Stranger Danger

[LAL]

Poor Melody. She was happy to see me home 2 hours early from work--especially since I went ahead and opened her up a can of food. About 5 minutes later, the HVAC guy showed up to service my A/C. I let him in and warned him that I had a cat. As he started to looks the inside part over, I looked for Melody. She was under a desk, as far into a corner as she could get. And, she was making this distressed sound I had not heard from her, kind of a breathless cry.

The HVAC guy went out to the outside portion of the A/C, and after a few minutes, Melody slunk--pressed as low and making herself as small as possible--into my bedroom. Then, she got into the smallest portion of the headboard and stayed until he left and I could talk her out.

She's hidden before when people have come over, but not to this degree. But, it has been several months since anyone other than me and she have been in the condo. Is my cat too attached to just me? Should I do something about it? Try to have family over more to get her used to a few other people?


[I adopted her last October and know she had been at the shelter for several months. And, at an overcrowded shelter in a neighboring state before that. I don't know her history before that. 5 y/o F]

 

[rubysmama]

Awww... poor Melody. At least she found herself a comfy place to hide. She's a beauty, BTW.

I'm not sure if bringing more people into the house would make a difference, especially if her personality is to be timid or shy.

TCS has a couple articles on shy & timid cats that may be helpful:

10 Must-know Tips For Happy Living With A Shy Cat
16 Top Cat Experts Share Tips For Dealing With Timid Cats

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I doubt that any of your prior visitors had started taking your house apart. That has to be a shock to a shy cat's system! I'd have hidden, too, if some stranger had come into my house and started demolishing it...which, from her point of view, is what happened.

The articles that rubysmama gave you are excellent. Any socialization you do should be with well-screened people whom you utterly trust. Arrange for them to come over, one at a time to start with, sit quietly on your couch or a chair, speak softly, and ignore Melody completely. That part is very important. Once she is confident enough to be in the room with them without hiding, they can begin placing a cat treat on the floor near them, still not looking at her. That starts associating good things with their presence. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should they attempt to touch her until she invites that attention. This can, and may well, take months of work, but it can be done.

 

[susanm9006]

It is possible that despite your efforts to socialize her Melody may always hide from strangers, and that is okay, it is really really common. You can make the visitor experience less traumatic for her by shutting her into her “safe” room or the room the farthest from the visitors or workmen before they arrive and leave her there until they depart. Then open the door and let her come out when she is ready after they leave. Not fussing over her or looking for her is the best thing to helping her get back to normal.

One other thing to keep in mind is that having a cat who is perfectly happy to meet strangers, isn’t necessarily a good thing. One of mine was interested and friendly with anyone who came in the door. But people coming to work at your home don’t want to step around curious cats or have them playing with their tools or following them out the door. So when work was being done she needed to be shut into her room, and usually I had a DO NOT OPEN sign on the door.