Cat: Fear of People, Other Animals and Places

My cat seems to be afraid of people and or other animals - why might that be?

There are many reasons why cats develop fears, for example there may have been limited exposure to people and other animals when the cat was young. Socialisation is an important aspect of raising a kitten and without adequate, continuous and positive interactions with people and other animals, cats may be fearful in their interactions with them later in life. Since the socialisation period in cats runs between approximately two and seven weeks of life the early environment of the kitten is most important. If a kitten has been raised appropriately but then has even just one unpleasant experience that was intense or traumatic enough, it can go on to learn to be fearful and this learning may then generalise to similar situations. For example, a bad experience with a small child could result in a cat that is fearful of all small children. Sometimes a number of unpleasant events “paired” or associated with a person or animal can lead to increasing fear. For example, if a pet is punished by a particular person or experiences some disturbing event in the presence of another animal, it may begin to pair the stimulus (the person or other animal) with the unpleasant consequence. 

Genetic factors are also important in the tendency to develop excessive fearfulness. There are some cats that are inherently timid and fearful and these individuals may never become outgoing and highly sociable, no matter how hard we try!

Can I prevent fears from developing?

A kitten should be chosen which appears non-fearful and sociable. Assessing and observing both of the kitten’s parents will give some insight into the personality that a kitten may develop when it grows up and it is particularly important to consider the temperament of the father, since there is good scientific evidence that there is a strong paternal influence over the boldness component of a kitten’s personality.

As well as this, early, frequent and pleasant encounters with people of all ages and types can help prevent later fear of people. Similar positive exposure to other animals as well as a variety of safe environments and environmental features (vacuum cleaners etc) can also help to prevent later development of fear of other animals and novel environments and situations.

What are the signs of fear?

The behaviour patterns displayed by a cat who is frightened can be both active and passive. A cat may show signs of agitation or aggression, such as arched back, piloerection (hair standing on end) and hissing, and in these cases it is relatively easy to identify that the cat is in distress. In contrast, frightened cats may also hide, try to appear smaller, place their ears back and become immobile and if an individual adopts this second strategy it may be easier for their distress to be overlooked.

What information do I need to identify and treat my fearful pet?

A behavioural consultation is needed for cats that are showing extreme fears and/or aggression so that all of the possible contributing factors can be assessed and addressed.

If the fears are mild, then owner intervention may help to prevent them from progressing. Firstly you need to identify the fear inducing stimulus. This is not always easy and it is important that you pin point the exact stimulus which is causing the behavioural response. You want to know which people or animals the cat is afraid of and where the fearful behaviour occurs. Often there are certain situations, people and places that provoke the behaviour more than others.

For treatment to be most successful, it is important to be able to place the fear inducing stimuli along a gradient from low to high. Identify those situations, people, places and animals that are least likely as well as most likely to cause the fear. 

In addition to identifying the fear inducing stimulus, it is important to also examine the factors which might be reinforcing the behaviour. Some owners reward the fearful behaviour by reassuring their pets with vocal intonations or body contact. Aggressive displays are a successful way of getting the fear inducing stimulus to leave and the retreat or disappearance of the stimulus also serves to reinforce the behaviour. Reinforcing stimuli need to be removed and if aggressive behaviour is involved strategies need to be introduced to avoid these situations.

Any ongoing interactions that provoke fear, such as teasing behaviour, painful interactions, and punishment, need to be identified and removed.

What happens after I have identified the stimuli?

Cats have a very highly developed flight response and when faced with a threatening situation their overwhelming instinct is to get away. It is therefore important for you to be able to control your cat and prevent it from "running away" before there has been a chance for it to discover that the stimulus is not in fact a threat. This can be accomplished in a number of ways. It may be possible to limit your cat’s retreat opportunities by closing the door to the room but it is then important to make sure that there are some suitable retreat locations within the room that the cat can get to. If you decide to use a harness and lead it is also important to allow your cat to retreat when necessary and if an indoor pen is used it should contain a cardboard box which enables your cat to hide if it all becomes too intense. 

The first stage of dealing with feline fears is to teach your cat to make an association between non-fearful situations and relaxation. For some cats the delivery of tasty food rewards such as prawns can be beneficial but remember that cats are less motivated by food than dogs and you may need to search to find something that they really appreciate. The aim of this training is to encourage relaxed behaviour, which can subsequently be associated with the fear inducing stimulus by a process of counter conditioning. It can be beneficial to increase the cat’s level of relaxation by using a Feliway diffuser, which dispenses a synthetic analogue of a feline familiarisation scent signal.

"The first stage of dealing with feline fears is to teach your cat to make an association between non-fearful situations and relaxation."

For most feline fears and certainly those that involve a fear response of any magnitude a programme of counter-conditioning and desensitisation will be the most successful way to acclimatise the cat to the stimuli that cause the fearful response. It is vital to do this slowly. Start by exposing the cat to very low levels of the stimulus that do not evoke fear. Reward the cat for sitting quietly and calmly. Save all rewards for these retraining sessions so that the cat is highly motivated to get the reward. The cat soon learns to expect rewards when placed in the indoor pen or restrained on the harness and exposed to the stimulus. Gradually the stimulus intensity is increased. If the cat becomes afraid during training you should stop and take time to acclimatise your cat to the previous intensity level before proceeding. Set the cat up to succeed. Over time, the stimulus can be presented at closer distance, or in a louder or more animated manner but remember that cats are not obligate social creatures and therefore you are not aiming for the same level of social acceptance as you would expect to achieve with a dog. At all times the cat must have the option to retreat and hide if necessary. If you do not feel that you are progressing adequately through this process, please seek help from a recognized behaviour practitioner.

For very mild fears, cats may settle down with constant exposure to the diluted fearful situation, provided there are no consequences that aggravate the fear. For example, cats kept in an indoor pen for a few days in a boarding facility will often get used to the situation and settle down, provided there are no events that add to the fear. 

My cat still encounters the fearful stimulus when we are not in a training exercise. What should I do then?

Each time the cat experiences the fearful stimulus and reacts with fear, the behaviour is reinforced. Try and avoid the fear-producing stimulus, if possible. This may mean confining the cat in a room out of the way when children visit, or the house is full of strangers. Drug therapy can be useful to reduce fears and anxieties during times when the stimulus cannot be avoided and for this you should consult your veterinary surgeon. On occasion, drugs may also be required during the retraining programme but this will have to be decided by your vet or a veterinary behaviourist.