Being a cat parent is among the most beautiful experiences. However, if you think all pet parents know their furry pal’s likes and dislikes, let’s have a reality check. Does loud music frustrate your cat? Or does your feline get annoyed with changes or excessive petting? Like humans, there’s a list of things cats hate, including strangers, stale food, medication, and much more.

Things Cats Hate

Sometimes, you may unintentionally trigger your cat’s hate chords by doing certain things that may be pretty normal for us but highly annoying to the cats. We might not be able to avoid everything that stresses our feline friends, but we can definitely mitigate some issues. We have put together a list of things cats hate so you can prep in advance.

Loud noise

It may be a gala time for you to have loud conversations with the guests, blast your Spotify playlist, or argue at the top of your pitch. But it’s a big turn-off for your cats because they do not prefer loud noise and loud people. For cats, loud noise indicates the presence of predators, which activates their caution button, and they become anxious or aggressive. So, keeping your cats in a quiet and safe place is advisable.

Medicine

Cats can be fussiest when administering medicines, and they’ll visibly resist having medicines. However, as pet parents, you know it is essential to give medication for their better health, so you have to trick them. Instead of directly administering the pills or stuffing their mouth with a syringe, you go for taste pill pockets or mix them with your cat’s favorite food to smoothen the process. Pill pockets like Feline Greenies work best on cats that like food, not picky eaters. You can try something similar with the canned food your cat loves. Just ensure hiding the pill inside the food smartly.

Dirty litter box

How would you react if you had to use a smelly and dirty toilet – You would hate it, right? Even cats hate dirty and unclean litter boxes, and they prefer everything squeaky clean, from their body to their litter boxes. Your furry friends will choose to pee and poop outside the litter box if it is left uncleaned.

A cat’s olfactory receptors are 14 times more sensitive than ours, and the smell from the litter box can lead to stress in felines. Therefore, consider scooping the poop daily to clean the litter box to maintain overall hygiene.

Bathing

The super relaxing bath sessions you plan to give your cats are so not exciting for them. Except for rare cat breeds, mostly domestic cats hate to get wet, and cats have never been familiar with water since they evolved in the desert climate. But thankfully, cats do not require daily bathing as they’re obsessed with self-grooming. Do not force your furry friends to bathe. If it is necessary, give a quick yet soothing bathing session. Ensure to wear long rubber gloves to avoid any inconveniences.

Holding their tail

How irresistible can it be to take your hands from touching your cat’s fine-looking and thick tail? But, pause because felines don’t like their tails held until it’s a brief and gentle touch. Cats are overprotective with their tails as it’s the most fragile area intertwined with small bones, nerves, and muscles. Therefore, when anyone abruptly grabs their tail, it causes overstimulation which is stressful for cats and ignites a defensive reaction.

Excessive petting

We know keeping your hands off that goofball from expressing your love with a long petting session can be hard. But you cannot keep petting your cats for a long time because cats hate excessive petting. After a while, all they’d want is to get off from you. Cats display signs of agitation such as growling, rapid tail witching, and dilated pupils; if you notice these signs, back off immediately and set your cats free.

Not enough or too much attention

If you’re a cat parent, you’ll know how perplexing they can sometimes be. Felines need your affection and time to have their own space, and if left alone for a longer time at home, they might feel bored and lonely.

On the other hand, cats do not appreciate attention as they’re independent creatures, and cats prefer boundaries and shower love and attention when they want to. However, felines are much less complicated because even cats love your attention but admire their personal space.

Change

Cats don’t like changes without their consent. Moving into a new house or welcoming a new baby – felines feel stressed dealing with these changes. Even a tiny change in their litter box or food can lead to unthinkable personality changes in your furry friends. While going through changes, cats express discomfort like increased aggression, hiding at inappropriate places, excessive grooming, or urinating outside the litter box.

Strangers

It can be dangerous for an unfamiliar or unknown person to hold or interact with your cat. The reason is that felines are not so cool with instant familiarity. They’re absolutely honest creatures, so one can sense if a cat feels uncomfortable with unknown people. Cats hate strangers, so wait and observe their social behavior. If your furry friend sits with you or sniffs your hand, they are fine with the interaction; if not, they’ll walk away.

Car Rides

Cats usually prefer to be in their territory. Unlike dogs, cats hate car rides because of the unfamiliar environment they sense. Many factors stimulate stress and anxiety in cats while you take them for a car ride. The strange smell, movement of the car, inability to see or move outside and loud noises are a few factors that can create stress and uneasiness in felines. Cats may also vomit because of motion sickness.

The above list is a set of the most common things cats hate. But all cats are unique, so you need to find what they hate to build a strong bond with your cat. Observe your cats meticulously. Once you know their trigger points, try to avoid them. Have patience while dealing with the process!