Questions tagged [fear]
For questions about rational and irrational fears that pets develop.
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How can I fix my relationship with my 7 month old cat after I've constantly abused her the past month?
My kitten is 7 month old, and I...
[Content Warning: Descriptions of animal abuse behind spoiler]
Now she won't move around me, being highly cautious to every move and every sound. I feel so bad ...
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34
votes
8
answers
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My cat gets angry and scared at me if I stand
I recently (3-4 weeks ago) adopted this cat and she was incredibly scared at first. With time she warmed up to me, but she is only happy if I'm sitting down or lying down. As soon as she notices I'm ...
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What can I do now that my cat is terrified of me after I broke up a fight involving her and two other pets?
I really need some help and advice. I have two cats and a dog. This morning, my dog was with me in the kitchen and one of my cats ran up to him and started attacking him. It just turned into an all ...
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How do I walk a small dog afraid of loud noises in an urban area?
I have a miniature dachshund puppy (10 months, 9lbs.) that is easily frightened by loud noises, such as trucks passing by. Walking in any urban setting seems to be a negative experience, but she ...
19
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4
answers
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Why does my dog act differently outside the house?
My dog, Rex, is like two dogs in one. He is 2.5 years old, neutered pitbull/boxer mix, and is incredibly aggressive towards other dogs.
In the house, he is cuddly, playful, and docile. My mom ...
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17
votes
11
answers
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How can I get my cat to not be afraid of me?
We recently got an 8 month old cat from a breeder, it had lived its live in a cage with the rest of the litter up to that point. The car journey home was about an hour and the whole time I had my hand ...
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5
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How can I keep my cat from being scared any time he sees or hears a person?
One of my cats will avoid any central parts of the house or run through them very quickly. He also runs in fear any time someone walks into the room he's in or if he hears voices at the front door. ...
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4
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What could cause my dog to fear power outages?
My 10-year-old mixed dog has developed quite the arcane fear, she fears power outages.
Whether it happens when it's dark (when all of the lights turn off at the same time), or during the day (in ...
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votes
4
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Why does my dog urinate when I call her?
We have two Labradors, a male and female from the same litter, that we got when they were two months. They are now 5 months old. They are both very friendly and loving with the kids, but the female ...
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votes
1
answer
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I accidentally kicked my puppy in the mouth, help me please
Disclaimer: I love my animals and this was in no way intentional and I have been shrouded in guilt since this happened.
OK, so earlier today, about an hour ago, I was playing with my 5 month old ...
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3
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Why is my cat afraid of me when I play guitar?
When I play guitar (acoustic and electric), my cat gets really scared. And it's not just guitar, he gets scared when I'm playing violin, mandolin and other instruments too.
He kind of shrinks and ...
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12
votes
2
answers
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Can a rabbit be scared to death?
I have heard several times about rabbits being kept in outdoor cages where, a dog or other predator barked and/or scratched at the cage. The person came out and found the rabbit(s) dead in a still ...
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My new cat won't stop meowing [duplicate]
I just got a new 1 year old cat on January 31st 2021.
He's of course hiding, which is understandable.
He's a domestic medium hair cat.
Last night I went to sleep and he just kept meowing like crazy, ...
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10
votes
5
answers
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Husband stepped on the cat's head, and now she hates him
While I was away, my husband gave my cat a bath and accidentally stepped on her head hard. She swelled up pretty bad, but she recovered.
Every time he gives her a bath now, her head swells.
But ...
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10
votes
2
answers
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Why are cats afraid of vacuums?
My cats are pretty stereotypically afraid of my vacuum. As soon as they see me getting ready to use it, they'll jump up. The second it gets turned on, they're bolting to the other room.
I watch ...
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Why is my cat only afraid of people when they're standing?
I have just adopted my first cat, Oliver. He is 8 months old and I was told by the shelter that he was previously a stray.
I have only had him about a week and a half, but he already seems to have ...
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5
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Why does my dog get scared when approached and petted?
My parents have two female dogs. Both were rescued from the streets and arrived very young. One is already 5 years old and the youngest is about 1 year old and weighs roughly 6 lbs.
The youngest is ...
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votes
6
answers
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How can I get my cat to stop chasing my other cat?
I have three cats. All neutered and spayed. A tuxedo named Pip, a tabby named Kitty, and a tortie named Faith. Pip isn't really all that important in this question, I'll give more info about him later....
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My dog is very allergic to something and is starting to become scared of me
I have a 9 year old pit bull that I have had since he was a puppy.
He has very bad allergies to something. And I mean very bad. He is losing fur everywhere, his paws are swollen and red, his stomach ...
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2
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What are some dos/don'ts for soothing a freaked out cat?
Say a cat was freaked out by something. It could be a dream, a scary window critter, an unpleasant sound, or something unknown.
Given that the cat is now freaked out but the cause itself is gone or ...
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5
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Dog has started to fear its own shadow
We own a 10-month-old pug, which up until now didn't show any fear, be it loud noises, other dogs or simply darkness. One brave pup!
Today, while out for a walk late at night, he started to jump and ...
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votes
1
answer
339
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How do I make my chicken overcome his fears?
My new chicken was formerly living with my uncle before I adopted him. According to what my uncle told me, the chicken once experienced another chicken being killed with a knife. Since then this ...
user34
8
votes
4
answers
5k
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Cat associates closed door with getting caught
There are a few questions about closed doors, but I feel my question has a bunch of different angles which makes most replies inapplicable.
One of our three cats has a big issue with going to the vet. ...
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5
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Made my cat scared of me, need help
Unfortunately I've messed up and don't really know how to remedy the situation, I need some suggestions and help.
The situation is as follows: my in-laws are vets and do a lot of pro-bono work. One ...
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2
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My cat is terrified of me, can I repair the relationship?
Three weeks ago, I adopted a 9-month-old female cat, Kira. On the ride home and for a little while after, she seemed pretty calm, though withdrawn. She's set up camp in my bedroom and has food/water/...
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1
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Why are dogs afraid of fireworks and thunder?
When my dog was younger she had no visible reaction to fireworks or thunder. At about 5 years old it started to be an issue, and now (at 7) she panics and hides under the table, shaking, when some ...
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votes
3
answers
228
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First time owning a cat
This is the first time I have a cat in my life. She is almost 10 months. She came home yesterday and she was wandering around the house, which has a litter box, food, and water.
This morning, I ...
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My dog is really afraid of whistles
Over the past few months I noticed that my dog has developed an incredible fear around football (soccer) fields or when he is in a room with a TV playing football. At first I thought the shouting and ...
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2
answers
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Fearful 3-year-old adopted cat
We adopted a 3-year-old cute tabby cat from a local shelter 3 days ago. The shelter found her and some of her friends around a park. We don't know if she had any owner before, but she is litter ...
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2
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My male cat is attacking my female cat; female so scared she urinates herself
My wife and I are at our wits end with two of our cats and want to see what advice people have for us. Here's the problem:
Larry, a male, stalks and attacks Curly Sue, a female. In the past, we have ...
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1
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How can I get my dog to stop being so sensitive to noise?
I have a 4-year old dog who, at times, is very fearful. We can deal with her fearfulness, but the problem we can't seem to resolve is her sensitivity to noise. If someone slams a car door outside and ...
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3
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My cat is afraid to eat
My 13 year old female cat has become afraid of eating, it started when she choked on a small treat 4 weeks ago. I have tried giving her food in different rooms and in different bowls, but she would ...
6
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2
answers
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Why is my dog suddenly scared of the water dish?
About three days ago, my dog approaches the water dish like he's thirsty, but dances around it like he's scared of something. He will finally drink, but after annoying the hell out of me with ten to ...
user3799
5
votes
3
answers
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My dog is old and dying, how do I convince him not to be scared of me?
My dog is now 19 years old and on his last legs; completely deaf, nearly entirely blind (cataracts so bad you can see them) and occasional unsteadiness when walking, neither I nor his vet have noticed ...
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1
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How to care for scared cat?
I have a cat. It's 8 months old. I decided to put a female in the house. She is his age. Both are neutered. Ever since the female arrived she has been trying to hide. I need to put her in a room but ...
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My cat will get mad at me for hours after getting medicine. How do I keep our relationship happy?
My senior cat has a chronic illness and needs to take a liquid medicine for the rest of her life to keep her healthy. While she's still largely happy and energetic now, if she doesn't get this ...
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Small dog is scared of my cat
My cat attacked my sons small dog when he was a puppy. I am now living with my son and his little dog is terrified of my cat. How can I get them to live together?
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Our cat is still scared and suspicious of us
We adopted Carsi when he was eight months old. As far as we know, he was left behind by his owner as she moved and he was taken care of by nice people, but lived on the streets. When we adopted him, ...
5
votes
1
answer
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How to treat car anxiety in dog?
I have a 4 year old Husky/Shepherd (70lbs) mix I adopted as a pup. I've had great success in training him and teaching him tricks, as he is highly food motivated.
However, there has been one ...
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Cat won't come out after a year of ownership
Similar questions have been asked, but I've not seen one that matches the situation described below.
I have 3 cats. One is 5 years old and has been with us most of that time, one is 2 years old and we'...
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My cat does not recognize me
My cat, which I adopted with my girlfriend, does not recognise me anymore after I came back from a two week holiday. Everytime it is near me, it starts running away.
After spending so much time with ...
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4
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My cat stays perfectly still in my arms but is scared of being picked up, how to make her relaxed?
I have a two year old female cat called Mymble. Her brother Snufkin is very chilled and comes out for walks with me on a lead, but Mymble is terrified of everything. She loves strokes, but if I try to ...
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2
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I was petting my bunny and I can't tell if he's scared or likes it
I recently took my grandma's rabbit because she's wasn't taking care of it well. He's very skittish and doesn't like to be picked up and such. I was petting him and he has his front legs splayed out ...
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Dog no longer trusts us or other dogs after bad foster home and vet experiences
My dog was in a foster home with his brother and foster brother at around 3 weeks of age. He was nipped by his brother and then bitten by his foster brother in the exact same spot on his neck around ...
4
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1
answer
870
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How can I help my dog that is afraid of other dogs?
I have a dog that has 3 months and 3 weeks and I walk with her regularly along the street since she was 2 and a half months, I also have an old dog (15 years) that's blind and they live together.
But ...
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1
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Is it okay to neuter my cat although he had been exposed to FIP cat?
I have two male cats, both are stray which decided to live in my house this past year.
one cat is less than a year, 10 months perhaps, and other is probably older than 2 years, both are not neutered ...
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1
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Dog keeps hyperventilating
Several years ago a smoke alarm inside my house went off and my dog started to shake and hyperventilate. Since then she does this after various beeping type noises, such as a computer booting.
In the ...
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2
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Is it okay to let my dog run when she's scared?
When I take my dog on walks, sometimes there will be loud noises that scare her (e.g. thunder, construction, large vehicles driving by). When this happens her flight response kicks in and she wants to ...
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I'm very exhausted giving ear drops to my overly skittish cat. I can't take him treating me like a threat. What should I do?
Context: I got my cat ~2 months ago. He was in a shelter, and he was very sweet when I first saw him so I decided to adopt him. Unfortunately, they didn't let me to because he still had some small ear ...
4
votes
1
answer
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Scared cat what should I do
I have adopted a cat about two years ago. He is scared of me and my family, but not of my other cat - he loves my other cat. He eats his food, treats, and uses the litter box. He loves to be ...
