Or Register for FREE!


Welcome to our Cat Forums!
Welcome to our CatForums!
You are seeing this message because you are viewing our cat forums as a guest.

You can continue to browse our many cat related areas as a guest but you are more than welcome to register and join our friendly community of Cat Lovers! ... And for free!

Doing so will also remove this message and some of the ads, such as the one on the left.

Please click here to register.

Reply

Velvet's Avatar
Catsey Veteran
 
Cats owned: 5 DSH. 2 DLH
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Nth Ireland - UK
Posts: 3,605
03-06-2011, 03:09 PM   #1

Scared of strangers


Hi

When anyone new comes to the house or in this case today, the gardener came earlier than expected, Timmy is petrified. He runs wild desparately trying to hide/get away. He got himself lodged in a tiny space under the back stairs. If or when we know someone is coming, we put the cats in another room simply because of how traumatised Tim gets. He gets really panicked - ears go back & he runs like a wild feral cat. He has always been this way.

Once theyve gone, he is quite happy purring away. In his own wee secure world he is Kimg of his plot. Happy confident boy, however ......

Leaving him in same room as a stranger isnt an option as he really panicks

Any ideas? The gardener today got quite grumpy beimg kept wAiting whilst i tried to coax Tim out of his bolt hole.

It makes me wonder if he can get his vaccs this year, would it really be ok to let him outside when hes so frightened of anything out of the norm. Amber is quite matter of fact / laid back

Has anyone else come across this behaviour?



Reply With Quote


dandysmom's Avatar
Catsey Veteran
 
Cats owned: Leia: blue torbie
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Washington, DC, USA
Posts: 31,378
03-06-2011, 04:06 PM   #2

Re: Scared of strangers


Not to that extreme! My Siamese boy disliked strangers and always left the room and/or hid; Patches, my tortie also would not stay around them, but outgrew it quite late in life... about 18, as I recall.

I think I'd be really hesitant about letting him outside; as he doesn't seem to handle stress and new situations very well. Discuss with vet?????



Reply With Quote


angieh's Avatar
Catsey Veteran
 
Cats owned: Magnificent moggies
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Hampshire, UK
Posts: 21,718
03-06-2011, 04:35 PM   #3

Re: Scared of strangers


I would say that does sound extreme behaviour, although a certain amount of wariness is of course a good thing... or you can have a confident cat like my little Pip (I must stop calling him little!) who goes out to greet all callers and did so from an early age. Kizzy goes running off to hide or just makes herself scarce. I guess first port of call must be your vet who may be able to refer you (or rather Timmy) to a behaviourist but I would agree with Eileen that he probably wouldn't do well let out on his own. But I guess the vaccine problem may preclude that anyway.

He looks such a cheerful young chap and confident in his photos, he obviously trusts you completely.



Reply With Quote


niki71uk's Avatar
Catsey Senior
 
Cats owned: 2 cats 1 tabby and 1 ragdoll
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: edinburgh uk
Posts: 518
03-06-2011, 05:46 PM   #4

Re: Scared of strangers


my younger cat is a bit like that,tho she did let my cousins 18mnth old baby touch her !!!



oh n btw i managed to put flea stuff on her,with the help of my dad,tho after she hid in the corner,hissing and spitting at me but after some treats she was ok lol



Reply With Quote


Velvet's Avatar
Catsey Veteran
 
Cats owned: 5 DSH. 2 DLH
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Nth Ireland - UK
Posts: 3,605
03-06-2011, 06:27 PM   #5

Re: Scared of strangers


I can work with Timmy, he had ear mites when we got him so needed ear drops put in. Never had to pill the cats - have that "joy" ahead of me at some stage



Reply With Quote


Moli's Avatar
Catsey Veteran
 
Cats owned: Exotics,oriential,siamese,& Mogg...
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Scotland..
Posts: 27,164
03-06-2011, 07:28 PM   #6

Re: Scared of strangers


My Merlin is the same, anyone comes to the door he is off, usually up the garden and under a bush....



Reply With Quote


Phoenix's Avatar
Catsey Veteran
 
Cats owned: 2 cats black/white and one tabby
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Somewhere or maybe nowhere
Posts: 4,296
03-06-2011, 07:31 PM   #7

Re: Scared of strangers


I haven't known that severe a reaction from Beauty when we had her, it does sound a bit extreme. Beauty would hide away and watch the strangers warily but would sometimes come out after sniffing the stranger but it would depend very much on who the stranger was.



Reply With Quote


Velvet's Avatar
Catsey Veteran
 
Cats owned: 5 DSH. 2 DLH
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Nth Ireland - UK
Posts: 3,605
04-06-2011, 02:43 AM   #8

Re: Scared of strangers


Quote:
Originally Posted by Moli
My Merlin is the same, anyone comes to the door he is off, usually up the garden and under a bush....
Was Merlin a feral kitten?



Reply With Quote


babycakes's Avatar
Catsey Veteran
 
Cats owned: feral moggy
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Scarisbrick, uk
Posts: 3,613
05-06-2011, 09:04 PM   #9

Re: Scared of strangers


My Denis is the same (but he was feral) he is still like that and especially with men, we only let him out harnessed. If we knew people were coming (say to do jobs) we locked him in a room with a cat bed with a hood on so he could hide in there or he would get under the duvet in the spare bedroom. We put some music in the room so he doesnt get freaked by the sounds too.



Reply With Quote

Reply