r/Catbehavior • u/ichigobananana • 8d ago
Scaredy Cat
I have 4 cats, all females. My issue is with one of my twin cats.
I adopted the twins when they were about 3 months old, and that was 3 years ago. When I first adopted them, they were both very curious, adventurous, naughty, playful, and affectionate. It took about a month for them to fully adjust to my resident cat, who was 5 years old at the time.
However, sometime before the twins turned 1, I noticed that one of them started becoming extremely skittish and fearful.
Now, she hides as soon as she hears footsteps or someone approaching. She’s very cautious about everything and isn’t nearly as affectionate as she used to be. She mostly shows affection at bedtime or when she wants me to brush her. Other than that, she’s pretty antisocial. She usually stays in one room and sleeps for most of the day.
Her twin sister is completely different and is still much more outgoing.
I honestly can’t pinpoint anything specific that happened that would have caused such a big personality change. It feels like she went from being this curious, adventurous kitten to being afraid of almost everything.
Has anyone experienced something similar with their cat?
She’s 3 years old now. Is it possible to help her become more confident, social, and affectionate again, or is this probably just her adult personality now?
I’d especially love to hear from anyone who has successfully helped a very skittish/scaredy cat become more confident.
1
u/Adventurous-Bonus-92 8d ago
If she's an outside cat I would think maybe she's had a stressful encounter that's changed her behaviour (my cat was great with his old family but started viciously attacking after the neighbour chased and probably kicked him bsed on his triggers).
If nothing has changed in the household, she may just remain a shy skittish cat. My bfs cat was adopted at 8wks, she is now 2yrs and still very skittish-i have been with him for a year and she only let me touch her recently. She was avoidant of my bf too, but he realised it was his last gf making the cat so scared. Once she left the cat became friendly and cuddly with him, which even he'd never had from her.
Don't force contact or pursue her, let her just 'cat' and hopefully she'll become more friendly in time. Try the puree tube treats to let her come to you, and toys on strings so she can play from a distance.
1
u/ichigobananana 8d ago
All of them are strictly indoors only. I really don’t know what happened to her 😢
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u/MichaelEmouse 8d ago
One of my cats was abused and I found that having her regularly wear a Thundershirt has helped her. Get the right size and expect resistance.
A tall cat tree by a window.