How do you know if a cat is scared?

 

The problem with scared cats is that they don’t always look like scared cats.

 

They may look like shy cats, or act pissed off.

 

Sometimes scared cats look aloof.

 

There’s a reason for this, and I’ll get into all the details below.

 

But whatever a scared cat looks like on the outside, know that a scared cat feels terrible on the inside. Not just a little terrible, but so terrible that getting scared – even just once – can cause major damage to a cat’s mental and physical health.

 

If you love cats, and if you love your own cat, especially, you’ll try to get to the root of your cat’s fear. You can then work to eliminate the source of the fear, or help your cat learn to cope with it.

 

Why is fear such a harmful emotion in cats?

 

Some of us humans (not me), love nothing more than a “good scare.” Even the term “good scare,” describes the paradoxical pleasure some people feel when they allow themselves to be frightened: by taking a rollercoaster ride, for example, or seeing a horror film.

 

Psychologists describe these people as sensation seekers – they love the buzz that comes from a scary experience. Being frightened, for some people, causes a release of endorphins and dopamine that produces a sense of euphoria.[1]

 

Even a single fear-causing event can be damaging to a cat

 

But cats are not human. Far from giving cats a sense of euphoria, even a single fearful event can lead to a lifetime of psychological misery and physical ailments.

 

The psychology term for this is “one-trial learning.” Some cats only have to experience one traumatic, scary event to be affected by it for life.

 

Fear tends to get worse, not better in cats

 

Cats don’t tend to “get over” their fears over time (at least not without intervention on your part). Fears tend to get worse in cats as time passes, rather than fade.

 

A single fearful event can lead to fear about other things

 

A single traumatic fear event can trigger generalized fear in cats, meaning that cats can suddenly become afraid or anxious about things that are completely unrelated to the thing that started it all.[2]

 

Your cat may have started out afraid of the sound the coffee grinder makes, but suddenly she becomes afraid of the dishwasher running, the mailman, and your backpack, too.

 

Fear can make a cat seriously ill

 

Scared cats are prone to a disease called “stress cystitis,” which is a type of urinary tract infection. It causes pain and blood in the urine, and can lead to a blocked bladder, which is a life-threatening condition. A cat with stress cystitis needs to see an emergency veterinarian immediately.

 

Fear can lead to problem behaviors

 

According to a study of 3,200 cats in Finland, fear is closely associated with problem behaviors in cats. Cats who experience fear can become aggressive toward humans, begin grooming excessively, and develop litter box issues.[3]

 

Unfortunately, aggression and peeing/pooping outside the litter box are among the top reasons that cats are relinquished to shelters.

 

A shelter is not a great place for any cat to end up, let alone a cat with behavior problems. According to the American Humane Society, 71% of all cats in shelters are ultimately euthanized.[4]

 

(Read more about scared cats in this post about cats and cucumbers.)

 

What does a scared cat do and what does a scared cat look like?

 

Cats who are scared might not look scared (see why below). They might look angry, or they might even look bored.

 

You may think your scared cat isn’t so much scared as “misbehaving.” (Cats don’t really misbehave, by the way.)

 

It’s up to you, your cat’s loving guardian, to synthesize all of the information about your cat’s behavior and vocalizations with the events going on in your cat’s world, and recognize that she might actually just be scared.

 

Here are some of the behaviors to look for that could indicate that a cat is scared:

 

• Hissing
• Growling
• Hiding
• Trembling
• Breathing quickly
• Squeezing himself into a ball
• Leaning away from an object or other source of fear
• Peeing or pooping outside of the litter box
• Scratching
• Biting
• Swatting
• Crouching
• Freezing
• Licking the nose
• Blinking quickly
• Flattening the ears and widening the eyes
• Tucking the tail
• Swishing the tail
• Puffing the fur, especially on the tail
• Swallowing behavior in a cat who is not eating

 

 

Why don’t scared cats always look like they're scared?

 

Cats are social beings, but they’re not as social as, say, dogs, or humans. They hunt alone, often eat alone, and sometimes live alone, too.

 

Consequently, they haven’t developed sophisticated communication skills. They don’t need them.

 

Humans, by contrast, are hypersocial beings. We have lots of tools in our communication tool bag: we use language, body language, and facial expressions to communicate information and our complex thoughts and feelings.[5]

 

Because cats are less social than we are, scared cats aren’t necessarily trying to tell you that they’re scared. What is on the outside of a scared cat, might not reflect what is going on emotionally on the inside of the cat.

 

Why do some cats seem to scare more easily than other cats?

 

Is being easily scared a question of nature or nurture? Actually, it’s both.

 

Nature

A cat’s genetics play an important role in a cat’s personality, including how timid or sensitive she is.

 

Support for this idea comes from the fact that certain cat breeds seem to have more confident personality profiles, including the Abyssinian, Cornish Rex, and Ocicat.[6] This suggests that fear, or fearlessness, are inheritable traits.

 

(Note that every cat is an individual who has his own way of interacting with the world around him, regardless of his breed.)

 

Nurture

A cat’s experiences early in life will shape who she becomes as an adult cat.

 

Many animal species have a window during babyhood when they are open to learning and experiencing new things. In kittens, this window is very short, happening mostly between two weeks of age and seven weeks (but continuing up to 14 weeks of age for some kittens).

 

What does this mean? Kittens who are introduced to people of all ages, other pets, household sounds (doorbells, appliance noises, baby cries), objects, and textures, such carpeting and hard flooring, are unlikely to find any of these things frightening as an adult.

 

(Read about the steps I take to socialize young cats when I foster orphaned kittens.)

 

The scientific study of Finnish cats mentioned above showed that well socialized kittens were less likely to be fearful than unsocialized kittens.[7]

 

How to comfort a scared cat

 

The way to comfort a scared cat goes against every loving human impulse you will ever have.

 

You are a primate, and primates want to pick up and hug another being who needs soothing or comfort. Every primate, from humans, to chimpanzees, to spider monkeys, is hardwired to hug.[8]

 

Cats do not want to be hugged when they are scared. They want to hide. Picking up, holding, or hugging your scared cat will only make things worse for her.

Let your scared cat hide

 

You can’t comfort your scared cat. You can only make it possible for him to comfort himself.

 

Let your cat decompress on her own. Put her in a quiet, safe room or area where she will be left completely alone. Provide a covered place for her to hide within the room, some cozy bedding, a place to perch, food, water, and a litter box.

 

And leave.

 

What are the kinds of things that scare a cat?

Cats are scared of all the things you might imagine they could be scared of:

· 

• Thunderstorms
• Strangers
• Other animals
• Car rides
• The veterinarian
• Vacuum cleaners
• Lawn mowers
• Fireworks
  
• Police sirens

 

But cats can also be scared of things you might not think are scary:

 

• Moving a piece of furniture
• New cat litter
• A new smell in the house (like a new candle)
• Being confined
• Her own reflection
• Brooms/mops
• Balloons
• Ceiling fans
• You, wearing a hat or a costume

·  

There is a Reddit post about a cat who is so afraid of kittens (not adult cats) that she vomits upon smelling one.[9]

 

In this same thread, other cat guardians comment about their cats’ fears of the ticking of an analog clock, the sound of a manual can opener (irony?), boxer shorts just out of the wash, a Slinky toy, bicycles, tinfoil, bubbles, measuring tapes, chickens, a white hairbrush (not a black one), bags when someone is holding one, but not a bag on the ground, and rollerblades.

 

In other words, before you dismiss an object, person, animal, or event as “not scary,” try to think like a cat.

 

Why are cats such…scaredy cats?

 

“Scaredy cat,” isn’t exactly a compliment, but it should be.

 

Being timid, cautious, suspicious, and finicky, and “acting first, thinking second” are the reason that cats have survived for the 10,000 or 12,000 years that it took for your cat to end up in your living room.

 

Cats may be predators, but they are also prey for larger animals. Depending upon where a cat lives, he could easily become dinner for a coyote, raccoon, fox, alligator, or stray dog. Reacting quickly to noise, change, and unexpected things in his environment could be the reason a cat gets to live another day.

 

“Neophobia” literally means “fear of new things,” and it’s an inborn trait in cats. Neophobia is likely the reason your cat is afraid of the new sofa you bought, but it is also the reason his ancestors didn’t nibble on poisonous plants, or wander over to investigate a litter of newborn wolf pups.

 

Be thankful for generations of scaredy cats.

 

Read about why some cats are finicky eaters in this post.

 

What to do if your cat is chronically anxious and fearful?

 

There are certain one-time kind of events that can frighten a cat: a loud noise, a vet appointment, a car ride. These can be harmful enough to a cat.

 

But there are other things that can cause continuous fear, leading to chronic stress behaviors like pacing, overgrooming, and litter box issues, and serious health issues. What can you do?

 

Take your cat to the vet

Because cats are so inscrutable, and so good at hiding how they’re really feeling, it can be easy to misinterpret certain cat behaviors.

 

Behaviors that look like fear, can actually be a sign that your cat is in pain or feeling sick.

 

Also, fear can actually be a side effect or result of illness.

 

Have a vet examine your cat to be sure that there is nothing else going on, before you try to treat “fear” that isn’t really fear, or isn’t the root cause of your cat’s unhappy behavior.

 

Learn your cat’s triggers

Try to suss out your cat’s everyday triggers. Is your electric toothbrush the thing that terrifies your cat? Is it your red Converse sneakers? Is it the new baby?

 

Only when you’ve identified the cause of your cat’s fears (even if they seem irrational to you), can you decide how to deal with it.

 

You might, for example, be able to buy a different kind of electric toothbrush, but I suspect you’re not going to give back the baby.

 

Remove the fear-causing thing, if possible

Helping your cat work through a fear is a noble, kind, and responsible thing to do for your cat. I am about to recommend that as well.

 

But if you can easily remove an object or sound from your environment that is terrifying your cat, maybe you should try that first.

 

Fear is such a damaging emotion for a cat, and their lives are so short, that if you can simply take away the thing that is terrifying them, my personal view is that you should do it.

 

Try a calming diffuser, or a calming probiotic

*Note: as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

I’m not promising miracles here, but it’s worth a try.

 

Consider a pheromone diffuser like Feliway, which is designed to mimic a mother cat’s calming chemical “smell,” or Purina Pro Plan’s Calming Cat Care Supplements, which are probiotics that supposedly help decrease the release of the stress hormone, cortisol.

 

Work with a veterinary behaviorist

 

If the cause of your cat’s fear will become a permanent part of his life, and you can’t remove that thing or person or other animal from his life, and you can’t keep him continuously separated from that thing, person, or animal, consider working with a board-certified veterinary behaviorist to help your cat.

 

The benefit of working with a veterinary behaviorist, as opposed to a certified animal behaviorist who is not also a veterinarian, is that a veterinary behaviorist can prescribe medications that can help manage your cat’s fear. These medications include some of the same things that some people take for anxiety and depression, like pregabalin (Lyrica), and fluoxetine (Prozac).

 

A veterinary behaviorist can work with you to:

 

Desensitize your cat to the object of her fear

Desensitization is the process of gradually and systematically exposing a cat to the thing that she is afraid of.

 

It begins with a low-level exposure. For example, if your cat is afraid of the sound of the hair dryer, the hair dryer could be wrapped in a sweatshirt and turned on in another room, away from the cat.

 

In many short sessions, over time, the hair dryer would likely be moved closer and closer to the cat and gradually unwrapped from the sweatshirt until it no longer produces a fear response.

 

This is an oversimplification of the process, but it gives you an idea.

 

Counter-condition your cat to his fear

Counter-conditioning involves pairing a positive experience with the fear-causing object or person, to replace the negative experience.

 

For example, if your cat is afraid of the sound of someone starting a car in your driveway, you could give your cat a treat every time someone starts a car.

 

Hopefully, over time, a cat will begin to associate something positive (a treat) with the sound of a car starting, instead of something negative (feeling afraid).

Why can’t you desensitize and counter-condition a cat yourself?

You can work with your own cat yourself. I'd encourage you to read about these behavioral methods and study as many videos as you can find. 

 

But because cats are so notoriously difficult to read, and because fear is such a potentially harmful emotion in cats, I recommend working with an expert who knows how to control the intensity of the experience for your cat. Behaviorists are also trained to watch for the very subtle signs of emotional in your cat.

 

The problem with accidentally overexposing your cat to her fear, even just a little, is that it could completely undo anything positive your cat has learned from your work on desensitization or counter-conditioning.

 

You can find a board-certified veterinary behaviorist here:

 

American College of Veterinary Behaviorists – Find a Diplomate

American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior - Directory

 

Keep your cat’s life predictable

 

While your cat is going through a fearful period, try to eliminate the other things in his world that could be adding to his stress.

 

Research on stress in cats suggests that multiple stressors can have an additive effect.[10] This means that doubling the number of things that upset the cat, will have MORE than double the negative effect.

 

One of the things that cats find particularly stressful is a change in routine. It’s not that your cat just “likes” his breakfast at 6:00 AM, and gets “angry” if you serve it at 7:00. Cats, some more than others, truly find an unpredictable routine to be extremely stressful.

 

As much as you can, try to stick to a routine, so that cats can expect food, for example, at certain times, and play at other times.

 

A predictable routine will go a long way toward reducing your cat’s stress level overall, and, ultimately, make his fear easier to manage and, hopefully, overcome.

 

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