How to acclimate my cat to robot vacuum cleaner

[minish]

Hello all
I just bought a robot vacuum cleaner. I ıt hasn't arrived yet. It will make noise, although less than the regular vacuum. Since minish hates the regular one, I am afraid this will be her new enemy. Is there any possibility she might come to accept it? What can I do?

 

[Maria Bayote]

There is no guarantee that Minish will accept this new one, considering the complexity of cats. I guess you just have to wait and see. My suggestion is after unboxing it do not use it first. Let it stay there and allow Minish to investigate and sniff at it. Regular vacuums do create a lot of noise, so maybe this one will be more acceptable to your cat.

Do let us know what happens.
Goodluck.

 

[ArtNJ]

They are loud enough for most cats to hate them. NBD if you are in a house and they can avoid. If you are in a small apartment, they might cause some stress, but then again, with nowhere to get away from it, they might be more likely to get used to it. Apartment cats can get used to a lot.

 

[vince]

Mine don't dislike the robot vacuum as much as the regular one, but they're definitely not a fan. They leave the room, but not with the same sense of panic an upright vac evokes.

 

[game misconduct]

graycie just sits ontop of her cat tree to spy is all she does on our cleaning days is just to nosey and gets in the way always she thinks the swiffer duster is a stick toy

 

[tabbytom]

I just bought a robot vacuum cleaner. I ıt hasn't arrived yet. It will make noise, although less than the regular vacuum. Since minish hates the regular one, I am afraid this will be her new enemy. Is there any possibility she might come to accept it? What can I do?

Firstly, when your new vacuum cleaner arrives, leave the the box out and let Minish check out the box. Then open the box and take out the vacuum cleaner and let her smell and explore. Leave it there for awhile. Either she'll smell it or instantly walk away, which is ok.

Once she's done that, fire up the vacuum cleaner and let Minish's natural reaction take place. She could hide, move away or follow the vacuum cleaner or may just watch from a distance and move away when the thing gets nearer.

Once she finds that it's not a threat to her, her retreat is normal as many cats do that. They are being cautious and may just hide or watch from a distance and when all the vacuuming is over, they'll come out from wherever they are.

Most importantly is let her check it out first. I always do this when I buy something home and I'll leave it out so that my boy can see and smell it and sometimes I just rub my hands all over his body that rub my hands all over the item to transfer his scent over.

As for noise plus movement, it's natural that cats will hide from it.

 

[Caspers Human]

Some cats like to ride on Roomba robotic floor cleaners.


You never know... Maybe your cat will think it’s fun, too!

 

[minish]

Thank you all. Caspers Human nooo way! Minish is not the adventure type at all
tabbytom and Maria Bayote I followed your advice. Minish was very curious also cautious. After a while, I put her kibble on the vacuum, she ate half of it then I moved it away, pausing to let her eat the rest. She wasn't thrilled with this new game of mine, but it helped.
Minish goes on top of to the furthest sofa in the furthest room when I normally vacuum, laser beaming the beast. I was afraid something similar would happen but the result is great:

 

[tabbytom]

Some cats are adventurous, some cats are timid, some are brave and some are cautious. So they react to different things in different ways.

So now, Minish choose to watch from some height and just observe the vacuum cleaner. This will be her safe distance and if she finds it too intimidating, she'll probably seek else where and watch from a real safer distance.

So don't worry, she's ok with it but at the same time cautious.