Cat Phobia

ROMILO

I don't understand the irrational logic behind some of these posts.
Saying I have a phobia of cats therefore all cats are manipulative mean and vicious is very odd.
If you have a phobia of cats, spiders, snakes ,mice or any other creature it is your problem not the fault of the creature concerned. If it is affecting your life in any detrimental way you need help.

Same here. I have a very bad phobia of spiders which is not exactly uncommon and I'm fine with everything else including mice, rats and snakes! But I couldn't hurt a spider and I know all the good they do for the planet. I realise the problem is mine not theirs.

Sparklefizz, AWWWW! Mia sounds absolutely gorgeous! Thank you so much for rescuing her! Please give her kisses and cuddles and nose boops from me!

I know exactly what you're saying about spidoids! UGH!

Only a few weeks ago, I was in the kitchen at night, shoving some Spar Chicken nuggets in the microwave for 3 minutes. The microwave pinged. I was just about to open the door, and a huge thing was dangling from the bottom of the cupboard, above the microwave! I was absolutely hysterical! Out came the long-handled dustpan and brush, and at arm's length I whacked it into oblivion! I shouted at it, YOU ARE NOT HAVING MY CHONKY NIBBLES, YOU BEADY-EYED FREAK!

A cat phobia is known as Ailurophobia, Felinophobia and/or Elurophobia.

I absolutely LOVE cats, both pet types and bigger ones like lions, jaguars, etc., always have and always will, and have had several pet ones over the years. I have a cat-themed purse and a matching handbag, jewellerty etc., and I have a Percy RoboKitten from RoboPets. I love everything about them and follow several on social media, but I totally understand that some people are terrified of them.

I'm absolutely scared stiff of any type of 8-legged beasties/webs, and I'm also terrified of Orchids, Venus Fly Traps and a few other plants/flowers. I was once invited to a friend's house. We'd only just met, and I had no idea she was a PhD professor of Floriculture. I walked to her livingroom and immediately literally ran out, shaking with fear when I spotted those 2 particular plants I'm scared of!

When I worked as a bus driver, a colleague tried to show me a photo on his phone of his pet ....8-legged things, huge, beginning with ''t''. He had several of them, and there's no way in a bazillion years I'd look at the photo! I want to die of natural causes, not a massive heart attack brought on by severe shock!

I understand phobias because I have a sp*der phobia which has got worse as I've got older. I haven't undergone therapy because I don't want to think about sp*ders and can't even type the word in full.

But cats - I just adore them! I have had cats all my life, they have all been sweet and affectionate and respond to kind and loving care. My latest little cat, Mia, had been mistreated and was absolutely terrified when I adopted her from the rescue centre. She hid under the spare bed, hissing and biting and swiping, but I spent a long time lying on the bedroom carpet talking quietly to her, on and off every day for a fortnight, and suddenly one morning she came out from under the bed and rubbed her face against mine. It was a special moment. In the 9 months I have had her, she has had nothing but love and kindness and is now the sweetest little girl you could ask for, and I love her.

I prefer cats to people in many instances.

Sadly at these flats pets are not allowed, so I do miss having them. Have had more cats than dogs, but like both. However living abroad and moving around, I havent had many dogs, as it would not be fair to have one and then have to leave them behind. With rabies in some countries, I had to be careful with my son about touching any dogs too, but didnt put him off them. But I say that you own a dog, but a cat owns you. Cats do as they please , not what you tell them to, whilst being lovely pets for me. When I had cancer and was having a rough time with chemotherapy my cat used to come and sit with me more than she usually did , and I found it quite comforting. She was a British Blue Exotic, so like a persian but a shorter coat with big owl like orange eyes, and she would sit solemnly looking at me when I was having a rough day. I totally understand the phobia situation, my mother couldnt cope with moths, despite being a very intelligent woman, had been a chemist in the wartime doing all sorts of quite dangerous things. Yet if she saw a moth, she just froze and cringed until I came to the rescue. Can cope with most things but for me I hate rats. Once living in Damascus they were digging something up and a rat came into my kitchen. I took my son and went to a hotel for the night, until I could be sure that they had dealt with it. Just shutting a door wasnt going to be enough for me. So that is life, and the important thing is to accept peoples worries and try and make things easier for them. Not tell them that the dog or the moth or the rat wont hurt them. That doesnt help at all . I would think that all of us in our lives at some time, find something that is hard to deal with

Whereas I think some phobias are irrational, I think a phobia of snakes, spiders, cats, dogs, and sharks as said in the last comment, are not totally unreasonable and probably hard wired into us on a primal level because snakes and spiders can be poisonous, large cats and canines in the wild can kill, and some sharks can definitely kill.
So not so silly really.

As there are over ten million cats in the UK I feel very sorry for you .
And having had a relative with a horror of them I used to watch the poor man blanch everytime one came near him . Cats loved to sit on his lap and enjoy doing their paddy pouring purring loudly.
I've removed them and back they'd go.
I love cats - they can be wicked imperious creatures .

I hate snakes and being told how lovely they are to touch doesn't help.
And I'm not keen on sharks either and am always nervous swimming in the sea .

It’s not a phobia but I have a severe allergy. I can’t go near a cat .Or even, enter a room where a cat has been . Such a shame because a number of my friends own cats 😫

I owned a boarding Cattery for some years. However I do understand the people who may be frightened of them. Because I’m a cat person and just totally ignore them, they come running for attention. I’m petrified of horses and they know it.

eazybee I have faced my phobia, more than once, wriggling across a footpath almost under my feet. And I've chosen to stand and watch an enclosure of snakes at the zoo.

However I can't see the point of going through the stress of therapy at my age when the likelihood of confronting one is so low. Cats, on the other hand, are pretty ubiquitous and much more difficult to avoid.

It's like a sort of anxiety disorder, in that you're so fearful the cat might spring, bite or scratch. Difficult to explain, but you feel yourself drawing up your feet if he walks past the sofa. Even my dog stands guard over me and makes noises when the cat starts menacing.
In my defense the cat did come with a bad behaviour report having bitten the RSPCA vet who had to go to hospital. I've never been keen on cats, but now I'm very wary and scared.

Surely a phobia is irrational so no amount of saying how sweet and cuddly they are makes no difference to the sufferer.
My phobias are rats and pigs. Igo into a cold sweat even thinking about them. Fortunately in my day to day life I don't have to deal with either.(although as a teenager working in small zoo it was a different story).
You have my deepest sympathy Melandme.

Falling star I know just how you feel about spiders, I would run a mile, I keep a bottle of spider spray in my bedroom after one crawled over the bed, and I swear,,,,it chased me out the room.

I love cats , we had 2 at one time, one lived to be 19 years, the other 15 years, we were broken hearted when they died, now we feed an abandoned cat who visits, I buy him a box of cat food with my weekly order, and buy stuff for fleas and worms when he needs it. but when some people have a phobia or just dislike them so be it, everyone's different

Don't go to Cyprus !!! We've just come back and the cats are everywhere. The "Cats of Cyprus" are " a thing" as they say these days.
I'm a bit allergic so I can't keep them but they're beautiful and independent creatures and I do like them.
Phobias are funny things. Forty years ago I worked with a lovely girl who had a phobia of pigeons , particularly the " ones with the big fact necks".
She did see a psychotherapist about it and I think things improved a little.
Myself I have only the usual phobias viz spiders and some other creepy-crawlies.
Final word re cats , with all the perversity for which they are justly famous they head for my lap like heat -seeking missiles , ignoring other devoted fans who are not allergic to them.
I manage my visits to people with cats. Clearly it's my problem , not theirs. And certainly not the cats.

eazybee

If cats are sly, manipulative and mean they are usually reflecting their owner and the treatment they receive.

Absolutely easybee. I understand if someone has a phobia of any kind, desensitisation therapy can help. But to say someone detests and would not even be nice to a cat worries me :-( I would be interested to hear what the origin of these feelings are, either passed on by parents or something happening in childhood (sometimes without a memory of this). My DiL does not like dogs, due to her mother being afraid of them! I'm not a massive dog lover, but would always be kind to them. You can probably guess I am a 'cat woman'!

so I'm not about to seek treatment for my phobia and in fact I don't want to as the cure is worse than the phobia!

So basically you are scared to confront your fears.
I have someone who has come to my house regularly for 25 years and claims she is allergic to cats. Untrue; she is scared. Every visit the cats had to be shut upstairs, which was not easy as the only way out was down the stairs, through the sitting room and into the kitchen and catflap, and they were very house trained. I had to resort to taking a cat litter tray upstairs, which they treated with contempt. They never managed to soil anywhere, but would push against the door so I had to then go upstairs and carry them out, so they didn't go near her.
Then the schoolfriend with a phobia of spiders; driving them to school when she let out an ear-splitting scream and I did a perfect emergency stop; the car behind managed to avoid me, just. She thought she had seen a spider. I said if she ever did it again I could not drive her to school, and she never saw another one in my presence.

Romilo it's irrational therefore not logical, I agree that it is my problem and not that of the feline population.

I have always had a phobia of snakes and can't usually even look at pictures of them. Only once have I had a real problem. - when the last section of an aquarium turned out to have snakes instead of fish! Once or twice I've come across them when out walking and coped. I couldn't stay in the same room as one though. But I've managed with few problems for 74 years so I'm not about to seek treatment for my phobia and in fact I don't want to as the cure is worse than the phobia!

So I sympathise Melandme with your cat phobia and think it thoughtless of people to expect you to cope. I wonder if, when necessary, telling people that you are allergic to them would get you more understanding. You could say that you can manage as long as they're not in the same room.

I am unreasonably scared of wasps, but it’s not an irrational phobia. I’m scared of being stung.

When I had cats I always shut them in another room when I had visitors, unless I knew they were real cat lovers.

Sly, manipulative and so on? Any cat I’ve ever had has been cuddly, affectionate and lovable.

ROMILO

I don't understand the irrational logic behind some of these posts.
Saying I have a phobia of cats therefore all cats are manipulative mean and vicious is very odd.
If you have a phobia of cats, spiders, snakes ,mice or any other creature it is your problem not the fault of the creature concerned. If it is affecting your life in any detrimental way you need help.

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I don't understand the irrational logic behind some of these posts.
Saying I have a phobia of cats therefore all cats are manipulative mean and vicious is very odd.
If you have a phobia of cats, spiders, snakes ,mice or any other creature it is your problem not the fault of the creature concerned. If it is affecting your life in any detrimental way you need help.

I'm not good with cats, they're not good with me. We keep a respectful distance.
I think it's because they're quick, unbiddable, unpredictable and often one step ahead, sort of sly. I never know when they might pounce.

We're on our 9th rescue cat, a psychopath. I'm very wary and I keep him away from visitors, and young grandchildren too. He seems to prefer men.

It won't be easy to shake off your phobia, but you could try therapy if you really want to crack it.

25Avalon

Perhaps you could say you have an allergy to cats even though you haven’t. People seem to relate to that more than a phobia and will try to keep the cat out of your way.

A phobia is as involuntary as an allergy, and like allergies, nothing to be ashamed of.

No need to tell a lie to cover it up.