this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2024
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Some here might remember my post from a couple of months ago when I first took Lexi home. She was handed in by her previous family due to their existing cat being very aggressive towards her. She had been sitting in the cage at the pound for 2 months when I adopted her.

It took a little bit to get used to me but now won't leave my side. As soon as I get on the computer, she jumps up and lays down at the side of the keyboard, which makes working difficult lol

I have a question for the community though, she seems very scared of all males other than me. She is fine with any women (she's especially loves my grandma and insists we go visit her next door daily). Is this normal for cats to be scared of men or is it likely something happened to her at the previous home?

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[–] mozz@mbin.grits.dev 7 points 9 months ago

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.