i dont mean the kids that pull their tails and chase them - I just mean any small children. the first time a small child came to my house my cats ran for the hills in terror, although they havent had any bad experiences with children. my friend said the same thing about hers. Is it cos small children are dog-sized??!
2006-12-09 08:49:06 · 24 answers · asked by monkeynuts 5 in Pets ➔ Cats
i don't know, but my guess is that children make more sudden movements, they talk louder, they walk heavier (even though they weigh less, most kids haven't learned not to stomp when they walk). They don't move in the ways that adults move. For a cat that lives with adults, they probably seem almost like a whole different animal than a grown person.
Also, kids tend to stare at cats, which freaks them out a little.
2006-12-09 08:55:25 · answer #1 · answered by Jessica 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think this a general cat trait. It maybe your cat is afraid of small children but it's not generally the case.
Your cat maybe just afraid of a new person, not neccesarily because the person is a child. Some animals , like people, just take an instant dislike to another person for no apparent reason. It maybe the cat doesn't like the way the person smells, or the person's body language is threatening to it.
I know with children, they usually want to reach out and pet a cat almost instantly before the cat has a chance to make a decision if the person is safe and friendly. The first reaction is to bolt before finding out the hard way that the person may not be nice. This instinct helps cats to survive.
If you want your cat to become use to being around children I would advise to introduce the cat slowly to children and work on making the association with children a pleasant experience.
With most cats I notice, if you are trying to introduce the cat to a new person. Have the new person take the time to sit quietly in the same room as the cat and with perhaps some treats next to him and allow the cat to come up to him rather than approaching the cat. This gives the cat some time to accept the new person.
2006-12-09 09:00:01 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure, it used to be the opposite way round when friend's children came to the house. I once found our cat cornering one of them in the living room - that child was absolutely terrified. The obvious thing would be that children are around eye level with cats, especially if they're crawling - children being curious tend to stare, which to a cat is openly hostile and challenging behaviour.
2006-12-10 02:38:58 · answer #3 · answered by Jen_Greebo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Little children aoften handel pets with less care. It doesn't mean they don't love the animal but they like to dress up animals, hold it tightly, or carry it by its legs or tail. It causes the cats to become scared around them. As the children and the cats get older they both with learn more and the child will ahndel the cat better so the cat will learn to except it.
2006-12-09 09:01:17 · answer #4 · answered by Blonde Babe 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some cats, including mine, are just plain scared of anything out of the ordinary. They are terrified of strangers. In particularly small kids because they don't always know how to treat cats. Don't worry about it. Try getting your cats used to kids.
2006-12-09 09:08:32 · answer #5 · answered by Jessie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I Think cats are born with the instinct that small children are a no no!( me too!
They know that if they get to close it will end up with a screwed up face...a pulled tail..and often a soggy one from being 'sucked;.and an object possibly stuck in one of its orifices!
2006-12-09 18:08:22 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My cats are different. The youngest one doesn't care who comes in the house. The older one doesn't mind kids as long as they don't jump around and yell. The oldest one will jump out, or chase down one of the grand-kids, and slap them up good if they start running and yelling. He knows they're afraid of him so he will set on the stairs and not let them up or down, and one of us has to make him move.
2006-12-09 09:12:34 · answer #7 · answered by Who am I? 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
At the last cat meet the others told them about their own bad experiences.
2006-12-09 08:56:01 · answer #8 · answered by nitenurse 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe because children give off a lot of hyper energy and cats pick up on it and feel like they're a threat to them, so they choose to run awaw from them.
2006-12-09 10:45:00 · answer #9 · answered by Angie A 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well some cats just dont like little children. some cats can be very terrified of them because they arent used to their smell or they dont look familiar to them, this is common to most cats. ( and to answer your second question, no its not cas they are dog sized!!!)
2006-12-09 08:54:24 · answer #10 · answered by Ashley H 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋