Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Cat Harry is a Grey and Black AND White tiger- he is a year old- plus a couple of months- we got him by adoption- from a lady that loved him very much- he was 6 mos old when we got him- the original lady that had him the first 6 months took greak care of him- and was super nice to him- even took him to a park every so often-

My Problem is- since we got him- we didn't have company over for the first week- just let him chill- he was scared and hid alot under an endtable- so we eventually had company over but he just went upstairs and hid unber the bed everytime and for a while after they had been gone for a while too. now it's months and months later- and still- anytime anyone other than my girlfriend or I who live with him come in the door- up he goes and we don't see him for hours! we even have to pull him out from hiding physically sometimes. We don't force hom to come out when we have company- we tried with no luck two or three times- but he just freaked - got scared and went back upstairs- to hide again. So we stopped- no one has ever beaten him or yelled when seeing him or anything- so my parents' cat does the same thing- I've forgotten what it looks like even-
thing is- if we have a guest over for a week- then he does come out of hiding after awhile- and there are like 2 other people he is ok around- but anything else- bye bye Harry- up to hiding grounds.

Can anyone tell me how to get him to stop being Such a PUSSYcat?

Also- everytime there is a Bag of any kind or a laundry basket carried through the house he runs from it in fear- could you tell me why this may be or how to get him to relax?- the rest of the time he is sweet and relaxed- I do keep him out of the bedroom while I am sleeping- otherwise he attacks my feet and I have to kick him out anyways.

Please help- I'm not sure if I posted this in the right section but this first part does have to do with human to cat relations and vice versa. Thank you

Many, many cats hide when company comes, including mine! He just disappears under the bed - in fact if he hears a knock at the door he's gone! There is not a whole lot you can do to change the behavior and dragging him out could make it worse. Some cats will eventually get used to certain people and come out for them if they visit.

You could try seeing if you can get him used to seeing a bag and not being so scared by laying the bag out in a room and then putting treats nearby. Then very slowly move the bag a teeny bit. Do this over the course of several weeks moving the bag more and more each time. He may adjust that way.
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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

Thanks-- oh well- guess I'll just have a Phantom cat.
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Harry- better than anything that's not him.