cats

My dad has a cat that had a rough life. For years, he was scared of everyone but my dad. He was actually scared of my dad for quite a while, but after a long time of adjustment, he got comfortable with my dad and would hang out with him, but still anyone else who came to the house literally wouldn't see him because he was hiding.

Everyone just kind of left him alone and let him do his thing, and after a long long time he decided other people were okay and now he's fine, just a little skittish if something happens. I think like a lot of things with cats, you can just let her be. Most cats aren't scared of men as a rule, but if she is, I would just let her attend to her safety the way she wants to.

If it's useful, my dad reported that he made friends with his cat by dragging a long piece of string around on the ground and letting the guy play with it which kitty enjoyed, and sort of slowly working the string closer and closer to him while being completely still and nonthreatening and just letting the play exist in the same physical location as my dad was, and after a lot of repetition Mr. Kitty decided nothing bad had happened and the big dude was probably fine.

I've had my boy cat since he was six weeks old, and I know his foster momma (and bio momma!) and there's zero reason for this, but he's terrified of men too! So, while it could be trauma from an event, she might also just be a fearful derp.

I have an orange male who used to wander on the streets of the old neighborhood with the very same behavior. The theory behind his fear of human males was the voice tone of them compared with the female voices. My cat was particularly afraid of my father-in-law, who has this loud and manly voice.

My vote is on past trauma involving men. I know a cat dad whose 3 feline kids adore him, and I've had my cats be friendly to anyone who respects their space, regardless of gender. I've never seen them have a common predisposition to fear men.

Purrrfect