Cats are soft, furry, affectionate animals. They can be a sense of comfort when you are feeling down or alone. They are very independent and can fend for themselves in the outdoors by catching birds or mice. Some people enjoy the comfort they get from cats while others fear them. If you are one of these people who fear cats, or know somebody else who does, understand that these people are not alone. Many people share this fear for various reasons. Here are some of the reasons why people might have a fear of cats.
1. They could be superstitious. Sometimes superstitions could lead to these irrational fears. People who are superstitious have beliefs that doing or seeing certain things will give them bad luck. Some examples might be walking under a ladder, breaking a mirror, opening an umbrella in the house, or seeing a black cat. These beliefs are all groundless since they cannot influence the type of luck anyone will have.
2. They are unfamiliar with cats. People, who have had no contact with cats throughout their lives, may fear cats because they are unknown to them. The best way to fix this problem is to get to know these feline creatures. They may find that you really enjoy being around cats.
3. They could have a phobia. Having a phobia to cats is referred to as ailurophobia. People with this terror may exhibit irrational fears to cats for unknown reasons. These people usually do not know why they fear cats. They see them as creepy, hairy, terrifying beast, the same way someone else might see spiders. If you know one of these people, you might want to encourage them to seek help since this phobia could impair their everyday life.
4. They may not like animals, especially cats. Some people do not like cats because they really don’t like animals. Maybe they are allergic to animal fur and would rather not be around them. Sometimes these people may be able to tolerate animals like dogs or rabbits but want nothing to due with cats.
No matter why people have this fear of cats, there are things they can do to change their feelings. It might be as simple as slowly familiarizing themselves with cats or as complicated as seeking therapies to help with these irrational fears.
