Cat freaked out by cleaning lady

Hoboforeternity

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Hi all, i recently hired someone to deep clean my house every 2 weeks. Silver is REALLY freaking out because of her. She's usually afraid of new people, but never this afraid. What can i do to make silver better while the cleaning lady work?

In ordinary scenario, she usually would just hide until the guest is leaving, but this time she's still freaking out up to the point she won't eat unless i comfort and pet her for some time. She keep meowing, restless, for several hours until she calms down.

The cleaning lady i hired love cats and has some cats of her own, so my suspicion is she smells like other cats which makes silver on edge and her working spreading the smell around the house. She's really nice and really want to be friends with my cats, but silver especially were frightened.


When my mom came to visit she was scared too but not this scared. After a few days, silver would accept my mom and act normal around her. I have had other guests too even construction workers she never freaked out like this. Anything i can do?
 

Lulu&Finn

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I have the same, exact issue. Time has gone by now and Lulu calms down much faster than she used to. It takes her about a half hour to reappear after the lady leaves. She used to climb into the back of the old leather recliner and there would be a body print of her in the back while she was In there. FIt was terrible.
My cleaner has never seen her, not once in almost two years. Finn would ride ON the vacuum cleaner if we let him. Lol.
I have no advice. Life has to go on and they adapt. As much as I love her, like to death, I have to remember I can’t not do or have the things I like because of her.
 

susanm9006

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If there is one room the cleaning person doesn’t enter, then put her in that room. Otherwise, leave closet doors open or other spaces she prefers to hide in so she has a choice of where to hide, And after the cleaning person leaves do absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, except of course pet her if she is asking for it. The more you seem the same the quicker she will figure out it’s no big deal or at least come out more relaxed.
 

Tobermory

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If there is one room the cleaning person doesn’t enter, then put her in that room.
This is what I do. I have cleaners every three weeks, and shortly before they arrive, I herd the cats into a bedroom and close the door. It’s a room they like anyway and run into when they get startled. The cleaners know not to enter that room, and I just clean that one myself. The girls were all pretty scared at first, even after the cleaners left, but over time they’ve adjusted. They still don’t like it, but they come out as soon as I open the door after the cleaners leave.
 
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Hoboforeternity

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the problem is i need everything cleaned :/ I will try again next week. rivel is doing fine, but silver just freaked out. maybe after a while she will get used to it. reinforce it with some treats and all.
 
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Hoboforeternity

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the problem is i need everything cleaned :/ I will try again next week. rivel is doing fine, but silver just freaked out. maybe after a while she will get used to it. reinforce it with some treats and all.
hahaha thankfully they haven;t figured out to open drawers yet. they have learned to open my loose cupboard where I keep my toys, but they cannot reach the compartment above so they gave up
 
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