Cats are baffling creatures and seem to be afraid of the most random things, but what are cats most afraid of?
In the post we are going to look at 9 common cat fears to give you a better understanding of what your cat is thinking, and how to prevent them from getting scared.
You’ve probably heard of the term “scaredy-cat” (the inspiration for our name Caredicat), and there’s a reason for this. Cats can be very timid, sensitive creatures and get frightened very easily.
Before we answer the question of “what are cats most afraid of?”, it’s important to remember that you should never scare a cat on purpose. With that being said, lets dive right in.
Why Cats Get Scared In The First Place
Although cats are predators, they are also mesopredators which means they are not at the top of the food chain. So as they can also be prey, this means that cats are very cautious with anything that is unfamiliar.
What Are Cats Most Afraid Of?
1. Strangers
Cats in general do not take well to strangers. Even the most sociable cat will probably run away and hide when a stranger enters their territory. Strangers come in the form of humans, cats, and other pets. Let’s take a closer look.
People
If a cat is not well socialized from a young age, they will especially be frightened of new people entering the home. The most common and natural thing for them to do is retreat to a safe place such as under the bed or other furniture.
This is the reason why it is important to provide plenty of hiding places, tunnels, cat shelves, and cat furniture around your home to give your cat a choice of hiding places to prevent anxiety.
Other Cats
The presence of a new cat in your home can also scare your cat. Cats love routine and everything to be the same, so a new cat suddenly roaming around in their territory can through them out of their routine and trigger anxiety.
When introducing new cats, you should do it in a non-threatening way by eliminating physical contact. Start out with just visual contact and use something like a screen to separate them.
You will also need to be very patient as it can take 6 – 12 months for two cats to fully get used to each other.
Dogs
Although many cats and dogs do get along with some families owning both, it’s very rare that this will just happen immediately. There’s a reason behind the phrase “fighting like cats and dogs”.
Cats and dogs who are socialized together from a young age can get along great and become best buddies. A cat seeing a strange dog can trigger anxiety and frighten them. Even a dog just trying to be playful can be misinterpreted as being attacked.
2. Unfamiliar Objects
Unfamiliar objects come in a lot of different forms, shapes, and sizes.
Although cats are very curious when it comes to new items in the home such as boxes, suddenly spotting certain foreign objects can scare the life out of a cat. Lets take a look at a few examples.
Cucumbers
If you are a cat lover, then you have more than likely came across the viral videos floating around the net of cats literally leaping into the air after spotting a cucumber lying on the ground.
The videos would show the cat owner placing a cucumber behind their cat whilst they are eating. The reason this scares a cat so much is because they see see their feeding area or any other familiar spots around the home as safe spaces.
So when they feel relaxed and drop their guard, turning around to see an unexpected object can startle them.
As funny and harmless as the videos may seem, we discourage anybody from doing this, as it can be very distressing for your cat, as well as causing trust issues and ruining the bond between the two of you.
Bananas
Bananas have also been the reason behind many viral video compilations of cats leaping into the air with fear. Just like the cucumber, the reason of fear is exactly the same. The element of surprise of spotting a strange, unfamiliar object.
Balloons
To children, balloons are happy, colorful objects that provide hours of fun. To cats, balloons are scary rubber monsters.
The reason it triggers so much fear in a cat is because as the balloon is airborne, they may see it as a predator that is going to attack them. A balloon popping can also give them a fright as they hate loud noises. More on this in the next section.
3. Loud Noises
Cats have incredible hearing skills and can pick up on sounds that even a dog fails to hear. A cat hears 100,000 hertz in comparison to a human 20,000 hertz, so it’s no surprise that loud noises can scare the life out of a cat.
Vacuum Cleaners
Most cats will run a mile the second you turn on a vacuum cleaner. The sound along with the movement can be a very frightening experience for them.
Hairdryer
For the same reason as a vacuum, the loud noise of a hairdryer can also frighten a cat. The hot air the blasts out of the end can also bother them.
4. Their Reflections
Just like strange objects, there are also a number of video compilations online of cats reacting to their own reflection in a mirror.
This usually results in two different actions, they either get scared and run a mile, or try to fight their reflection. This is also known as fight or flight.
The reason they get so scared is because cats do not have the ability to recognise themselves in a mirror like humans and primates do.
5. Wide-Open Spaces
If you remember back to a previous section of this article, we spoke about cats reacting to strangers will retreat to hiding spaces in the home.
For this reason, cats can feel very anxious in wide-open spaces because they have nowhere to hide. Cats naturally love small, confined spaces such as boxes where they feel more safe and secure.
6. Leaving Home
Cats love routine and become attached to the home because they love a familiar environment. Removing a cat from their comfort zone will cause stress and anxiety.
As much as you don’t want to stress your cat, there will be times where taking them out of the home cannot be avoided such as trips to the vet or moving home.
7. Water
Unless you have a cat breed who loves water such as a Bengal, Maine Coon, or Abyssinian, most cats dislike water.
The reason why cats are afraid of water stems back to how cats evolved in the wild. Their ancestors would rarely, if ever be exposed to large bodies of water. So this unfamiliar wet stuff means they do not trust it.
A cat is also not built to be wet because their fur absorbs water instead of repelling it. This is a problem because cats like being warm and water on their fur can make them feel cold.
It can also make them feel vulnerable, because cats are generally very nimble and athletic with quick movement. Water can prevent this because it can soak their coat making it feel heavy and weigh them down.
8. Punishment
Hitting, shouting, or punishing your cat can cause severe anxiety and be detrimental to your relationship as they lose trust in you. Their are better and more suitable ways of dealing with a cats behavior than using punishment.
9. Changes In Routine
Although it doesn’t scare them in a way that they leap into the air with fear, change in routine can make them anxious and fearful that something bad is going to happen.
Cats are creatures of habit who love routine. Even something as small as moving some furniture around in your home can completely throw them out.
What Are Cats Most Afraid Of Conclusion
Remember that all cats are very unique with different personalities. In our experience we have found that not all cats are scared of the same thing. Not all cats are going to be scared of cucumbers or bananas.
Some cats will be terrified of a hairdryer and other won’t bat an eyelid. Have a great relationship with your cat and take time to et to know them and their personality. This will enable you to eliminate as much fear and anxiety as possible.
