Bizarre reaction to human sneezing...

We took in our kitten Olivia when she was three weeks old ( she was abandonded at the bottom of a garden )

She was suffering from kitten flu, sneezing and spluttering badly and we nearly lost her several times. Luckily she recovered thanks to a good vet and lots of care

She's now 9 months old and very active!

She has a very strange habit however, if any human in the same room sneezes, coughs or sniffs deeply, then she whimpers for about 5-10 seconds and often puts her paws over her head.

Could this be some sort of repressed memory to her own illness ? !

It really is very strange because she whimpers every time without fail when someone sneezes!

Originally Posted by fosterm

We took in our kitten Olivia when she was three weeks old ( she was abandonded at the bottom of a garden )

She was suffering from kitten flu, sneezing and spluttering badly and we nearly lost her several times. Luckily she recovered thanks to a good vet and lots of care

She's now 9 months old and very active!

She has a very strange habit however, if any human in the same room sneezes, coughs or sniffs deeply, then she whimpers for about 5-10 seconds and often puts her paws over her head.

Could this be some sort of repressed memory to her own illness ? !

It really is very strange because she whimpers every time without fail when someone sneezes!

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It could be. The sound may also frighten her. When I sneeze, Pudge runs and hides under the bed.

yeah we did consider it was because she was scared but i don't think that's the case as nothing scares this one, not even a hoover on full blast next to her lol

Very strange cat

Originally Posted by fosterm

yeah we did consider it was because she was scared but i don't think that's the case as nothing scares this one, not even a hoover on full blast next to her lol

Very strange cat

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Sounds it. Cats have such strange little quirks.

Whenever Max or I sneeze, Sunday doesn't notice, but Sashka looks at us as if to say, `Do you MIND??? You are ruining my contemplation!!'

My cat Shane gets sort of mad at me, when I sneeze. He gives me a disgruntle "Meow", when I do. Funny thing is, it's alright if he sneezes, but neither human nor other cat dare sneeze in his presence.

Ohh that is just so sad. Poor kitty. I think cats do remember things that traumatized them. My cat Meish has a fear of things that crinkle (like plastic bags or the sound of when I take my watch off and the clasp jingles). One holiday we were putting up the beads and I kept an eye on them because Meish loves to EAT things that are stringy. Well behind my back she got a hold of them and I hollard at her to drop them and she took off running with them in her mouth and they kept slamming againts her as well as everything she ran by making quite a racket. She hid for about an hour after that and now whenever anything sounds similar to the beads she runs and hides. Poor thing. I have to try and wait to change the garbage bags until she is out of the room....