Possible to help cat get over a fear?

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Cindy & Pets

Cindy & Pets

Member Since 2012
So, my civvie Christmas(seems she's been having more problems than Tip lately!) is terrified of storms. She always has been. But it's been storming a lot lately and I feel so bad because I needed to give her a bath last night as she had poo'd herself when some thunder shook the house. And then she's always getting herself stuck somewhere as she feverishly tries to hide. I mean, I've tried to get her over it before, but the technique of petting her when I see a storm rolling in so that she's calm during it only works for a little while.

Any other suggestions? I'm willing to try almost anything now, I've been trying for years.

Thank you in advance.
 
Thundershirts.........they are now making them for cats. My girlfriend bought them for her two dogs.......one scared of wind/storms and one riding in the car. She said she was amazed how those shirts calm them down immediately. I just saw an ad for cats that they are now available.
 
Thank you so much. :) I'm looking in to it right now. I don't have the money for it at the moment(I don't work during the summer, so I save every bit to pay for Tip's supplies). I do the "freeze&flop" situation coming up. Once, when I tried clothes on Christmas she did that. I could tell she hated it.

I was also suggested feliway, any thoughts on that? It's also quite expensive but works for my friends cat, but she's a 1-cat household. So I'm not sure if it'd make Tip calmer than usual?
 
Maybe you can try some Rescue Remedy. I know many here use it when traveling with their cats to keep them more calm. You might also try using an Ace bandage and wrap it around her like the thundershirt. I use a small T-shirt for my dog and it helps her with thunder.
 
Alright....not sure I can trust myself with the ace bandage method. But I could look for a small t-shirt for her, maybe convince my mom to take me to a thrift store and look through the baby clothes to find one that fits. :)
 
You might consider systematic desensitization. This is where you start with very small steps on the way to your goal.

This is one way:
See if you can get (your library?) a recording of storm/thunder sounds that you can play.
With the sound incredibly low, play with the cat in 15-20 minute sessions, twice a day or more, with low carb treats, too, with the sound running.
Once you see the cat able to ignore the noise and play, move the sound level up a tiny, tiny bit and continue.
This may take weeks of work, but with dedication, it may help.

Also - one school of thought suggests that comforting an animal while it is displaying unwanted behavior may actually reinforce the behavior - sort of a "yes, its awful" affirmation. Instead of trying to calm the cat, you might try playing, feeding, or otherwise counter conditioning - pairing something pleasant with the unpleasant experience to dilute the effects of the unpleasant.

Masking - if the noise is far away, try playing some music or running a fan to 'cover' the sound.

Static - the air may build up a static charge. Providing non-static bedding in a favorite hidey hole may help with this.

For general calming, Feliway diffusers (1 per big room) may be strategically placed throughout the home in areas the cat prefers.
 
my cat molly is afraid of storms (most likely caused by me) but she goes in a closet or a cabinet when it storms its her safeplace, she can call a storm before it even hits nowadays.....
 
@BJM:
I....did not think that was counteractive to pet her and whatnot. Maybe that's why she's gotten so bad about it. I could probably find a recording online even of the storms. Question though about the low-carb treats, she does not accept the low-carb chicken I give Tip(the diabetic), loves strawberries(but I imagine they're terrible for them, so I don't let her have them), are regular treats fine so long as I keep Tip away from them? Christmas isn't diabetic.

@Bradie: Christmas can call it before it's here too, but it's terrible to drag her out of there as she has to take allergy medicine twice a day because of an allergy to pollen.
 
regular treats should be OK.
A piece of strawberry isn't likely to hurt her; several might cause digestive upset.
 
Alright, because it's so easy to get those, and she doesn't like the plain chicken. Alright, I figured too many wouldn't be good. I thought it might be because they're high in sugar though? Thankfully the current storm doesn't seem to be bothering her that much. Might be the fireworks tricking her since those are still going off here.
 
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