My cat is afraid of cans of pop being opened, bananas being peeled, dogs and vacuum

[applegrove]

Last edited Mon Jan 23, 2012, 10:30 PM - Edit history (1)

cleaners. Really. She actually has attacked more than one kind of fruit since I've had her. I think it is because she thinks it is food, but it doesn't smell like food she would like so it scares her. Then she starts swatting it. LOL! What is your critter afraid of?

[csziggy]

1. Coyotes - that is about all my cat is afraid of

He's stalked deer, stared down large dogs, chased foxes off our porch, and attacked large men. But when the coyotes were hanging around in the neighborhood, he was not happy about going outside if he could smell them. Not bad for a ten pound cat.

He is a little spooked by lawn mowers and doesn't like it when we have guests, but the first is understandable and the second is just a preference.

[frogmarch]

2. My adult poodle

Ty is afraid of my husband when he's standing up. When my husband is sitting or lying down, Ty is okay, and will jump up beside him and cuddle with him and give him lots of slobbery kisses, but when my husband is standing or walking around, Ty runs away from him and hides. Ty was a foundling, and we don't know his history, but we've had him for about 3 years, so he shouldn't be afraid of his "daddy" now, since he is a very kind, gentle, loving and soft-spoken man who loves him with every fiber of his being and has never spoken harshly to him or hurt him.

Ty is periodically terrified to walk across the oak kitchen floor. I think he may slip on it sometimes, and it scares him to slip.

[grasswire]

13. my border collie is terrified of any water bowl on the floor

He can't walk past it. No matter if it is enamel, glass, tin, whatever. He can't walk past it.

[frogmarch]

15. How odd! I wonder

why he is afraid to walk by water bowls. Poor baby. If you got down on all fours, to his level, and crawled by his water bowl, would you see your reflection in the water?

That is really strange.

[siligut]

17. Now there is a thought, maybe he is seeing his reflection.

Certainly it isn't a behavior I would ever expect from an animal. What does he drink from? Really strange.

[grasswire]

19. I put a clear glass bowl in a corner of the bathroom.

He doesn't have to walk past it, just up to it. But he will only use it if I am in the bathroom with him.

He has a couple of other similar quirks. Has to get up his nerve to go past an open oven door or refrigerator door. And then he will finally scramble and skitter past.

Dunno. Poor doggie spent two years in a shelter and quirks are to be expected. He has been in the family for six years; four of them with me.

[siligut]

23. Yes, quirks are to be expected and understood.

You adapted your environment for him. Doggie has a good home now . I adopted a cat who had been declawed. I placed surface stabilizing mats on all the furniture she used to jump up on. That way she wouldn't slide and could grip with the little bit of "fingers" she had left. She looked at me with such love when she noticed the difference.

[Brickbat]

3. I had a dog that would fly into a rage whenever he saw a leaf-bag with a jack-o-lantern face on it.

He was 100 pounds of German Shepherd/Doberman mix who stood up to everything and was an excellent watchdog, but he would just go to pieces whenever he saw one. Rage, fear, dismay, disgust, confusion -- it was all there whenever he saw a leaf bag with a face. Hilarious.

[TheCruces]

10. Mine hates the vaccuum

She alternates between attacking it and running away. Last summer, my AC was broken so I had the front door of my apartment open. She left and sat in front of my next door neighbor's apartment until I was done. She liked them, as they'd give her biscuits all the time. I guess she figured that if I was vaccumming, she was just gonna move in with them.

[woo me with science]

16. Well,that IS pretty creepy looking.

[Brickbat]

4. Currently I have a dog who is very timid and was possibly abused or neglected as a puppy.

He has come a long way and is a lovely, gentle soul who tries really hard to be a good dog. He used to be afraid of everything but now the only thing that freaks him out is when something moves that shouldn't. If a chair moves and he doesn't see us moving it, it wrecks his evening. The worst is if the pet-gate in the doorway falls down -- it's pretty much a sign of the apocalypse when that happens.

[Lucinda]

5. Aluminum Foil

Yogi bolts if I even open the drawer that it's in.
The other two cats are fearless.

[graywarrior]

6. Plastic bags, door bells, neighbors in the hall, the broom,

the vacuum cleaner. He's not afraid to rip my face off, however.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

7. Shrimpy is afraid of floors. Except when we're eating in the kitchen

then she forgets and comes out on the floor.

Then she remembers that she's supposed to be scared, and backs up until she's back on the carpet.



She's a silly girl!

[JitterbugPerfume]

8. my cats are afraid of

nothing
Mandu actually begged to go out in a thunderstorm, and Lilith thinks she is so beautiful that everyone should be afraid of her disapproval.

[elleng]

9. A Scaredy-CAT!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. Definitely the vacuum.

If I want the cats to leave the room all I have to do is haul out the vacuum and they vanish. Two of the three also will run upstairs and hide under the bed if they hear someone come to the front door. They don't like oranges but they don't actually seem to be afraid of them; I've never brandished a banana at them.

[HeiressofBickworth]

12. One of the cats

who normally is assertive, playful, inquisitive, and on occasion definitely affectionate, will streak rivers of blood in one's leg trying to get to the garage and in the rafters when the doorbell rings. She won't come out until the "intruder" is gone.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

14. Odysseus is the only cat I've had who ISN'T

afraid of the vacuum. The others run for cover while he sits and watches me vacuum. Coolest cat ever. Rodent hunter extraordinaire.

[grasswire]

20. I used to be able to vacuum my calico girl

She allowed me to use the hose attachment on her, and kind of enjoyed it. Just out of whimsy one day, I tried it on my own head. It is very whooshing and cooling.

[siligut]

21. I can't stop laughing!

Just out of whimsy one day, I tried it on my own head. It is very whooshing and cooling.

[grasswire]

22. try it!

you'll be surprised

[siligut]

25. My mother used to vacuum one of the dogs, he would stretch out in pleasure.

He grew up with me when I was on the road, I "lived" in a trailer much of the year, so he grew up in a small space and just learned to tolerate the noise. I might consider vacuuming my head before I wash my hair next time. I have longish hair, I am concerned it will tangle. Though there was that hair-cutting device that sucked up hair and then cut it and the hand attachment on my vacuum isn't that powerful.

[grasswire]

27. oh, longish hair might be a problem

Mine is barely shoulder length.

[ScreamingMeemie]

31. Oh my goodness...we are cracking up over that too.

The whooshing part has me in tears.

[siligut]

33. My first real laugh in days, the whole house has the cold that is going around.

I sure appreciate grasswire sharing that with us. Also showing such empathy with the cat. I still have a smile on my face.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. I once had a cat who enjoyed being vacuumed.

He'd lie on his back and let me vacuum his belly.

Actually, he liked being vacuumed a bit too much, if you get my drift. It was a little disturbing.

[suninvited]

29. I had a cat that used to sleep on my vaccuum

and if I turned it on she would open one eye and look at me as if to say "really? didn't you see me sleeping here?"

I could even start vaccuming and she wouldnt budge.

[Arkansas Granny]

18. My cat thinks any can that pops open must be cat food and comes running.

[Wait Wut]

24. My male cat...

...everything. Absolutely everything. He runs and hides behind his sister who is about half his size. His sister? Not afraind of ANYTHING. The only time she gets irritated is when someone freaks out her brother. Then, she's a tiny little ball of black and white dynamite.

[hifiguy]

28. The only thing that makes my cat react

is the vacuum cleaner. He hides under the bed until the noise is gone. Otherwise, he is one cool cat.

[MGKrebs]

30. Squeaky shoes on the floor.

Like sneakers, sometimes you stop quickly and they chirp. Drives the poor little guy nuts. He goes and hides in the bathroom. Have to remember to remove rubber soled shoes in the house.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

32. Poor thing. That must have been some party!