# are your cats afraid of strangers?



## nancyLA (Feb 13, 2005)

My cats are six months old. When just me and SO are around, they LOVE to be in the same room as us, they are very social and friendly. But whenever our friends come over or anyone they don't know, they go into hiding and will NOT come out. If we pick them up and bring them downstairs they freak out and run back upstairs. They hide under the bed.

Is this typical of cats? Will they outgrow it and be more trusting of strangers? :?


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

Rocket and Mellie are afraid, Tommy is not.


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## nancyLA (Feb 13, 2005)

what the heck is it they are afraid of exactly, anyway??!!!!!


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## Lori (Jun 8, 2003)

Velvet has always be very wary of strangers. She wasn't exposed to a lot of people as a kitten and I think just didn't become used to anyone other than my husband and myself. She used to always hide, but has been coming out a little more recently. I don't ever see her sitting one a visitor's lap, but she will at least come out and be admired.


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## jennifer2 (Mar 5, 2005)

My cat's have never been exposed to people coming and going from my house much, so they are both very leary of strangers.
Calypso will warm up pretty quickly. Korbel doesn't exist when people are over :lol: 

Jennifer


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## Petrafan4life79 (Sep 24, 2004)

My two always, always run to the door to see who's here. Snowball doesn't care if you like cats or not, you WILL pay attention to him. If you ignore him, he WILL get in your face or on your lap, whatever it takes. We also do our part if we know a visitor doesn't like cats and make sure he doesn't bother them too much. 

Simone on the other hand, it depends who's here. Like one Christmas we had 14 people here. She stayed in the bedroom. Whenever a family member comes over, she's out and about. Kids, she will stay in the bedroom. If it becomes very quiet, she'll venture out, but once she realizes the kid is still moving around (not asleep), she high-tails it back to the bedroom.


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## UKGirl009 (Dec 14, 2004)

This is funny that this was posted today, because yesterday I would have said that Oliver is completely great and friendly with strangers. This morning I found out that he is deathly afraid of one person---the UPS man!!!! I picked him up to answer the door so he wouldn't run out when I was signing for the package, and he dug his claws into my shoulder, made some really weird noise, then jumped off and cowered down in the corner of the room until he left. The guy was funny about it---he got down on his level and was like, "It's okay kitty!" But Oliver was having none of it! He has never been like this with anyone before, so it makes me wonder what may have happened to him when he was a baby before we rescued him! Bad experience with a UPS man????? :?


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## Hippyhart (Jul 4, 2004)

Nico isn't afraid of anything -- we got him as a small kitten, and we have friends over alot, so he's always been around people. When we have parties, he is usually on top of the table if everyone's in the kitchen or laying on someone's lap in the living room whether they like it or not.

Mom hides at first when the doorbell rings but will come out to see who is here and will usually stay out of hiding once she recognizes them.

Miles is the weirdest -- he always hides during the day if someone comes over, but he will come out to greet people if they come by after 9 or 10 pm (boyfriend has a lot of late night visitors). I guess he figures he can trust the people who come by in the dark of night. :?


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## Ianthe (Jun 7, 2004)

Ashley is TERRIFIED...Gaylord and Ivan are fine.


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## JackieT (Jan 29, 2005)

Gary has no loyalty to us. He immediately loves ANYONE that walks through my door. He is very curious around strangers, and likes to inspect their belongings.

I was very fortunate that his breeder had Gary socialized with many people starting at a very young age. He is only 15 1/2 weeks old right now, so hopefully he will always remain this way.


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## Zalensia (Aug 25, 2003)

Screech, Smeagle and Vienna are afraid of strangers. Butch is a hussy, ive walked down our lane before now and seen him rolling around with people smoothing him. Pebbles will only go up to a stranger if we are talking to them.


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## spacemonkey (Aug 12, 2004)

They're all cautious. Beeper tends to outright avoid strangers, and Scully will watch from a safe distance.

Even our girls, who have been around people since day one, will balk if strangers approach them. They do tend to warm up faster, however, and will politely sniff and stand still for head rubs :roll:


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## seashell (Dec 5, 2003)

*Strangers*

Jimmy was frightened of strangers when he first moved in with us - he just needed time to adjust to all the new things.
Now he's completely cool with strangers 8) He doesn't like much fussing from anyone, but when people come round he loves to come in and show off. He'll chase his ball around and lay on his back, and generally demonstrate what a clever cat he is  
We recently had a lot of work done on our kitchen, and he showed off in front of all the tradesmen. They all loved him   

seashell


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## emrldsky (Aug 31, 2004)

Scotty will approach strangers, sniff, then roll over on his back for a belly rub. Lord knows he wouldn't miss me if he ran away and someone else took him in...


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## Jockette (Feb 2, 2005)

Luna does the same exact thing as your cats, she hides and doesn't come out until she hears the house noises back to normal.

Max is a whole different story. He's not particularly a lap cat... but he does strut around with his tail up in the air and this attitude like "Hey, look at me, I'm cute, pet me!"


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## DesnBaby (Apr 18, 2004)

Baby doesn't like strangers. Sometimes she is afraid of them or other times she just doesn't care for them and goes to the window. It really depends. But there is this other cat that lives sort of close to us that likes me or something. Do you think that s/he knows I have a cat? :lol: But I think this was before I had Baby though. Maybe she knows that I like cats, lol :lol: .


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## Emskie (Jan 26, 2005)

Sheba is a complete snob. She is so lovey and sweet with us but anyone else.. no way. She used to run and hide when friends were over--we found her stray, so her aversion to people is understandable. But now, she will come out to check out who's here. She never lets anyone else pet her though. And the new development is that she now HISSES at strangers! I couldn't believe it the first time I saw her do it! She honestly is the most loving cat I have ever seen with Josh and I, but anyone else, no way. My friend once came over when we weren't home and she said Sheba sat in the middle of the kitchen hissing at her. She said she was like a guard dog and my friend wasn't alowed past the kitchen!! Sigh. Maybe one day she will warm up to others! Ah well, at least she loves me! :lol:


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## horseplaypen (Apr 1, 2004)

UKGirl009 said:


> Bad experience with a UPS man????? :?


Guess Brown did something for him...

Sorry, had to.

Ariel loves anybody who looks at her.  Jasmine is a little more reserved, but curious. She's kind of protective of Ariel, so she'll sit in the room at watch the visitors from the doorway. I remember once, this guy from Bell Mobility came around selling cell phones, and my boyfriend decided to buy one from him. They were sitting at the kitchen table drawing up the contract when Ariel jumped up and started rolling all over the papers. :roll:


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## Frisha (Feb 20, 2004)

Sasha Artemis and Kali vanishand have recently taken to coming back out and laying ont he far side of the room if it get quite.

Simon Tiger and Sam have no fear and come right up to say hi.

Blackie and Oreo tkae a bit longer to actually come up but they don't vanish.


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## roseeden (May 18, 2005)

I don't know about what is typical of cats...but all my six cats regularly jump on strangers' lap and demand petting :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

All of my other cats have made friends right away too, but not the two I have now! When the family comes, there are little ones who move too fast and make too much noise! 

There are exceptions. When a child is sitting at the piano, getting a lesson, both cats will come over and ask to be petted. And when I came home from the hospital, if a nurse came, both cats wanted to meet her. It could be a different nurse every time. I can't figure that out at all! 

Anyone who sits quietly will soon attract a cat, but hyper people, even those who come frequently, would never know I have a cat at all. That includes my own son. He has a loud voice and loves cats, but he is too active to suit Precious and Blueberry! Yet, these two are real lap cats, the most loving I've ever had!

edit/ punct.


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## Gudewife (Jun 27, 2004)

Assumpta is velcro-cat with us, but with everyone else, she demands the right of inspection from afar and the right to decide if and when she will grace them with her friendliness. She refuses to run away or hide, which makes it difficult dealing with stupid people who think that all cats like it when you rush over and scoop them up...instead of avoiding the stupid person, Assumpta will defend herself against the perceived threat. I have taken to saying "please don't touch the cat" to everyone who walks through the front door, and if I see them coming with children, I ask them to please wait outside until I can remove the cat to a safe place. Of course, then I get "Oh, little Damian/Elvira is wonderful with our cats at home, it will be fine!" and I have to explain that my cat is extremely child-aggressive, and that confining her while kids are there is simply non-negotiable for everyone's safety and peace of mind.

I suppose she's pretty slow to warm up to people, and never really trusts anyone...even though we can do just about anything to her and she'll just sort of roll her eyes and look disgusted. There are a few of our friends that she likes, and she is okay with my mother, but she loathes my in-laws and my next-door neighbour's wife the vet tech (even more since she had to assist me with Assumpta's sub-q's a few weeks ago). She loves the husband and thinks he's lots of fun, but when the wife comes in and so much as LOOKS at the cat, Assumpta starts growling (I feel terrible about it, because there's not an animal in the universe that doesn't like this lady, but luckily, she's aware that Assumpta is a little whacked and tries to have a sense of humour about it all). :roll:


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## zoeae (Feb 21, 2005)

None of my 3 cats are afraid of strangers. 

They all are big on investigating the strangers. Maybe mine are just very weird cats?


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I think yours are the normal cats. These are the first cats I ever had who weren't like yours! And I've had quite a few cats!


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## Petrafan4life79 (Sep 24, 2004)

UKgirl, my husband was wondering if maybe Oliver's previous owner was a UPS man and may have mistreated him? It's amazing what animals will remember.


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## Superkitties (Jan 30, 2004)

Mozart runs to greet visitors, and wants to smell everything. My other three observe from a little distance, wait for me to say, "It's ok, a visitor!", then they come to sniff the newcomers. Ginza and Pixie will allow petting. Kayla won't let anyone touch her until she feels like it.


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## roseeden (May 18, 2005)

My cats are so trusting...they will even roll over on their back when they see kids approaching. They let kids pet their stomachs.

I had been repeatedly warned by other people that cats that are too trusting expose themselves to cat haters. I keep them at home, though.


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## nancyLA (Feb 13, 2005)

I'm noticing my cats seem to be getting better. When the same people come over more than once, they come out and visit a little..but when a brand new person comes, they still hide under the bed.


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## EllyMay (Dec 31, 2004)

Charlie loves everyone and Mikko hides.


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