From Oct until Jan 2005 she hid in our recroom in the cubby hole
underneath our mainfloor bathroom. (basically where the ceiling and
wall meet) By a fluke we managed to get her out of there. She came
upstairs to eat and we closed the door to the furnace room where she
had been hiding. Its been 2 weeks and now she constantly hides
underneath our spare room bed. She doesnt come out on her own except
to eat and use the litter. If we try to make contact with her she will
run underneath our spare room dresser. She clearly doesnt want to
have any affection or socialization. We have 1 other cat and he
doesnt bug her and the 2 of them never fight. She just sits
underneath the bed all day. There was an ad in the paper for her and
we adopted her. I know it takes some time for cats to adjust to thier
new environment cause I have adopted many before this, but I have
never known a cat to take almost 4 months to come out from hiding. I
am just frusterated that she wants to be left alone. Any ideas on
what I can do?

Try to relax. I know how frustrating it is. And please, please, please
don't even think about prozacing this cat. I've been where you are. My
2nd cat was a terrified semi-feral and even at two years in is still a
bit challenged sometimes at relating to the humans, although she's come
a long way. And she was much faster to come around than a cat my sister
adopted 4 years ago. For what it's worth, they're both total
snugglebugs now, and to look at Clea (my sister's cat), you would never
know that she spent six months in the wall of my sister's apartment and
another six months under the bed. Sometimes it just takes a while. They
operate on cat time, not human time. Try to remember that we really
have no way of knowing what kind of hell they have been through, and on
their own terms, they probably have very good reason to be wary.
Eventually the kitty will see that you are not a threat, this is not a
bad place, and that she can stay and it isn't just another stopover.
But she doesn't know that yet.

It's really hard to deal with a creature that isn't ready to give and
can only take from us, but this is where we have to show the emotional
maturity to wait for the cat to come around, even though it isn't able
yet to meet any of our desires in a "pet". She will come around and
honestly, will be so grateful and happy when she does that you'll
probably love her even more than the others. But until then:

Talk to her, even when she runs away. Say gentle things. She's watching
you even if you can't see her. Make food and treats available to her
regularly, on as set a routine as you can manage, even if she rarely
seems to partake of them. Let her see you petting and playing with the
other cat as often as possible. Try to find something sedentary to do
in the area she's hiding, so you can be present without moving too
much. (My sister's cat would run away
if anybody moved in her vincinity, but would creep out to watch the
humans if she thought they were sleeping). Put blankets and soft towels
with your scent in whatever area she's hiding in so she can get used to
how you smell. And just let her be. She'll find her way.