between the refuge and family life — a box with two exits in the hallway, a blanket-draped chair, a tunnel along the skirting — so the cat can be progressively nearer the action while never feeling exposed. Cats move cover to cover in the wild; a room with furnished stepping stones is traversable, while an open floor is a desert they will only cross at night. Feed on a gradient. Start meals beside the refuge, then move the bowl a small distance toward family space every few days, only as fast as the cat eats calmly at each stage. Food is the strongest daily argument that the world outside is safe, and it repeats twice a day without any training sessions.
Be worth approaching, on the cat's schedule
Sit near the refuge at predictable times doing something boring — reading, working, watching something quietly — and let the cat study you unpressured. Speak softly, drop a treat without looking, and leave before the cat retreats so your departures are never escapes. Play is the confidence engine once the cat will watch from cover: a wand toy worked at the refuge's edge, never thrust inside it, lets the cat hunt from safety, and hunting is the behaviour of a cat who feels in control. Keep the rest of the house predictable while this runs. Warn visitors not to seek the cat out, give children the important job of ignoring it completely, and keep dogs and rival cats from camping outside the refuge door. Progress is usually measured in inches and evenings: a cat on the rug at dusk, a cat who stays when you enter, a cat who asks for breakfast. Expect weeks, and expect setbacks after loud days, which are information, not failure. If months pass with no movement, or hiding is paired with aggression when approached, ask your veterinarian about referral to a behaviourist and about whether anxiety support is appropriate for your cat. Confidence grows through dozens of tiny, repeated proofs that nothing bad happens, and keeping a simple log of each new appearance makes that growth visible. When a milestone puzzles you, put a follow-up question to KinsLe's Kimmy; she answers using the KinsLe Answers library.