In the United States, nearly one-quarter of the population is reported to have an excessive fear of certain animals. Cats, in particular, are often identified as very feared animals. Some may wonder how one can be afraid of cats, but many people report an exaggerated and even unreasonable fear of cats. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fifth Edition (DSM-V) does not give a specific name for the phobia of cats, but acknowledges that a person can experience "certain phobias" which can include a fear of cats. So, if you suffer from a phobia of cats, you are not alone.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Reducing Sensitivity Using Images and Videos
Step 1. Look for pictures of cats on the internet
Be sure to save every image you find on your computer. Try to find different types of cats by size, color, coat type, etc. Also make sure you find some close-up shots as well as photos that show the cat performing daily routine activities such as walking, eating, lying down, and interacting with humans.
You don't need to limit image search sources to internet only. You can also find similar images in magazines and pamphlets
Step 2. Choose an image and print it, preferably in color
Look at the picture and confirm your position on the anxiety scale. Do this by determining how much anxiety you experience on a scale of 1-10. 1 indicates the absence of anxiety, while 10 indicates excessive anxiety.
Step 3. Look at pictures of cats for a few minutes each day
While doing so, try to stay calm. Also do your best to keep yourself from looking away. If you find yourself looking away, be sure to refocus on the image as soon as you notice it. Keep doing this every day until your anxiety level becomes very low when you see the picture.
- Decide in advance how long you will view the image each day. 10-15 minutes seems like a reasonable amount of time to incorporate into your daily routine.
- If you find yourself feeling anxious, try taking deep breaths to calm yourself down again. Sit in a chair that can support your back. Inhale so that the air moves from the stomach to the chest. Count to four as you breathe in slowly. Then exhale so that you feel the air moving back from your chest out of your body. Count to seven as you exhale. Repeat as many times as needed. Try using this relaxation technique when you look at pictures of cats.
- After a few days of doing it, the anxiety you feel will lessen. Make sure you always remember your position on the anxiety scale. Remember, the goal is to get to a 1 or 2 on the scale.
Step 4. Print out the rest of the cat pictures that you have saved on your computer
Use the pictures to make a collage by attaching them to cardboard using glue. After you no longer feel anxiety by looking at a picture of a cat, now is the time to switch to seeing pictures of cats in large numbers. Taking this approach will allow you to build confidence slowly. Make sure you deliberately take a few minutes each day to look at the collage. Keep doing this until the cat pictures are no longer causing you anxiety.
- Increase exposure slowly by starting with one cat and then moving on to multiple cats. The end goal is to completely reduce your sensitivity to cats. However, if you start with a drawing of lots of cats, you may feel overwhelmed, so you end up quitting before this method works. Therefore, it is important to start from something that you can deal with.
- You may need to hang the collage where you will see it often. This can help speed up the desensitization process. However, keep aside 10-15 minutes specifically for this activity.
- Remember, the goal is to score 1 or 2 on the anxiety scale when viewing the collage.
Step 5. Watch a cat video
Look for short, fun cat videos to watch on YouTube and watch them over and over again for a few days. At first, it might trigger your anxiety, but you should keep watching it until you no longer feel anxious.
- Watching videos is a great way to prepare yourself to move from looking at pictures of cats to making real physical contact.
- It's probably a good idea to have a friend view the YouTube video before you see it. This way, you can avoid videos that sometimes show a fierce cat, which can exacerbate the phobia.
- Keep an eye on your anxiety scale. Once you reach 1 or 2 on the scale, you can move on to making physical contact.
Part 2 of 3: Making Physical Contact
Step 1. Call your cat friend and tell him about your fear
Explain to her that you want to learn to be more comfortable around cats and that you need her help. Ask if you can come over to his house every day for the next few weeks to get used to being around the cat.
- It can be difficult to come to your friend's house every day, but it's important to be in contact with the cat as often as possible. Set a schedule and stick to it. As you gradually expose yourself to what you fear, your body will make adjustments and eventually stop releasing stress hormones. Therefore, the more time you spend around cats, the faster the fear of cats will go away.
- Make sure you choose a friend with a friendly cat. Your friend may already be able to judge whether or not their pet is suitable for this activity. However, it might be a good idea to ask her if the cat is friendly before visiting.
Step 2. Look at the cat from a distance
The first time you make contact with a cat, be sure to do so at a comfortable distance. Ask your friend to put the cat in another room where you can see but cannot make direct physical contact with you. You can also ask your friend to hold the cat while standing outside away from you. Stay at your friend's house for about 10-15 minutes and then ask permission to leave. Keep doing this until you no longer feel anxious.
Step 3. Sit near the cat
Using a pet bag is a great way to start. Ask your friend to put the cat in a bag and keep it close to you. A distance of 60 to 90 cm is a pretty good proximity. Stay near the cat for 10-15 minutes, then ask permission to leave. Do this until you no longer feel anxious.
Step 4. Have your friend sit next to you holding the cat on his lap
This allows you to be around the unbridled cat, but having your friend hold it makes things more under control. Sit for 10-15 minutes then ask permission to leave. Keep doing this until you no longer feel anxious.
- Remember, you don't need to touch the animal at this stage. The goal is to be near the cat so that you get used to being close to the cat outside of the bag.
- While this may cause some discomfort, if you start to feel overwhelmed at some point, you can stop it.
- Try to always end the process with success. If you're feeling overwhelmed and decide to stop it, try asking your friend to put the cat back in her bag or ask if she can move away a bit. Try waiting a bit before deciding to leave until you no longer feel overwhelmed. This way, you can reduce your anxiety without increasing your fear.
Step 5. Pet the cat
Encourage yourself to physically touch the animal. Start by holding for a few seconds then work your way up. Make sure to only touch the cat where it doesn't feel uncomfortable. Dr. Marty Becker suggests some areas that make cats happy to be petted and one places to avoid:
- Cats like to be rubbed under the chin where the jawbone and skull meet. The bases of the ears and cheeks behind the whiskers are also part of what gives most cats pleasure.
- Cats also seem to enjoy being petted on the back with a little pressure when your hand reaches the tailbone.
- Avoid petting the cat on the stomach. Even if the dog likes it, the cat feels unprotected and may not respond well to this movement.
Step 6. Hold the cat on your lap
Once you are comfortable petting the cat, let the cat climb onto your lap. Let him stay on your lap for a few seconds or minutes (as long as you are comfortable) then ask your friend to pick him up. When you manage to hold the cat without feeling anxious, your fear of cats may have disappeared.
Step 7. Approach the cat regularly
This is very important because fear can come back if you don't keep trying. Therefore, it is important that you continue to expose yourself to cats on a regular basis so that your fear does not resurface. Try to make regular visits to homes with cats in them so you can continue to feel comfortable around cats.
Visiting the pet store when there is no access to the cat is another great way. This is especially good if your cat-care friends are out of town
Part 3 of 3: Reshaping Your Thinking
Step 1. Recognize that your phobia of cats may be exacerbated by unhelpful thoughts
Most people who are afraid of cats actually realize that cats are harmless. However, they have a fear response that originates in the brain and cannot be controlled.
- Phobias are often learned behaviors. A person may have one bad experience with cats, then he may begin to subconsciously associate cats with negative things, such as illness, or he may "learn" to be afraid of cats by seeing his parents' fearful behavior around cats when he was a child..
- Different parts of the brain play a role in this phobia. Therefore, it will take some time to retrain the brain to think and respond to cats differently.
Step 2. Make a list of all the negative and unhelpful thoughts you feel around your cat
When you can identify these unhelpful thoughts, you can begin to evaluate them. You may notice that most of these thoughts are in one (or more) of the following three cognitive distortions:
- Fortune telling is when a person assumes he knows the final outcome of a situation without any supporting evidence. For example, you might think, "This cat is going to scratch me" even though you've never interacted with the cat before.
- Overgeneralizing is when a person thinks of one specific event and assumes all events are equal. For example, you might think "My friend's cat scratched me two years ago, that's why all cats are fierce."
- Catastrophizing is when you predict a negative ending will occur and believe when it does, the outcome will be disastrous. This is when you assume things will work out in the worst case scenario. For example, you might think "If that cat scratched me, I would get an infection and die."
Step 3. Replace those negative thoughts with more helpful thoughts
You can do this by creating other statements to counter these negative thoughts. When you do this, you are essentially retraining your subconscious to remove unhelpful cognitive distortions and replace them with more positive beliefs.
- Focus on replacing negative thoughts with positive statements that will help you emphasize a neutral or more positive end result. For example, you could replace the thought “This cat is going to scratch me” with a statement like “Many people interact with cats every day and don't get scratched.”
- You can even start using statements that are less negative than your initial thoughts. For example, you could replace the thought "If that cat scratched me, I'll get an infection and die" with a less negative statement like, "The worst thing that can happen is that the cat will scratch me and run. I've been clawed before and it didn't taste too bad. Chances are I won't get an infection." Eventually you will be able to replace less negative thoughts with something even more positive
- Try to do this whenever negative thoughts arise. Eventually you will start to think positively about cats.
Tips
- The first time you have physical contact with a cat, try to do it every day or as often as possible. Make a schedule and stick to it.
- The more often you interact with cats, the faster you will overcome the fear. With repeated interactions, you'll begin to realize that the worst-case scenario probably won't happen. When this happens, the fear is no longer strong.
- Try to find out what specifically triggers the fear. It may not be the cat itself that causes the fear, but rather what you think will happen to the cat's presence. Are you afraid that the cat will scratch, attack, bite, or do something else that will harm you? When you figure that out, it will be much easier to change your negative thoughts and beliefs.
- When you're just starting to come into physical contact with cats, try to avoid contact with cats outside of controlled interactions at your friend's house. This will help you avoid unexpected situations that could lead to setbacks.
- If you don't have a friend who has a cat, another option is to visit a pet store or a place with adoptable cats.
- If your cat anxiety is severe, you may want to start with less time and work your way up to ten to fifteen minutes at each visit. You should also consider starting contact with kittens and then moving on to adult cats. Kittens probably won't feel too dangerous.
- Reading articles about cats may also help overcome your fear. This will probably be most helpful at the desensitization stage of using images.
- Know what you are going to do before visiting the cat each time. This way, the fear of the unknown probably won't stop you from continuing the process.
- Letting go of your fears and phobias will take time, so don't beat yourself up if this doesn't work out as quickly as you think it should. Get used to going through the process, taking as much time as needed.
Warning
- Don't let yourself feel overwhelmed during this process. While it may be a little uncomfortable, if you feel overwhelmed, stop what you're doing. Since you definitely want to have success at the end of the process, try to go back to the last step that doesn't cause you any anxiety. For example, if you feel overwhelmed by holding the cat, you can try returning the cat to its owner.
- Make sure you go through this process in a safe place. Cats should be with a trusted friend or organization who knows cats well and can attest to being healthy and friendly.
- If your cat anxiety is really severe, you might consider discussing your phobia with your doctor. Sometimes anti-anxiety medications can help.
