🐱 Why does my cat disappear when there are other cats near? 🐾
It is a scene that many Gatunos humans know well: your cat is usually affectionate, curious, follows you at home and answers as soon as you call it. But, suddenly, cats unknown by the neighborhood or garden appear ... and everything changes. Your cat hides, does not come when you call it and seem to have disappeared from the map. Does it sound to you?
Although it may seem strange or even worrying behavior, it has a completely logical explanation from the feline point of view.
🧠 Territorial instinct, even if castrated
Cats, even the most domesticated and quiet, retain a strong territorial instinct. For them, their immediate surroundings - your house, the garden, the near field - is their domain. And any new presence, especially from another cat, represents a direct threat to that sacred space.
Even castrated cats, which do not have the same sex hormones as integers, can react with insecurity, discomfort or flight when they detect another cat nearby. It is not jealousy or "not love you", but that your feline mind enters alert.
😾 Avoid conflicts is a strategy
Not all cats are fighters. In fact, many prefer to avoid clashes. Therefore, if your cat detects another cat nearby (either by sight, smell or sounds), it can choose to hide and stay away, even from you. It is his way of protecting and not getting into trouble.
This behavior is more common in cats than:
- They have had bad experiences with other cats.
- They are sensitive or not very territorial.
- They live in rural or semi-salvage areas, where the "territorial balance" between neighboring cats is real and is respected at a distance.
👃 The smell of other cats imburss them
Your cat may seem calm ... until it smells that another cat has gone through its area. You don't have to see the invader for his attitude to change. A urine mark is enough, a smell trace on a plant or even a distant meow.
From that moment, the environment no longer seems "safe." His attention focuses on controlling the situation, and not on playing, snoring or assisting you. And yes, this can last hours or even days.
❤️ It is not that I ignore you ... it is in alert mode
Many tutors feel sad when their cat stops paying attention to another. But you have to understand that your priority has changed: it is no longer in "Mimos mode", but in "Survival Strategy Mode." You need to analyze the terrain, hide, watch ... and until you feel that everything returns to normal, it will not relax or behave again as always.
✅ What can you do
- Do not force it when it moves away. Give space and time.
- Avoid leaving food out, since it can attract others.
- Clean the areas where other cats may have marked.
- Use peromonous diffusers if the behavior is repeated a lot.
- Reward your trust when you return quietly.
🧩 Date curious final
Cats do not have a single personality. They have a "calm personality" and another "alert personality." When there are intruders nearby, they take out their wildest and most calculator side. But as soon as everything calms down ... they are those snoring stuffed animals that follow you everywhere.
🐾 Does your cat also change their attitude when there are other cats near?
Tell me in the comments!
And if it happened to you, you know: it is not that I have stopped loving you ... is that it is in a secret mission! 😼
