How to Make Your Cat Visitor Friendly By The Blog Dog on February 05 @ 11:23AM

It is common knowledge that our feline friends are reserved by nature, unlike our canine friends. Hence, people looking for low-maintenance pets often opt for cats. However, almost any creature can be made to acclimatize to conditions it is not used to, and the same goes for cats.

If you’ve finally decided to get a pet cat that you’ve always wanted, it would be best to do a thorough research about various cat breeds before going ahead with it. While researching, look for cat breeds that are friendly by nature. Persian, exotic shorthair, Burmese, and Ragdoll are some of the friendliest cat breeds. Once you finalize your desired cat breed, opt for a kitten not more than two weeks old. Kittens can be made to adapt to human presence in the 2 to 7-weeks age range.Once the kitten is in the house and starts spending time with you and your daily visitors, it will get trained and become social. New cat owners need to make sure their kitten is not exposed to harsh behaviors or extremely loud noises. Having such experiences can permanently make them antisocial.

Trying to train a cat who is more than 7 weeks old and is afraid of people other than you can be a difficult and frustrating task. However, with patience, right techniques, and persistence, you can manage to make your cat visitor friendly.

• If your cat runs away and hides the moment a visitor enters your house, the most important step to take would be to simply let your cat be. Forcing your cat to come out and mingle with your guests will only drive it into its shell further.
• When a cat is nervous, making eye contact with it intimidates it further. Hence, ask your guests to not make an eye contact with your cat.
• After a while, try making your cat get out of its hiding place using small treats.
• Once it comes out, make your guest offer it treats from a distance, and let your cat approach your guest gradually and not the other way round.
• Repeat the above-mentioned step several times, each time decreasing the distance between the guest and your cat.
• Once you get a sense that your cat has started feeling comfortable around your guest, make your guest offer it a treat while sitting on a chair. Gradually make your cat climb your guest’s lap through this exercise.

It cannot be predicted as to when your cat will finally become visitor friendly. Unfortunately, if your cat is reserved genetically, there might be a case it will never become social.