Terrified Of Children

[murielle]

Hello There,

I am the proud cat mom of two of the sweetest cats in the world!

Our big guy, Beau is a super friendly, very social cat (to Beau no one is a stranger, just a friend he hasn't met yet). We live in an apartment and we have nightly (and closely supervised) play date with a neighbouring cat and his mom. Since we live on the first floor they have their play time in the lobby, running around and wrestling etc.

I should probably give you a bit of background with Beau. He's two now and we adopted him at six months through a rescue group who was in collaboration with a pet store in fostering Beau with his sister. They had the run of the store during the day.

Being their play time is in the lobby there's a bit of traffic and Beau says hello to everyone who enters the building (if Walmart had a greeter's vest for cats I would buy one). However, his behaviour has changed in the last few weeks. It all began when someone brought their little girl to visit her grandmother. She was about two and she was delighted to see two kitties she could pet. His reaction to the little girl was really weird. Instead of saying hello like he usually does, his eyes became huge and he went directly to our apartment door to and started scratching at it desperately. The child didn't get so much of a pat.

At the time I thought it might be because, as we live in an adults-only building, he hasn't been around any children. Plus, since the little girl was excited, she did what any two year old would do, squeal and clap her hands. It happened again last night, when a group of kids and their dad were leaving the building but then I figured it was because they had a little boy about the same age as the little girl and he didn't trust really young children. But today, another family was dropping things off and they didn't have a toddler with them and he freaked right out. But as soon as they left he was fine back to his friendly self greeting people at the door.

It's baffling and I'm wondering if I can fix it. If anyone has any advice that would be great!

Thanks for your time

P.S. Apologies for the book like post.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Hekitty (my cat) had an unfortunate experience when she was a kitten that left her very, very shy of children. She's almost 10 now, and still has issues. Lately it has gotten a good bit better, but only because my neighbor has a little girl who is self-controlled enough to sit very quietly on the floor and talk with Hekitty in a soft voice. Over time, Hek has gotten brave enough to actually walk up and allow gentle pats. It may take something like that, if you can find the right child who is willing to help. If you tell them that Kitty was frightened and you need help getting him to learn that small people can be safe, most kids are more than willing to do whatever their maturity level allows.

 

[Neo_23]

A lot of cats don’t like small children. Their movements are fast and unpredictable and I think cats sense that they are not completely “stable”.

I think kids are sometimes just too intense for cats.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

This is so true. Cats are little energy sponges, and small children, with their high output, can overwhelm a cat who hasn't been accustomed to them from a very young age.

 

[danteshuman]

I can always tell when my niece & nephew come over ... my cats HIDE when the car pulls up! My room is the 'safe' room and no kids or visitors are allowed. However I do leave my door open (I hang a curtain in front of my door for privacy.) Which means my cats can come down and interact if they want to. My niece & nephew are now 5 & 6. Dante is getting a bit braver and comes half way down the stairs in the evenings when they are quieter. Both my guys will go down in the nighttime when the kids are asleep and explore around the air mattress. I'm letting them form a relationship at their own pace ... and always praise them for being brave. Perhaps when you see a kid coming open your door a crack but stay in the hallway? That way your cat can explore kids at his own pace?