Kind of Cute and Kind of Sad - Cats and Halloween

[tallyollyopia]

To start off with, our house has six cats; Momma, Slipper, Asia, Ra, Spot, and Princess; and four humans; me, AWM, IB, and RB. (IB was out of town yesterday.)

Well, yesterday was Halloween (yay!) and it was costume time. Last year we didn't really celebrate Halloween (we gave out candy--but didn't dress up) and two years ago we didn't have cats. Yesterday, AWM, RB, and I went to a party last night. Since it was a Halloween party, we were all dressed up in costume. (We also kept the cats in all day yesterday and all night last night, for their safety.)

The cats didn't know what to make of it. Asia kept attacking the hem of RB's robe (he was a monk) and the bottom part of my dress (I was a Greek Goddess), and hissing at AWM's costume (she was a pirate. Poor Ra was in horrible shape; he kept wandering the house crying for RB (his human), and he just didn't know what was up with the strange people infesting his home. (It was made worse by the fact that RB picked him up to pet. Ra didn't know whether to enjoy being the center of attention or cry because he didn't know where his human was.) Momma cat hid under the bed and Spot kept alternating between rubbing against the costumed people and trying to chase them away. Princess and Slipper had the most relaxed reaction, but they saw me change into costume. They still avoided us, but they didn't hiss or try to run away.

We were all mobbed when we got up this morning. Slipper woke me up this morning because she was crying, and she leaped into my arms when she realized I wasn't in costume anymore, Ra has been sticking to RB like glue, Momma cat has cuddled with both AWM and me today (she doesn't normally cuddle with me; I'm not her human), Asia decided to stay on my bed (not sure why), Spot has been cuddling with all of us, and Princess has tried to play with everyone. (Normally she only tries to play with everyone except me; I'm the one they go to when they want food.)

How did everyone else respond to their first Halloween?

 

[nshur6]

For Halloween, my roommate was a werewolf. He had a full mask that was pretty terrifying and when my cat saw it, she flipped out and ran under my bed. I later went to see if she was alright and tried to comfort her but she ended up attacking me and made me bleed from multiple scratches and bites. I didn't pick her up or anything, I just tried to pet her and comfort her but she seemed to not be having it. It has been a day since then and she seems okay except when I hold her, she jumps off of me suddenly and leaves scratches on me from the sudden movement and I don't know what to do about it because she usually cuddles me and sleep with me but now all she wants to do is scratch me and run away. Should I just give her some space or try giving her treats when she's being good? I don't really know how to clearly distinguish her good behavior from her bad behavior so she knows.

 

[recomper]

That sucks to hear. That's strange, I thought cats relied more on more than on sight. I saw a few videos of cats scared of costumes on youtube and it was strange. Maybe it was the costume's smell overridden the human smell? 

I have no clue as to what's the next step you should do.

 

[losna]

Sinbad and Tempest were terrified their first halloween. The constant doorbell rings, loud over-sugared kids tramping around, they remained in complete hiding. Well, sort of. Sinbad came out to protect Tempest, although he was clearly terrified. He was literally trembling with fear despite resolutely standing guard between her door and the front door.

They were jumpy for a few days afterward, but got over it. This year we skipped halloween, so I don't know if it would have been better or not.

@recomper There is some element of sight recognition. Sinbad definitely reacts when I wear different hairstyles. I usually wear my hair in a bun, he was afraid of me the first time i put it in a ponytail. He isn't afraid anymore when I have a hairstyle he hasn't seen, but he does become uncertain and there is a period of caution before he behaves normally toward me.

 

[mollyblue]

I think cats rely on all their senses for protection... I mean if something looks scary, my cats will see no need to go sniff it to be sure.  If something looks okay, but is something they have not seen before, then they might approach it and sniff cautiously to be sure.  I think you are right that the costumes emitted their own smell, especially if they were new, included wearing makeup outside of ordinary cosmetics, or had a lot of polyurethane or rubber or whatever.

We didn't do anything for halloween and never get trick or treaters at our apartment so I have no stories to tell about that, but my daughter did recently have a massage therapist come to the house to give her a sports massage, and the cats did not like it one little bit...  I have never had cats react like that to having a stranger in the house, but then strangers do not usually come in and have us lie down and then put their hands on us... Our deaf cat especially will get freaked out if something looks different  or out of place

 

[recomper]

Thanks for the answers guys.