color black

Do cats associate color with fear or a threat??? My cat looked at me today in the cold snowy east coast. Had a black vest over a sweatshirt. He looked at me and got scared. Proceeded to pee where he should not have. Very odd behavior? Perhaps he associates it with something bad when he was young?

I've never heard of fear of a color but something you did certainly could have reminded him of some scary past event. I would think scent would trigger that more strongly than odor though. Were these clothes you wear often or were they something you pulled out for the occasion due to the snow? Maybe they smell like a cat you used to have?

one time i was putting on a mudmask and it made my face completely brown, luna had been sitting next to me the entire time i was applying it, rubbing her tail against me, and then as soon as i'd applied it all and looked at her she went running. she freaked out! she hid behind the bathroom door and kept peeking around and giving out a strange timid meow and wouldn't come near me until i took it off....she knew it was me, but as soon as my face changed colour she freaked!

If it was a puffy vest it may have changed your shape and made you look funny. Same thing with the mask-- it's probably not the color but rather the change of appearance/shape. Same reason why some animals act funny when someone puts on a hat.
Cats see a limited range of color so it is likely the brown mask vs. your skin would just look darker to them, not necessarily a different color (cats do not see red, yellow, and green well so they all appear similar to them.)

I agree, I think it may have just masked your appearance. Whenever I put on my winter ski jacket, which is rather bulky, Mony won't let me pet her. It's like she doesn't know it's me.

I have a red raincoat that terrifies Rocky. I don't know if it's the color or the sound it makes, but he runs away and hides. My other two cats don't seem bothered by it.

Possibly he feels threatened in some way. He's been acting very strange lately