# How do your cats react to strangers?



## jawramik (Dec 3, 2012)

We currently live in a motel/apartment complex, and we're friends with quite a few of our neighbours. It's not uncommon for someone to knock on our door late at night with a six pack of beer, or a platter of food, or whatever. Everyone is always very taken with our kitties, and they're both always so friendly to everyone who stops by.

A guy who stopped by last night just couldn't get over how nice our cats were. They came right up to him as soon as he sat down. He's a cat-lover too, but said that all the cats he's ever had always went straight under the bed the moment anybody besides him or his wife walked through the door, and wouldn't come out until the big bad strangers left. I remember as a kid, I would always get so frustrated when I went to a house with cats and the cats wouldn't let me near them. I think that was probably one of the reasons why I wasn't a real cat-lover until we adopted Coda.

How do your cats do with strangers? Are they just happy to get attention and scratches from whoever is handing them out, or do they hide under the nearest piece of furniture the moment a new person crosses the threshold?


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

I have 6 indoor cats. Only one is overly friendly. Maddie thinks when the doorbell rings that someone has come to see HER! It's quite entertaining. The rest will keep their distance except Missy who warms up pretty quickly once everyone is settled. If we are having a party or crowd over for dinner, everyone gets put up in "their" room (a spare bedroom dedicated to them). Your cat's reactions may be positive if you have lots of friendly visitors. We maybe have people over every couple weeks, so it's really pretty infrequent compared to some people.


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## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

Mine vary wildly - Princess Tramp either goes out asap or retreats to the utility room, Lottie doesn't bat an eyelid whoever comes in and is willing for anyone to pet her (although she reserves her purrs for people she knows well). Baz loves visitors, Oz and Becky check them out from on top of the unit and then decide what to do. Jem is quite aloof. Weird really.


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## dlowan (Jul 13, 2012)

Same story as those above. One is very friendly to everyone, the other is very slow to accept new people. She doesn't hide, but she inspects from a distance at first and prefers to not be touched by new people for a long time.

Most of my previous vats have been extremely friendly.


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## jawramik (Dec 3, 2012)

Of my two cats, Cal is slightly more outgoing to strangers. He wants to meet everyone who comes in. Coda will usually retreat somewhere to watch any newcomers for a few minutes, and then she struts right up to them demanding their attention.


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Both my boys* are extremely social and greet guests at the door. Once they sniff hands they want scratches and attention for a bit. Then they settle down and go about their business.

*the only exception is my ex husband who MowMow *HATES* with a passion. I adopted MowMow after my divorce so I don't know his problem, but the moment he hears, sees, or smells my ex he goes into deep hiding.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

Blaze hides, and will continue to hide for months even if the person visits daily.

Blacky is indifferent, she may come up to them at some point in their visit, but usually she just goes about her day and ignores the fact that people are in the house.


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## Nan (Oct 11, 2010)

Both my cats hide. Not to be seen until after the visitors leave. Although my neighbor who came over to feed my cats when I was gone for a few days over Christmas, said Lily allowed her to pet her.

My previous cat, Sophie, loved everyone.


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

Azalia and Egypt are the most social. Egypt will come right up to strangers and greet them verbally, but does not want to be touched too much. She will put up with it in order to check out the new person and then she plops down somewhere and watches them. Azalia is a big mush and will begin rubbing up on strangers and sit on their lap to be petted extensively. Unless you get her up, she will just lay there purring away. Lacey warms up to strangers after a short while, but she just plops down in the room, but won't necessarily want to make actual physical contact. Sasha will run for the hills...there are scary strangers in the house!!! 8-O


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## autoexec (Nov 30, 2012)

mine is a little brat. She's young so she's very playfull so even if scared of a stranger she will closely approach, when she is near enough she will usually swat at him a few times with her right paw ( without claws ) and as soon as the person looks at her shell jump up and run hide behind me meowing like crazy. Repeat the process each five minutes. Usually takes 2-3 visits of the same person before she acts normally with him.


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

Speaking of bratty cats - I used to have a cat years ago that LOVED pantyhose. Every time my aunt used to come over; she was one of those old fashioned ladies, who always wore a skirt and pantyhose, she would sit on the couch and the cat used to come out from under the couch and run her nails down the back of her legs. To say the least, my aunt would freak out, but the cat never drew blood. She just liked tearing the hose not hurting the person. After a while, my aunt used to watch out for the cat and then the cat got stealthier so she could sneak up on her and tear up the pantyhose. I know it drove my aunt crazy, but it always made me chuckle


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## Apocrypha428 (Jan 2, 2013)

Both of my kitties willingly accept scratches from anyone! Takes Kira a tad longer to warm up, but still loves anyone who will give her attention. The problem we have with company is that they stand in the door to talk, and don't realize that we have two escape artists looking for a way out. There have been a few times I've had to chase the cats around the neighborhood. Busy road and a forest nearby- not really cat friendly.


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## Alex Harris (May 4, 2012)

If my cats aren't asleep, sometimes they will come out and visit. Rico is a lot more socialable than Mitsey is.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

My cats were both in the family room with me on Christmas Eve, when my son rang the doorbell. Both cats froze and looked at me with big eyes. Immediately thereafter, and at exactly the same time, Abby ran to the door to see who was there, while Muffs ran into my bedroom to hide under the bed! I got a chuckle out of their different responses. When she was younger, Muffs would have stayed in hiding...but these days, after a few minutes, she will come out to investigate. She's getting a little braver nowadays. Abby is not afraid of strangers, although she's not too cuddly with anyone other than me.


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## snowy (Aug 23, 2012)

This is embarassing. About 1wk after ET came on board, 1 cat lady came visiting, ET hissed at her. Then months later, a friend's 3 year old daughter was very keen in seeing ET, came visiting, they got hissed at too. Both times, he went under the fish tank rack and hissed at our visitors when they went near him. Even when the other feeders he knew came visiting, he will hide under too, minus the hissing, lol. He seemed ill-mannered, but what to do with a super timid cat?

Whenever he hear someone at the door, whether they were passing by or stopping by, ET will dash back to his room and then hide.


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## librarychick (May 25, 2008)

When our doorbell rings, or someone knocks or comes in there are three cats wanting to see who's come over. Torri runs for somewhere high up where she can observe from afar, but none of them really hide.

If the person steps into the house, especially through our main door, they are happily greeted by the boys. Jitzu waits until they've settled in to wander over and assess them. The boys LOVE company, and have gotten quite close to some of our closest friends. Doran, in particular, LOVES his 'Uncle' B...who loves beer and loves watching Doran beg for his favorite toy - beer bottle caps. It's quite cute to see Doran get all excited when he knows his 'Uncle' B has just come in.

Muffin just loves being petted and getting cuddles, he doesn't care who's doing it.


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## ndiniz (Jun 29, 2009)

I like cats who love attention no matter who you are. I've met many cats in my life, and most have treated me like I was part of their extended family. Most of the cats at our local Humane Society LOVE it when I come visit. I've had a few give me hugs, and do cute things to make me laugh. I think they know I like them. I have a friend who owns four cats, and one of them is a Bombay named "Shadow". I hear he's quite a character. I can't wait to meet him & the other cats one of my friends has.


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## CJinCA (Dec 5, 2011)

Mine run upstairs to hide as soon as the doorbell rings. If someone comes in the house for awhile, Squeek might come to peek at them, but they usually stay hidden.


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## wallycat (Nov 10, 2012)

Our cats run and hide and cower under the covers or under the bed. The little black one, BB, who was not a litter mate, will eventually walk out and look from a distance. RARELY, he will allow someone to get near him.
We don't entertain much and they were not exposed to lots of people as kittens. I think that is the key and I would do things differently next go around.


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## kaikoura (Oct 15, 2012)

I have 3 cats. 2 are shy to begin with and hide or keep their distance with strangers. The 3rd is very open and friendly with anyone, and quite comfortable wherever I take him, including the vet.


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## Hairball74 (Jan 3, 2013)

My cat isn't exactly shy with visitors, but is definitely aloof. She wants to hang out with us, but doesn't want strangers to pet her or pick her up. She'll usually be sitting underneath an end table where (she thinks) she's out of reach. If someone other than me picks her up, she'll be twisting her body wanting to be put back down immediately. She has a gentle temperament, though. With me, she's quite affectionate. She's still young, so very playful.

When I went on vacation for three weeks last year, I left her in the care of some trusted, longtime friends. They have a young son (who was 8 at the time) and a cocker spaniel. Mogwai (my cat) isn't used to kids and didn't have any prior experience interracting with dogs. Once at my friends' house, she was in hiding for the first week (!), taking refuge in her pet carrier and hissing at anyone trying to remove her from her hideout. It's only after that first week that she became more adventurous and started exploring their house. She eventually became friendly and affectionate with the whole family----even the dog! She would playfully jump on the dog's back.

*Mogwai*


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## bivlop (May 30, 2011)

I have 3 cats that run to the door when the doorbell rings. But if I am by myself sometimes the Siamese growls before he goes to the door. I wanted my cats to be social when friends come over so I started chicken training when they were young. When friends and family came over I had them give them some chicken (or treats). Now they associate visitors with treats. They run for the door when the doorbell rings and there is no hiding when anyone comes over! They still get treats from friends/family but not as often. 


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## Yuki'sMum (Dec 3, 2012)

Yuki is very curious but timid at first. She prefers to size the stranger up from a distance then her curiosity wins out and she'll go over for a sniff. Any sudden moves and she'll run and hide though. Maybe it's because she's a Bengal? 


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## Tokkaebi (Feb 5, 2013)

My boyfriend is someone they are familiar with, he comes in every other day or so to see us and help care for the kitties (he adopted Gandalf, but he lives with me and his two siblings). They now know good people can come in when they hear the doors open, but mostly, they stay away from strangers and are very afraid if anyone tries to pet or hold them. They will hide until they no longer sense the new people. (T-T)


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## mumof7kitties (Jan 27, 2013)

Mine scatter like the wind. We hardly ever have visitors so it just freaks my entire crew out, dogs too. 


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## ecat (Nov 18, 2012)

Our old fella is very shy. He hides under the bed when new people visit. However, our Himalayan girl is very friendly. She is definitely a candidate for catnapping if we ever let her out! Someone could very easily steal her and she would happily let them.


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## orrymain (Dec 9, 2011)

Orry will stay in the room with us, sniffs the visitors and after about an hour or so wanders off somewhere. Except when my mother in law visits. He really likes her and lets her pet him all the time.


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## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

When people come to my place, my cats and dog are all over new people. They all try to jump in their lap, except Samir, who isn't really a lap cat, but he will rub up against people to get a pet in.


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## goombella (Mar 1, 2012)

My male cat who loves attention from all of the family members disappears when new people are in the house. He will come out if they are children, he loves children. 
My female cat who is only affectionate to the family members on her terms, she doesn't like to be touched for too long and is definitely not a lap cat, as soon as she hears the doorbell runs to the door like a dog to greet anyone there. Then she will beg for attention from any stranger, rubbing up against them, jumping on their laps for attention. If it is someone we hired to do any work in the house, she will follow them all around and watch them the whole time they are here. She is a strange cat but we love her.


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## sara_michelle (Jan 17, 2012)

It depends on the size of the crowd with my two. They will always come interact for a little bit, but they tend to stick around longer if the group is smaller. They like to make their presence known, but they don't seek out laps to sit on. It's more the people wanting to interact and cuddle them than the cats wanting to be cuddled by the people. Poor kitties, sometimes they get annoyed that people find them so cute.


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## violina (Jan 28, 2013)

Right now the two of them just don't care when people are around. They like the attention so they don't mind it at all and they also don't mind when they aren't getting attention from the guests. They do shy away from my boyfriend and I because normally they'll curl up for their evening naps and when guests are around they want to play either with the guests or one another.

My roommate's cat though runs off and hides.


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