My cat seems to be scared of men but more relaxed with women is this possible?

[cat lover 1972]

my 2 and a half year old tortie is a rescue cat but was found as a stray hence her history is unknown. She took a few weeks to relax but is very loving and gentle girl. However when she sees a man, she hides. Is it possible she was abused by a man. My partner comes home every other weekend but she hides and is very slowly coming towards him. He feeds her treats and we are going to use a catnip present to try to get her confidence. My friends say that cats can't see the difference between men and women but i think they do-what do other people think?

We have has her about 6 weeks and we are seeing progress, but it is slow. We me alone she is very loyal, loving and sweet.

 

[cat lover 1972]

SORRY post title should say scared of men not shared!!!! 

 

[miss mew]

I just changed it for you :-)

When I was a kid our cat Tigger was the opposite.  Loved men and did not like women.  I always figured that he had been treated harshly by a woman.

 

[tracyi838]

I adopted a cat when she was 9 years old and not too long after I learned that she was also scared of men. She would run and hide under the bed. I could only assume that she was abused in some way because her actions seemed to be more fear based versus shyness. Given time, love and attention from your boyfriend, your kitty should come around. Just don't force it. :-)

 

[p3 and the king]

It is totally possible and probably very common.  Females tend to have higher and softer voices while males tend to have lower and more severe sounding voices so kittens and cats take that as an indicator of their mood or friendliness.  Also men tend to walk with heavier steps, too... This also frightens cats a lot.  Once kitty gets past the fear of these things and realize that is just how daddy sounds or walks normally, they should warm up.  But, I have known a lot of cats (and dogs) that were afraid of men but liked most women... At first. 

 

[mrblanche]

Your cat may not be able to see the difference, but she can hear and smell the difference.

We had one cat who loved women, but would hide if a man came in the house.  He liked me just fine.  However, if I was sweeping the floor, or had a hat on, he'd hide.  Of course, we made assumptions, but who knows if we were right?  We had another cat who loved men but didn't like women.  In his case, I think it was the female vet who treated him so long for a bad case of earmites when he was just a kitten.
 

 

[stephanietx]

My Callie was afraid of men when I first adopted her.  I didn't know, though, until I started dating my now husband.  She would hide when he came over, but she gradually warmed up to him over time.  She never really liked him though when he was wearing a cap!  Go figure!  Not knowing her background, I always figured she'd been abused by a male person wearing a hat.  They did become buds over the years though and was completely comfortable with him for the 11 years we all lived together.
 

 

[rad65]

I know that some cats dislike or are scared of a certain sex. My younger cat is absolutely terrified of women. I think it's because my roommate's old girlfriend would always stomp around in her heeled boots and would constantly pick him up and try to hold him like a baby (he HATES this), which would always send him running under my bed. Even without heavy shoes he hides when there is a woman over. He'll stay under my bed for hours, and lots of my female friends that visit don't even know I have two cats. However, he'll only hide for 5 or 10 minutes if my guy friends come over. I know he's only used to men since that's what both me and my roommate are, but I still find it strange that he distrusts women so much. It might also be the perfume, since neither me nor my roommate wear cologne or smelly deodorants, and my nose is pretty sensitive so I avoid air fresheners, etc.

My other cat couldn't care less and will jump onto the couch and stick his nose directly into any new person's face to get a good sniff.

 

[ritz]

Although probably not germane in your circumstances, Ritz is afraid/leary of most males simply because she has seen so few males come into my condo--only my brother (a dog person) and repairmen.  But then it took her almost six months to warm up to my twin sister (she visits about once or twice a month), and is just now letting Becky pet her.