My little girl keeps kissing the cat.....?

Question

My daughter who is 8 years old insists on smothering and kissing the cat. He is 9 years old and we adopted him 4 months ago. He runs out of the room when she comes in. She is getting increasingly frustrated. She tries to be friends with him but he just runs off and she chases after him shouting 'You stupid cat,'. She loves him but doesn't know how to treat him in a way that will endear him to her. Any advice?

Answer 1

She needs to realise its not a toy and requires respect.
If she respects the cat it will learn to trust her and become affectionate towards her.

Answer 2

This is a tough one as children rarely have the patience to give animals the space to come to them.
The irony is that if she ignores the cat she will be giving him the time and space to investigate her, and he will gradually get the confidence to approach and get to know her.
Older cats generally do not like children very much because they are noisey and have a habit of chasing them shouting things like you stupid cat. Obviously this is not going to improve the situation!
I feel sorry fror you daughter who obviously wants to love him.
I suggest that you create a situation where by she gets a bit of attention from the cat and the cat benefits from this. Let her be the one who feeds him. When she puts the food down, she can give him a few strokes. Get some yummy treats so that at some point during the day, she can offer him one.
Limit their interaction to this for several weeks.
Eventually the cat will react if he knows that she won't be smothering him in a very unwelcome fashion, and she won't feel so rejected.
If she is the one who feeds him, his attitude to her will quickly improve and soften.
Hope things work out!

Answer 3

Not a good idea to let you daughter kiss the cat, as cats tend to roll about in the grass etc, just as dogs do, also you never know what you cat has been eating outside.I find that cats will run away from children sometimes as their voice has a very high pitch, and as you will know a cat has very sensitive hearing.
Nice to know though that you child wants to love animals long may it last, just keep you eye on your daughter doesn't annoy your cat and get bitten or scratched it might put her off.

Answer 4

An old cat or pet of any kind really isn't ideal with young children unless they've grown up together. My daughter is the same with all her pets, luckily we've had them all since they were babies and even the ferrets kiss her back, one lays in her arms like a baby and the cat is happy to be in the push chair or following her round the house, garden or street. Would it be possible to get her a kitten or something so that they can grow up together, the new pet will get used to all her affection and the old cat will get some peace.

Answer 5

yes - get a dog! they like to be treated well. Well, ok - if i'm serious - You have to tell Your daughter that a cat is very INDEPENDENT - in the utmost meaning of this word. He goes where he wants, he does what he wants - Your daughter just have to accept it - he will come WHEN HE WANTS. I know from my own experience - i have a she-cat - she is very old now maybe 12 - i don't know - i'm 23 - so i grew up with her - at the beginning i wanted to always carry her around in my arms - but she just hated that, she would scretch me to get away. With years i learned that i should not do that, i learned to respect her too, and she always comes to me whenever she wants - sometimes even in the middle of the night - then i just should count myself the lucky one - and when she decided to leave in 30 min - i have to respect that too and don't hold her in order to make her want come back.

There is a saying - 'dogs think that they are humans, cats think that they are gods' ... :)

Answer 6

My nephew does the same thing. They think the cat is some sort of cartoon character and they find him cute and want to hug and kiss him. They don't see him as an animal that might not enjoy the affection they give him. Just show her how to pet the cat the way he likes it. He will warm to her eventually. I'm sure it's just a phase she's going through.

Answer 7

Give it time..my 4yr old daughter went through the same thing..over time the cat will warm up and she will "pet the kitty" more gently. My cat sleeps on her bed sometimes...so they're pals now. On the other hand, by 1 yr old boy likes to grab hold and not let go...so she is skiddish around him...

Hold the cat and have your daughter come over, take her hand and gently pet the cat...show by example...

Answer 8

My advise would be for you to each your daughter how to treat the cat. He can't. Holding him and kissing is probably overwhelming for the cat. Teach her to sit on the chair beside kitty and pet him nice. Letting her run screaming behind him only drives him away more.

Answer 9

Read this article. It will help offer some insight as to how to teach your daughter to handle the cat properly.

http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/kidscats.pdf

Also, please keep in mind that children often learn by imitation, so be aware that she will see how other people treat the cat and will mimic them. Take advantage of that when you are both around the cat by handling it gently. She hopefully will pick up on it.

Answer 10

I actually used to do this same thing when I was her age, and therefore had the same problem. You need to tell her that she is treating him too much like a stuffed animal. Tell her that hugging a cat too often and getting in its face is frightening and disorienting to the cat, as they are not touchy-feely animals. She needs to let the cat come to her when it wants attention, and give it its space otherwise.

My mom told me this, and now I have my own cat who just loves me and follows me around... :-)

Answer 11

The cat is just scared of your daughter because she's so forceful, my granddaughter treated our dog the same way.. He would stay under the bed until she went to school or bed, but he soon grew out of it