When referring to fears or phobias, we must give special mention to cat phobia or ailurophobia, which is irrational fear from a person to felines. Normally it is linked to the ignorance of the species and of all the legends that are known about them. But how does this impact our cat? Can it affect you?
On our site we want to expand the information on Do cats perceive our fear? Many people do not even want to approach them and, at attempting an approach, it is with so much fear, that on many occasions it does not turn out as we expected and the setback in overcoming fear is greater. We are going to see some techniques so that both species are comfortable in the relationship.
What does ailurophobia mean?
It is the extreme and irrational fear of cats The word comes from the Greek ailouros (cat) and phobos (fear or dread). It is very common among people who do not know the species or are not very close to animals, so in the latter case, in general, they fear more than one species.
As most phobias are emitted by the subconscious as a protection, it is not so easy to control since it is a psychological problem. We have different roots or causes why these people can suffer from this problem:
- Bad childhood experiences and these memories remain anchored in the subconscious, appearing in the presence of the animal. It may also be due to observing the parents' fear of the species and they adopt the behavior as their own.
- Not interested in meeting cats, which is visualized as mild fear or contempt since they never had a cat and they prefer to ignore them.
- Bad press Like they bring bad luck, related to witchcraft or the devil.
Human symptoms
When there is this phobia or fear of cats we have a series of actions that we carry out, sometimes without noticing it, but that cats will not ignore. We have different degrees of fear, some very slight, people who don't touch or caress them, they simply "ignore them" even those who say "please lock up your cat, I'm so scared."
In the case of suffering a lot of fear of cats we will have a series of symptoms due to the anxiety contained by their presence, such as:
- Palpitations
- Shaking or shaking
- Nose allergy or cough
- nausea and/or dizziness
- choking sensation
They can be some of the most visible reactions in people in the presence of a cat, it is something similar to a panic attack. They must be treated with psychologists in order to overcome the phobia. But curiously, in the mildest cases of fear, it is common to observe that the feline gets closer to them What leads them to look for the person who fears them or you don't want them around?
Cats smell fear
We have all heard that both cats and dogs can smell fear. Myth or Reality? This is a reality, especially considering that they are predators and must get their food to survive.
When we are afraid of something we always notice that we perspire and in general the sweat is cold. The hands and neck sweat and, accompanying this strange sweat, we release the famous adrenaline, which our "hunters" can recognize from miles away. It is something we cannot control, just like a mouse in the presence of a cat or a deer in the presence of a lion.
But it's not exactly the adrenaline that smells, but rather, the pheromones that the body releases in a stressful situation. Here we must highlight something else, pheromones are detected by individuals of the same species, so it is not what our cat smells when we are afraid. So what makes the cat detect fear in people?
It's the attitudes that give us away. When we have full confidence in the animal we will try to make eye contact to touch it or play but, in cases where we are afraid of it, we lower our gaze, as if ignoring it. When the cat doesn't make eye contact with us, it will take it as a friendly signal and will approach This explains why they approach people who don't like them or, they fear him. It is part of feline body language, we do it without realizing it and the cat interprets it in a positive way.
The look in cats is part of their body language, both with their own species and with other species. Cats when faced with another cat usually maintain eye contact about their interest or, when they are about to hunt prey. In the documentaries we see that the lion keeps its gaze fixed on its "future prey" and crouched down to reach it.
When we as humans make very strong eye contact with a cat, especially if they don't know us, they are likely to hide or ignore us, as it is threatening to them. On the other hand, if we try to ignore it, it will get closersince we are not a danger to them.
