To raise a confident cat is not a cakewalk for cat-owners. It requires huge amounts of effort, patience, and cooperation from both sides to achieve the desired results. But it is not impossible, as, by nature, cats are known to be extremely friendly and social, craving attention and appreciation. All it takes is some tweaks to the environment the approach.
However, there are a lot more tricks and tips designed for tackling this problem, which will help your cat become more confident and responsive. Read on to find out!
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For Scared Cats
Cats might be induced with fear when they find themselves in an unfamiliar environment, and it is easy to distinguish whether your cat is just being timid or is scared. The usual physical traits exhibited by a scared cat are when they hide and keep running away from anything and everything. They also tend to be a lot more aggressive while swatting hands, hissing, snarling, and even biting as a defence mechanism.
Here are some ways you could push the cat out of its fear and develop into a confident one:
Give a Designated Space
It’s the newly adopted cat, which will be scared upon entering a completely new environment, different from its previous house. In that case, it is essential to allocate a separate spot for the cat, where they get to have their own space with everything they need. Once it has grown comfortable in its space and has assessed the entire house, it will start minimizing its defensive stature and develop a more outgoing nature.
Have and Show Patience
Patience will play a pivotal role in this process of developing a cat into a confident cat. As the scared cat will take its own time assessing every situation, detecting threats, and the cat owners will have to wait patiently. Although the waiting period might belong, the result will be worth it, as the cats will become comfortable with the owners and start exhibiting confidence gradually.
Playtime Bonding and Training
It is essential to develop a prolonged playtime with your cats, as it will help them get more relaxed and comfortable around you. If the cat gets aggressive while playing, then the cat owners must have taught some basic commands like stop and no. These commands could be given without shouting at them or punishing them, which will motivate them not to be aggressive and will refrain themselves from repeating them.
No Punishments
It is a matter of prime importance that the cat owners do not develop the habit of punishing their cats, as it might leave an ugly scar in their memories. Besides, punishing them will only further demotivate them and push them into a stage of stressfulness. Stick to praising them and appreciate them as much as possible, and never resort to punishments no matter what.
These are the tips that could come into help if your cat is scared, but what if your cat is just shy and timid? A whole new approach has to be adopted in that case and has to be tackled differently.
Is your cat shy?
It applies to those cats, which have less social skills, compared to most cats that are friendlier and outgoing by nature. The timid and shy cats share the same character traits as a scared cat i.e, they keep running away and hiding for a prolonged period. There might even be the occasional aggressive fits, but it is easy to determine whether they are scared or shy by observing them closely and spending more time with them.
Here are some tricks and tips to handle a shy/timid cat effectively.
Appreciation and Reward
Even the smallest progression by the cat must be appreciated, or rewarded, to encourage them to continue doing it. The reward can be in the form of cat treats, petting them by rubbing their underbelly or patting them. It will make them grow comfortable and breakthrough their shy behaviour.
Building a Bond
Building a bond is of paramount importance in the case of a shy cat, which will help them to calm down and relax around you. By establishing more physical contact with the cats, like hugging, cuddling, petting them, they will grow more familiar and comfortable in your presence. Remember not to force it upon them, and increase skin contact gradually.
Time and Space
Every cat will need its own time and space to get adjusted to someone or something. If the cat owners respect their space and give them the required time while putting in gradual efforts to build a bond, the cats will break out of their cocoon and will start exhibiting confidence.
Spraying Pheromones
It is a whole new scenario when cats are subjected to a situation where they see strangers or guests entering the house. They might retreat into their shell either out of anxiety or shyness. Cats tend to be scared when guests are home, and the cats might even start attacking your friends; it is the way both a scared cat and a shy cat would react. Spraying pheromones at every corner of the house will provide them with comfort and will alleviate their anxiety.
Exceptional Cases
In the situations discussed above, it all pertains to newly adopted cats in an unfamiliar environment only. But if the cats start exhibiting sudden characteristics changes, then it might be something more serious. It is preferred that the cat owner consults veterinary doctors and take their suggestions and recommendations on this issue.
Conclusion
These little feline creatures are naturally very social and big attention-seekers, but there are also equal amounts of cats who have anxiety, fear, and shyness forbidding them from exhibiting their true characteristics. Raising a friendly cat becomes easy when in a friendly environment, and by taking a gentler approach. But it is also essential that they are disciplined, being gentle does not mean that the cat owner has to give up on training them.
