Just wondering if anyone can give me any info on this, My little cat is absolutely fine with me and my OH but, As soon as someone comes into the house she runs and hides under the bed until they leave

Yesterday I had my little god-daughter for the day (About 9 hours) and the cat ran under the bed as soon as she came in and never came back out till babies Mum came and picked her up. I never even got the front door closed and cat was out.

Even when the baby was sleeping for about 2 hrs cat still never appeared to feed or for the toilet?

Does anyone know of anything I can do to get her out this habit. She`s 2 years old

Hello

I can relate to this as my cat who died last year spent most of his 18 years on this earth avoiding anyone who was not me. I think was due to a mixture of things, mainly not being used to other being, only being happy with what he was familiar with in his daily routine and yes being shy. Cats have different personalities and like humans some are more outgoing than others, they are also creatures who act and react according to their environment and the needs connected to that environment.

My advice would be don't worry about your cat, if you are anxious or try and force the issue it will make her worse. This may be something that will improve with time. With my cat I think he was genuinely scared at the start, but then his behaviour became a habit, a coping mechanism, and then a case of he couldn't be bothered to deal with my visitors. If whilst you have visitors you cat does appear, tell your visitors not to approach her, let her come to them, and then they must not stare at her; blink slowly and then look away from her. Sounds daft, but it is a signal that cats recognise.

Good luck, but really if she is happy with you then there is no need to fret. She will do what she wants in her own time.

Hello

Thanks for your reply

She is a lovely wee cat with us, very playful n stuff but as soon as anyone comes into the house she acts soo strange lol

Saying that I have a shark too and that`s always swimming around the tank, as soon as visitors come in it hides in its log.

Perhaps they don`t like any of our Friends/Family lol

If cats aren't socialised with people at an early age, then they can find new people very scary. I agree with lightonmyfeet's advice that this is coping device & also the slow blinking is right as well. But you need your cat to be close enough to someone for this to work.

Young children can be especially scary to nervous vats that aren't used to them. Their movements are less co-ordinated, their voices are different etc so even cats that are friendly towards people may think twice about approaching a small child.

If you can set aside a room or space in your house where your cat likes to sleep & put lots of nice things in there, such as a scratching posts, warm beds off the floor & hidden away, water, some food etc, then you may find your cat will be happy to stay in that room when you have visitors, provided that they don't disturb her.

If you want to get her used to new people you will have to do it very slowly. Find a nice quiet friend who doesn't have a cat or dog of their own, & who is prepared to come & sit & chat with you (pin them to the chair if necessary). Arm yourself with tasty treats & bring the cat into the room & shut the door. Ignore the cat but just throw the treats near the cat. It may take several days doing this before your cat is confident enough to come & get the treats & acknowledge the stranger in your house so you need a very patient friend!

My cat Rosie is the same, she is very loving towards us and a few people who visit reguarly, but if anybody new comes to the house, she runs and hides under the bed.

When shes in the garden, she likes to sit on the shed roof, which backs on to a well used path, but sometimes people stop to speak to her, and she runs straight in and hides..she even runs in if shes sitting on the patio and hears my either side neighbours come out into their gardens

I find once someone has been to the house a few times, she'll start getting curious about them..gradually working her way down, sitting on a lower step each time, and peeping through the bannister at them... unfortunatly, I don't know her history, as we took her in when, as a stray she made her home in a tree in my mums garden..but I would assume this comes from something that made her nervous as a kitten

Both my cats hide when my niece comes to visit (She is 2) but that is because she is just a bit too loving with them. They are fine with my own children and the rest of my family but if someone 'new' comes to the house they will hide again, though being nosy they may reappear and have a look from a distance