Noises Your Cats Are Afraid Of

KittyCatCove

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I'm curious how other forum members cats react.

My 3 fur babies tend to be afraid of these sounds to some degree or another...
  • Metal on metal, i.e. pots and pans clanging together went taken out or put away (Buddy).
  • Unraveling/shaking out a new plastic trash bag (Buddy).
  • Firecrackers, especially during 4th of July (All, but my Patches is terrified).
  • Very close/loud thunder (Blackie, Patches more so).
Your cats?
 

ArtNJ

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I'm going to only do a surprising one, because it is no fun to list things like dog's barking:

-Mother's walker. Well, we think its the walker. She isn't that loud. She, well to be honest, she smells bad these days, so it's not completely clear, but we think its the walker.
 

FeebysOwner

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Feeby mostly hides whenever she hears:
  • Fireworks
  • Any thunder at all, even in the distance
  • Hard rain
  • Garbage and any other large trucks passing by on the street
  • Metal on metal, i.e. pots and pans clanging together went taken out or put away (startles Feeby, but she doesn't always run off)
  • Lawn mower, but not other motorized lawn equipment (she always waits until she can see you pushing the lawn and then runs)
With the vacuum, Feeby doesn't run off, but watches it to make sure it is not coming near her. And when it is sitting out but not running, she veers WAY around it to get to her destination.
 
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KittyCatCove

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Lilith hates everything about the vacuum. Sophie's not really afraid of anything.
I never met a cat that could tolerate a vacuum cleaner in close proximity. I've seen the YT vids, but those cats are rare.
 
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KittyCatCove

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Sophie's not bothered by it at all. I think if I bought a robotic one that she'd ride it around the room. :lol:
LOL! She must have a very calm demeanor. All the cats I ever had were never that chill, probably because they were all rescues.
 

Etarre

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Ditto with the vacuum cleaner for Juniper. She's not scared of thunder, though, which surprises me. And rain hitting the a/c doesn't scare her per se, but it does make her a bit jumpy and unsettled.

She also just has really sensitive hearing, and while she's not scared of most sounds, it does kind of result it kitty ADD, in that she has to go investigate every single sound, so she is easily distracted and finds it hard to really settle down and relax.
 

KarenKat

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Gohan and Trin were most afraid of Randall’s sneezes. No one else’s sneezes, just his. Later this evolved into anyone taking a big breath in for a cough or sneeze would cause both cats to jump off the bed in anticipation.

His sneezes were not insane, they tended to be a bit loud and hard a harsh “barking” quality to them. I’m more of an “Achoo” sort of girl.

Olive was not bothered by sneezes but she would freeze when a motorcycle engine sounded. She was recently a stray so probably survival.

Since we moved to Colorado, Olive and Gohan are experiencing their first thunderstorms. So far they are mildly concerned and freeze a little but not very frightened.

Gohan hates sizzling cooking sounds. He doesn’t get frightened but if you are making bacon he zooms around the house and shouts at the top of his lungs.
 

susanm9006

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Willow is afraid of just about everything.

Outside noises:
People talking outdoors
Car doors slamming
Thunder
Construction noises
The sound of the mailbox being opened or closed
Knocking on the door or the door bell ringing
Fireworks
Heavy wind

Inside noises:
Vacuum cleaner
Electric tools being used
Fast footsteps
Mixer, blender, food processor
Ice cubes dropping into ice tray in fridge
Water softener cycling

Basically the only noises she doesn’t panic from are the dishwasher, fan, water running, tv/music and my hair dryer.
 

DreamerRose

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Mine are afraid of thunder and any scraping noise, like turning the page in a book. I guess it sounds like a hiss. Also thumping noises outside. They expect wildlife is getting too close. They jump and run away when the doorbell rings.
 

PushPurrCatPaws

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Hm, lessee. :ruminating:

Milly does pretty good with almost all sounds, except she's very afraid and runs away frantically when I get the Reynold's Wrap and pull out a sheet of foil. That's terrifying (or hurts her ears) for some reason. And she does fine with motorcycles driving by but CANNOT stand the sound of any type of whining, higher-pitched scooter. She's always been afraid of scooters. Occasionally, fireworks which are let off right in front of our building around July 4th scare her. (My list is getting longer! lol, I'll stop now!)
 

Graceful-Lily

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Felix is afraid of the sound of someone knocking on the door because a knock on the door means a stranger is near... and Felix doesn't like strangers. So, when he hears the door knocking, he will run and hide under my bed or in a tight spot in the basement. Once they are gone, it can take anywhere from 45 minutes - 2 hours for him to emerge from hiding.
 

Kat0121

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LOL! She must have a very calm demeanor. All the cats I ever had were never that chill, probably because they were all rescues.
I call her my little tomboy. Not much gets her rattled. She's super curious about everything. Yes. She is usually quite calm until she gets a bout of the zoomies. Then she goes on a tear and things get broken. She wants to investigate the vacuum when it's on.

ETA: She and Lilith were rescued from an abandoned house with about 20 family members. Likely a backyard breeder that got evicted or foreclosed on who left the cats behind.
 

duncanmac

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Barry doesn't like crinkly sounds like foil and plastic bags and he hates the door bell, mostly because it means strangers.
Fireworks annoy Duncan. He gets upset but doesn't know why and its one of the very few times he exhibits redirected aggression.
None of them are too fond of the vacuum, loud popping sounds or the garbage truck
 

vince

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All three of mine run for cover when I start the vacuum cleaner.

Sir Eats-A-Lot and Meep both are terrified of a "Bronx cheer" made through a paper towel tube.

Meep doesn't run at the sound of loud firecracker reports, but sometimes will growl softly upon hearing them.

Chesterfield seems to be afraid of my old Seeburg coin piano. He runs even from the sound of the nickel being put into the slot.
 

aliceneko

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Even though we have socialised him, Fudge is still very scared of a lot of sounds - Toffee is generally fine, but Fudge is just a "scaredy-cat" in his nature and that's just how he is. Things that particularly scare him are:

- The vacuum cleaner
- The hairdryer (this scares Toffee too)
- Doors banging
- Large or heavy objects being clunked down unexpectedly
- Human sneezes
- Human yawning
- Whistling
- Children shouting
 

Hlee

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Sophie's not bothered by it at all. I think if I bought a robotic one that she'd ride it around the room. :lol:
We have one like that also.! She seems to like it and wants to be real close .
She likes when my husband uses loud power tools also .
 
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