Cat Friendly Holidays

How can we get our cats to be in safe places during the holidays, and not so likely to be underfoot? How can we get them to join in the fun while not making anyone unhappy?

Do we have a cat who would like to mingle? Maybe?

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We can always be socializing our kitten or cat. When we encourage interested friends to engage the cat with toys or treats, we also get a cat who is more friendly with strangers, and more eager to meet them.

It is also a service to guests who like cats, and miss them. Our cats will look forward to our friends coming over and are more likely to be adorable and charming.

At any stage, here’s how to improve a cat’s sociability in three visits:

Visit One: The cats will want to see the people, and vice versa. See if they will come out for treats. If not, give them their treats in privacy, and say it’s from The Guests. Use names.

If circumstances permit, allow the guests to peek on the cats sleeping on the bed. But leave cats under the bed, alone.

But it is fine for a person to spend a few minutes in the room, walking around and talking, if the cats flee under the bed.

Visit Two: Bring out treats. Remind cats that nothing bad happened last time. Keep up the offers, and trying playing with a cat’s noisy toy. They might enjoy the prospect of a playmate.

Let the guest handle the treats, and even if cats are being fed while under the bed, they will still find the smell interesting.

If cats approach the hallway, peek in, then flee, they are establishing their comfort level. We can try picking them up and taking them only to that point. Or when they start to struggle, whichever comes first. Some cats find observing new people, eye to eye, from our shoulder or from the hallway, gives them the confidence to study the new people.

Visit Three: At some point, throw a party with cat treats and cat toys. We need not eat them or even play with the toys that much; we do care, and invite the cats to “come play.” If the guests arrive during the cat’s dinner time, see how much progress a volunteer might make when they are dishing out dinner under our supervision. The cats will bestow a lot of cred for such kind gestures.

If the cat appears in the hallway, everyone ignore the cat. They can even talk about ignoring the cat, and mention them by name. But don’t make any moves towards them.

Let the cats approach at their own pace, always.

For more tips, see Making Friends with a Friend’s Cat.

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There’s more ways to understand our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on WHY CATS DO THAT.