Unfriendly towards strangers

[hmckinney]

So, I'm planning on moving to the UK in April and I'm having to find homes for the rest of my rescue kitties (and a few of MY kitties, since i can't take them all) in a bit of a rush. Luckily, I have foster friends that are helping me and a rescue willing to take them if I don't find owners. But today I invited a couple in to meet Harley. usually she's a quiet, friendly, docile kitty, she likes to curl up on your lap and follow you around and purr as soon as you pick her up. but as soon as these new people come in... she's suddenly the most feral cat you ever did see. she's clawing her way out of my hands, hiding behind the couch, and POOPING everywhere. needless to say i was quite embarrassed but her sister made up for it, started winding around the new couple's legs and getting attention from them, all while harley is hissing at me from behind the couch lol.

so does anyone know what i can do to get her to be more friendly towards others? it's really weird how she and her sister are different as night and day haha.

 

[mtgal]

Before offering any advice I might have, I want to know if the cat is always this fearful and shy? If she is generally calm and loving, but didn't take to the new people , it might not be her, it's possible it was the people. I strongly believe animals are excellent judges of people, in fact, I think they are much better than we are. I took in a cat that lived in a closet for most of her life before being rescued. At first, she was extremely fearful and shy. For the first month, I allowed her to stay in her condo (a large cage with multiple resting and hiding places). The condo is in the family room, so she could see people, the dogs and other two cats. Anytime anyone came to the house, she hid in her covered bed. When she finally left her condo, she would run away as soon as anyone entered the room. Oddly, she was more comfortable with the dogs, particularly my Pit Bull, but tolerated the other cats. Eventually, she decided to stay out of the condo, but still ran away when anyone came to the house. Slowly, she became less shy and would even greet some people. After about a year (she was supposed to be a short term foster cat, but...) she got over her fear. Today she is the friendliest of my three cats and runs to the door when someone comes. even a stranger. She still greatly prefers the dogs to the other cats and even sleeps with my Pit. But in November I had some work people in the house and she was extremely shy and stand-offish toward one guy. Any time he walked through the room, the cat hissed and ran away. My dogs weren't around (they are working dogs) and the other cats never met the guy. This went on for two days. On the third day, the head guy (who has done other work for us and is someone I trust) told me he fired the other worker because he drank on the job and also stole some money. BAM! I should have known the cat felt something that wasn't right about this person. 

​If the cat is otherwise friendly and not fearful, then consider perhaps these aren't the right people for the cat. If she is generally fearful, you need to respect this and consider her temperament when it comes time to re-home her. You cannot force a shy cat out of her shyness and it would be wrong to try. Instead, I believe in providing her with opportunities to be with people on her terms. This may mean telling visitors to ignore the cat and to allow her to decide whether or not to approach. Certainly don't allow anyone to chase her or force interaction - this will only make her more fearful and shy. I also don't like to call a shy cat and prefer to allow them to enter the room when they want and then to either approach or not, according to their own level of comfort. I've found that when not pressured, many fearful/shy cats learn to develop more confidence. 

 

[hmckinney]

 
Before offering any advice I might have, I want to know if the cat is always this fearful and shy? If she is generally calm and loving, but didn't take to the new people , it might not be her, it's possible it was the people. I strongly believe animals are excellent judges of people, in fact, I think they are much better than we are. I took in a cat that lived in a closet for most of her life before being rescued. At first, she was extremely fearful and shy. For the first month, I allowed her to stay in her condo (a large cage with multiple resting and hiding places). The condo is in the family room, so she could see people, the dogs and other two cats. Anytime anyone came to the house, she hid in her covered bed. When she finally left her condo, she would run away as soon as anyone entered the room. Oddly, she was more comfortable with the dogs, particularly my Pit Bull, but tolerated the other cats. Eventually, she decided to stay out of the condo, but still ran away when anyone came to the house. Slowly, she became less shy and would even greet some people. After about a year (she was supposed to be a short term foster cat, but...) she got over her fear. Today she is the friendliest of my three cats and runs to the door when someone comes. even a stranger. She still greatly prefers the dogs to the other cats and even sleeps with my Pit. But in November I had some work people in the house and she was extremely shy and stand-offish toward one guy. Any time he walked through the room, the cat hissed and ran away. My dogs weren't around (they are working dogs) and the other cats never met the guy. This went on for two days. On the third day, the head guy (who has done other work for us and is someone I trust) told me he fired the other worker because he drank on the job and also stole some money. BAM! I should have known the cat felt something that wasn't right about this person. 

​If the cat is otherwise friendly and not fearful, then consider perhaps these aren't the right people for the cat. If she is generally fearful, you need to respect this and consider her temperament when it comes time to re-home her. You cannot force a shy cat out of her shyness and it would be wrong to try. Instead, I believe in providing her with opportunities to be with people on her terms. This may mean telling visitors to ignore the cat and to allow her to decide whether or not to approach. Certainly don't allow anyone to chase her or force interaction - this will only make her more fearful and shy. I also don't like to call a shy cat and prefer to allow them to enter the room when they want and then to either approach or not, according to their own level of comfort. I've found that when not pressured, many fearful/shy cats learn to develop more confidence. 

huh :O that's really weird, i have heard about animals not liking bad people and having a general sense of them.. she's usually not shy at all, she roams around the house and purrs and is just a big sweetheart..

at any rate they didn't want her lol. so maybe they were just the wrong people for her.

 

[margd]

I had the same reaction M mtgal did, namely: your kitty may be picking up on something "wrong" about these people. It's pretty extreme for even shy, anxious cats to poop everywhere when strangers come to the home. Frankly I'm glad to hear they didn't take her. If Harley repeats the performance the next time someone comes over, then you know it's her, but I would not jump to that conclusion based on one interaction. [emoji]128062[/emoji]

 

[cinqchats]

Hoo boy, clear sign right there that she is NOT a fan of those people!