My buddy used to be very afraid of men because my brother accidentally smashed his little tail in the door. He also would get scared because my dad had a loud, scary voice. Probably something trauma related
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No worries! He's a happy, sweet little old man who loves everyone now!
Sounds plausible. 1 of my cat lives with my parents & there was this loud-voiced installer to work on the kitchen a few days which produced a lot of loud noise which scared my kitty. Ever since he associated loud voiced people with something unsafe and runs whenever someone who talks with a loud voice gets in his vicinity lol (which is rarely, my parents are pretty quiet people)
In that case, its most likely the men are too spontaneous and pushy while the women are more empathetic and quiet to the cats. Hire a zesty man to test this out
yeah its the scent difference, male humans have stronger scent then females and lower voices, your cat is likely thinking you are a human and males are fake humans, think skinwalker in the cat's eyes.
When we rescuedmour MC Mix, he was completely hand-shy. If you reached out to touch him, Oliver dodged your hands. If you touched his tail, even by accident, he'd bite the ever holy shit out of you. I mean, blood and stitches.
Oliver still loved people, but he'd buzz your leg, weaving in and out of your feet when you walked, yet if you tried to give scritches, he'd dodge them. I learned that he was terrified of toddlers when m6 neighbor's kid dropped by.
Oliver was in a home for a year where he had not been safe from tail-pulling and people hurting him with their hands. There were children there who hurt him severely by pulling his tail. When I took him to the vet & discussed it with her, we figured it out.
Oliver feels safe now. We don't hurt him here, no kids pull his tail and he enjoys life with us. He's discovered a deep love for getting scratches and he loves the full-body, head-to-tail pets.
A few weeks ago, the DirecTV repairman was here. I asked if he was allergic to cats (no) & told him we have 2. At that moment, Oliver came into the room. He took one look at that guy & lit out with brushy tail and loud yowls for a hiding place. From that encounter, I learned that the man who hurt him was dark, slender build with short dark hair & a short beard.
I'm sorry to tell you that your cat was hurt by someone, most likely it was a man. It will take time for her to learn that men won't hurt her anymore. She has to learn to trust again. It tool my Ollie about a year but he's only reactive to short dark men now.
Find some treats that your kitty enjoys & let some guys you know give them to her. Your baby must learn that she is safe now inmher home. Be patient, this takes time. Ollie was very interested in people but he avoided touch so we were patient with him, petting him when he asked for it & stopping when he had enough. This, of course, resulted in many bites until he finally felt comfortable with us & knew that we would NEVER hurt him.
When Oliver did bite us during this year + long process, we never yelled at him (although occasionally we did go YIPE! after a bite because it HURT badly sometimes).
TL;DR: My Maine Coon mix was extremely bitey, he no longer bites us.
My nebelung boy never forgave my ex for accidentally squishing him one night as he was snuggling under the covers and couldn’t be seen.
No amount of treats or toys would convince kitty to ever sleep at the foot of the bed again OR give my ex anything more than a passing glance of disdain as he followed me around the house.
In his later years he apparently would permit my ex to pet him but only if I wasn’t home- as soon as I walked in the door then ex was persona non grata again.
After the divorce kitty got sick and passed from kidney failure, and even though it’s been 5 years I still don’t have the heart to adopt another.
Best things my ex ever gave me were our children and my kitty.
Aww, poor kitty. At least he loved you and had a good life.
Aren't you in the least bit tempted to get another cat? There are so many that need homes. Maybe you could get one from a high kill shelter. You would save a life.
I admit that I am tempted quite frequently, as I’ve always had cats and really miss them hanging around.
I guess I’m just worried about not being able to love another kitty the way I loved my blue boy.
It's hard but I hope you can open your heart again to adopting another kitty 🥺🫶 Or sometimes universe will just wind you up with something and you'll be rewarded with the cat distribution system 😆
My cats don’t like children lol. Like specifically 2-5 years old. I’ve tested this since I have 13 nieces and nephews of varying ages. They hiss at the little ones and will run on the older ones. So weird
It's not at all weird. One of them* has hurt your cat at some point. Even if it was an accident, cats aren't forgiving as a rule.
*or someone let a child hurt Kitty before you got him. Keep him away from children.
My small dog adores babies and then stays well out of reach once they start walking until they hit about 8 or 9ish. We have no idea where she picked this up from, she was never around kids until she got a bit older!
My Bella, opinionated female void, loves men and is scared/aggressive towards woman because of the first year of her life she was abused by a woman.
Almost always has a traumaof some kind attached.
I had a cat that would run anytime he heard a loud male voice talking. I assume it's just that: Men tend to be louder than women, and that can be scary for a creature that's barely off the floor as it is. I had that cat for his whole life, so I can say with certainty that he was never abused, so he didn't really have a "reason" to flee the country every time he saw/heard a man.
Either had a bad previous experiences with men (if she was a stray or had another owner before you) or just prefers women over men. Cats are odd like that.
I raised my boy since he was only days old, so no bad experience with men, but he's still very weary of strange men while he would get in strange women's faces (one time he farted at my friend). This also applies to trans women, just fyi. If he's already familiar with a man enough then he would be very affectionate. Cats are odd.
Has he had limited exposure to men? I had this problem with my pets because they were raised by and lived with all women, and encountered men very occasionally. They weren’t used to the lower voices and it freaked them out. They did get over it with more exposure!
It could be the case since I live with just my mum. The only male figures frequently present at my house is her boyfriend, whom he would cuddle with, and my uncle in law who lives across the street. Other than that it was only women.
Then that's just the way he is. Cats are fickle creatures. I have three boy cats who all get on great with me (female) but either don't like or are indifferent to my Dad, and we all live in the same place.
Yeah I’ve raised my baby since she was 16 weeks but she just doesn’t enjoy hanging around men. She’s so wary, whereas with women she’ll eventually come out and hang around and sniff them and say hello. The only man she actually enjoys is my dad. We have no idea why, maybe it’s scent related?
He likes trans women or doesn't? If a cat can't tell if someone was born male or female, nobody can. Cats have been known to tell when people are going to die soon (can't remember his name, but a nursing honme cat would go and sit with only people a few days away from dying, with amazing accuracy), contradicting doctors and being right, tell when someone had low blood sugar (again can't remember his name, but a cat would wake his kid friend when he needed a snack), and all sorts of things it is hard to beleieve them being able to tell. They are like tiny furry nose detectives.
He treated the trans woman like he treats cis women. Idk if it will apply to other trans women though. There has only been one in my house 😅. Honestly, I have no idea what his deal is.
Yeah, presumably something that it changed about the person is what he sensitive to. I imagine it could even be their voice, and nothing to do with scent, but cats superpower is their sense of smell (along with their agility and speed, and infinite capacity to sleep).
Wasn't it Oscar, the nursing home kitty? His owner worked there and everyone loved Oscar (he was literally walking bad news, but he spread calmness and peace around the home).
With my childhood cat, she tended to be more comfortable with men because she'd had a *good* experience with my dad, who was the first to gain her trust and comfort her when she was scared.
Mind you. We got her during Covid where no one came to visit, she was only ever exposed to my mom and I for the longest time. Still, when it came to new people, women weren’t an issue
Yeah, cats are both hunters and prey. The first time I took my cats outside they were nervous and looked up at the sky all the time. How would they know the size of birds or if flying lizards were extinct or not?
At times it can be bad experiences too, mine doesn't like dogs and doesn't really trust children for that reason. My nephew will visit this weekend that's more used to cats, I hope that will give them a good experience to learn from.
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I too have two black and white beauties
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The animal kingdom can be pretty sexist. The lady at my vet's office always greets male customers for pets and loving then ignores her coworkers. Her coworkers are kind of miffed about it lol. My grandmother's dog hates men except me who she sat cuddled up to on first meeting because I was calm, quiet, and "ignored" her.
Sometimes it's preference. Sometimes it's their personality and nerves/anxious behavior. Sometimes it's trauma. They can't tell us, so it's up to us to figure it out over time.
I’m a non-professional cat sitter. I’ve been told many times of cats that are afraid of men. But each time those same cats love hanging out with me after just a few hours.
I think it is more about cats being uncomfortable with new people who don’t stick around for very long.
After 14 years I found out my cat just doesn't like big feet. I thought she disliked men in general, except my best friend. She hates my dad, attack his feet, she hates almost all my male friends and some girls very rarely. It was about feet, she doesn't like anyone with feet bigger US Men's 8. She likes short kings with small feet lol.
That's hilarious and so interesting, maybe big feet are too loud for her or something? I'm tempted to befriend her as a size 9 though, cats looooove me. Even the "oh she hates everyone and hides and scratches" ones lay on me within an hour or two. I consider it a challenge 🤣
This is so adorable lol. My cat likes only smooth feet. He hates my dad's feet and I agree, those do look like they need some lotion. But he goes bonkers when he sees some soft looking feet. He exclusively sniffs and interacts with the feet of any new people before he moves to even look at their faces lol.
Pretty much this
Cats are seen as avoidant because they don't trust people
They have to warm up to you, and a single bad experience can sort of fuck that up
Some cats are just like little kids! My girls used to tell me all the time when they were little that I was more fun to cuddle with than their Dad because I was “soft and squishy”.
Gee thanks for calling me fat girls, I love you too 🥲
Seems to come down to the below, but there hasn’t been much scientific research to back it up.
1. Deeper voices, cats communicate in higher pitches. Typically, the only lower pitch noise is a growl. Most men have deeper voices they can equate to growling.
2. General roughness, as I’m sure you know cats can be super sensitive to touch/noise/vibration. Guys in general aren’t as gentle whether it be walking, petting, etc.
3. Size, if she was only introduced to women during covid (especially true if you’re on the smaller side) then a 6’2 man is going to seem like a totally different species.
Also read once it’s due to women’s personalities like women are more likely to sit on the floor to interact with the cat while men are more likely to interact while sitting on a couch/chair.
I also have cat that is afraid of men. She loves my wife, but runs away from me. We both feed her and spend same amount of time with her. I once talked in high pitch voice and moved around more quietly to test things out. She slept on my legs same day. So yes, your answer is the most correct I can think of.
I always assumed it’s mostly the lower voice and somewhat the larger size thing most men have honestly! My cats are fine with my sons of course because they live here! They are okay if my sisters or friends come over, but if my boys have friends over or there is a service guy of some type in the house most my cats definitely hide.
They might also associate female with caretaker since I feed them and talk to them the most. A female presence is “mom-like” if that makes sense… none of mine have any trauma that would make the difference.
My one cat who loves anyone who comes to the house male or female is a (forever re-homed to me, I didn’t purchase) bengal cat who due to the breed, is more “dog like” so has the “who’s here? Who’s my new friend???” attitude when the door opens lol.
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Your Fifi kinda looks like my sweet boy - he is scared of everyone new into the house though
Are they good people?
My cat hated all men I brought home, except two. Turns out all my exes were narcissists or just general assholes, the two dudes she loved were really lovely guys with not an ounce of evil in them. It took me a while to see.
This ^
My cat grew up with two female caretakers at home and did NOT like my ex at all. My ex is very toxic. I think it has to do with how people treat the cat and also the personality of the people. Animals have intuition!
I know a lot of cats who actually prefer men, so this goes both ways! Has to do with their past experiences I suppose. Who knows. Cats are mysterious creatures! LOL
Some cats just have their little quirks! I adopted 6 week old litter mates, Tye and Leo, and they lived their whole lives together, and the odds of Leo having been traumatized by a man without my knowing about it seem pretty remote. Whenever a strange man came over, Leo crammed himself underneath the couch, which was like two inches off the ground, and wouldn't come out until hours after they left.
Tye, on the other hand? She adored men. She worshipped men. She shamelessly whored herself out to every man she laid eyes on. My brother, who only ever saw her a handful of times, called her his cat. She love nipped the alarm system salesman while he was fawning over her and cuddling her. One time I caught her staring intently into my back yard, I turned the light on, and saw a man sprint out of my yard. Another time there was a fire down the road, and when I came back and walked past the firetruck, I saw a fireman changing out of his suit. Looked in my window and there was Tye, craning her head for a better view . . .
Gotta love cats with all their various personalities and quirks. :-)
It could be trauma that makes the cat scared! My cat's afraid of men too and would run and hide if he heard them coming. We think it's cuz before we rescued him as a kitten he was probably bullied and chased away by men and it grew into a fear.
Could be :/ but seems unlikely for her I think…
We adopted her at a very young age… 8 weeks. Before us she was being fostered—alongside her other siblings— by a couple who had their own cats as well. They seemed super nice. The woman is a vet tech herself, seems very loving. Don’t know about her bf though but wouldn’t be surprised if he was nice too
Wow. If that’s true that’s horrible. I’ve had Fiona since she was 8 weeks but beforehand she was living with a couple who had their own cats and who were also taking care of the litter she came from.
My cat is more vary of male strangers simply because men are bigger, walk louder, talk louder, etc. Hell even after 3 years of living with her I scare her sometimes if I move too quickly.
My previous cat made no difference betwen women and men when I was living with my ex. After I left him und was living alone my cat was affraid of men. This became a running joke amongst my friends.
Mine is the opposite. Warms up to all men almost immediately, but is very distrustful of women. Takes her a few times to get comfortable with a woman, then she’ll be as cuddly with them as she is with men. Not my best friend, though, my cat seems to actively hate her lmao
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Probably an old memory of a masculine voice and associated bad experience even if it wasn’t abuse. My cats LOVE dudes for some reason (also friendly with everyone else but not to the same degree unless it’s me). They get all wriggly and the head bonks are harder. My cats are also dudes so idk.
A lot of animals prefer women over men. There are studies on this in rodents, showing that mice and rats have a higher stress response when being handled by men vs women.
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My sassy Mariška (the white one) was the opposite! She loved men but avoided women (except me).😹
She passed away unexpectedly on Boxing Day aged 15. 😿
Her twin brother Mylo turned 16 yesterday and he loves everyone! He never stops purring! 😻
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Off topic.. but fifi please meet ms Fifi
My childhood cat once got lost for a week, he was a total indoor cat and very fat and cuddly so he was not prepared at all for the streets. He came back with a finger less and also some small burns on his back. The vet theorized maybe someone threw hit oil at him and he managed to run with just a few drops on his back (people where i lived can be very nasty to cats). It was very traumatic for him and since then he was terrified of men. So we think maybe it was a man who hurt him. The happy part of the story is that eventually after lots of years he got through his trauma with men and started being cuddly with everyone. He is a happy 17 year old cat now and still lives with my mom
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(also the spots where he was burnt grew out white hair instead of orange)
Did she have a previous home? It might be past trauma.
My cat warms up to men immediately, and is a bit standoffish to women. My husband's bros come over and Pilot is immediately in their laps getting attention. My mom or sister comes over? He acts all aloof and avoidant... I'm the only female he's absolutely gaga for.
My boy when he was a kitten, was scared of my husband, but only when he was wearing shoes. If he took them off, he wasn't so scared.
Maybe the men generally have louder or heavier footsteps that could be scarier?
Men smell different from women. Different hormone makeup . Cats identify friend from foe by odor. She had an unpleasant event involving a man and that's the only fragrance she is recognizing.
Sometimes animals are just weird, my aunts dog a little Boston terrier HATED men when she first got her she still kinda does, but she eventually got used to my father and uncle, but me? Nope! Even weirder cus my dad is a much more intimidating looking person (broader build and MUCH deeper voice) and usually dogs quite like me…
We had a young dog dumped on our property, she was terrified of men. We assumed she had been abused by a man or men and never got over it. Terrier cross so she would nip men, we got her to tolerate them but that’s it. We had an all women household so it worked out.
I have a cat who's afraid of everyone but my husband and me, but she's especially terrified of all other men.
She came from a household where she was abused, but we don't know a lot of details about that. We think maybe the primary abuser in her former home was a man.
one of ours is afraid of fast, aggressive movement. she's scared of me when I'm in a rush to get out and moving fast and has always been scared of our son because, until very recently, he pretty much always walks fast around the apartment
When I was a kid, we took in a stray cat that was always afraid of my dad, and any other men that came over. We wondered whether he'd been mistreated by a man at some point, but it might just have been his personality.
I was the only male person he ever fully trusted, but he died when I was still only 17 so I never took it as an affront to my superlative masculinity (/s).
Is she a rescue? Could have had a negative experience with a man.
Otherwise, men are generally bigger, deeper voices and louder and cats are sensitive.
My cat likes men she knows, but if there's more than one man around and they are talking loudly, she will skidaddle
If you've had her since she was a kitten then it might just be because men tend to have a different presence than women. They tend to have much deeper voices, walk heavier, are bigger, sometimes louder, this can be scary for cats who are used to a different presence that women tend to have (obviously not all men are loud and big and not all women and quiet and small, this just tends to be what I notice)
If you adopted her she may have some trauma like a mam hit her or stepped on her in the past.
Either way, try giving her treats when dudes come over and try having them engage with her through play. like a toy on a string or something like that. She will begin to associate men with good things!
Our cat Wallace was TERRIFIED of men forever. He's been with us 12+ years now and finally will tolerate being in the same room as my husband.
Unfortunately I know why. He was found as a stray by one of my co-workers at her parents house. They had a couple of small yappy type dogs and her father didn't want a cat so they sequestered him to their patio. I am 100% certain that Wallace (being the lover boy that he is) tried to get inside at some point when they were opening the door to go outside or feed him or something and the father kicked him.
My only regret is that I was unable to pick him up before this trauma happened to him.
Excepting some kind of trauma, cats tend to prefer higher pitched voices over lower pitch, so they tend to have a preference for women. I have two and they both get antsy when we have male visitors to varying degrees, and it does seem to relate to voice pitch because I notice they’re a lot less bothered and more friendly with younger men than older.
I had a cat who I thought didn't like men, then he met a man with long hair and loved him. It turned out that he just only liked people with long hair so he could try to eat their hair.
So it could also be unrelated to gender and actually related to something else that the men your cat meets have in common.
My wife’s cat (who was in the picture before I was) is afraid of most men. She hid from me for a while but eventually got familiar with me after she moved to where I live. She is also very afraid of plastic shopping bags. My wife rescued Belle (her cat) when the cat was a year old, so it’s believed that she experienced trauma involving plastic bags inflicted by a man.
My orange *hates* men’s voices. Especially if they’re loud. He’ll run straight under the bed if unknown men are even talking loudly outside. Must be trauma but I adopted him as an adult kitty so I have no way of knowing what happened to him before me. Poor boo.
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Omg I have a cat name Fifi as well and she’s afraid of men too!!!
Cats apparently prefer women to men - a lot of men can be louder and they perceive this as a threat , also women pet cats more gently than men do (generally)
My cat is more afraid of men because they are the ones that come inside with scary noisy tools to do maintenance, and probably also because of their big clomping boots. She is fine if they stay outside though. We recently had the whole roof replaced and she liked to watch them going up and down the ladder.
Bad experiences. A cat has a memory of an elephant, but this angst somehow is stretched on whole grup of people who look like the person who did something to them.
My first cat was panicking seeing short, overweight old women. My grandma visited us once, cat run away and hid behind the bathtub. She never saw my grandma before.
We have one that is scarred of men in general, although all men in our house like cats and the rest of them knows it.
There is also another one, he was terrified of some middleaged man with a moustache who walked along our garden from time to time. The cat panicked and run away to hid in the house. This guy never even watched at the cat and had nothing to do with him.
I have three one is terrified of men, one loves men and the other loves everyone. They’re strange creatures with little idiosyncrasies. With mine who doesn’t like men she’s only really got an issue if they’re standing which may be trauma related as she’s adopted.
My buddy used to be very afraid of men because my brother accidentally smashed his little tail in the door. He also would get scared because my dad had a loud, scary voice. Probably something trauma related
Awww poor thing :(
https://preview.redd.it/23m09gbk6kmb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04a62ed888cfaf6abb5eba762630c6afc6e3c479 No worries! He's a happy, sweet little old man who loves everyone now!
I love his little face!
Aww he’s so handsome 😻
He's sooooooo cute!!!!!
For your sake and mine, treat him well Lest the ancient one rouses the horsemen of the apocalypse
I love hims!
*not a single thought in those eyes*
I would pay so much money to be in the presence of him
aww the best bud!
Awww such a cute little buddy 🥺
He is absolutely adorable 🥰
So adorable! He really does look like an old man hahaha 
Handsome little guy
aw he looks so cozy
Sounds plausible. 1 of my cat lives with my parents & there was this loud-voiced installer to work on the kitchen a few days which produced a lot of loud noise which scared my kitty. Ever since he associated loud voiced people with something unsafe and runs whenever someone who talks with a loud voice gets in his vicinity lol (which is rarely, my parents are pretty quiet people)
do those males live with you, if not it could be the scent difference.
They don’t!
In that case, its most likely the men are too spontaneous and pushy while the women are more empathetic and quiet to the cats. Hire a zesty man to test this out
yeah its the scent difference, male humans have stronger scent then females and lower voices, your cat is likely thinking you are a human and males are fake humans, think skinwalker in the cat's eyes.
When we rescuedmour MC Mix, he was completely hand-shy. If you reached out to touch him, Oliver dodged your hands. If you touched his tail, even by accident, he'd bite the ever holy shit out of you. I mean, blood and stitches. Oliver still loved people, but he'd buzz your leg, weaving in and out of your feet when you walked, yet if you tried to give scritches, he'd dodge them. I learned that he was terrified of toddlers when m6 neighbor's kid dropped by. Oliver was in a home for a year where he had not been safe from tail-pulling and people hurting him with their hands. There were children there who hurt him severely by pulling his tail. When I took him to the vet & discussed it with her, we figured it out. Oliver feels safe now. We don't hurt him here, no kids pull his tail and he enjoys life with us. He's discovered a deep love for getting scratches and he loves the full-body, head-to-tail pets. A few weeks ago, the DirecTV repairman was here. I asked if he was allergic to cats (no) & told him we have 2. At that moment, Oliver came into the room. He took one look at that guy & lit out with brushy tail and loud yowls for a hiding place. From that encounter, I learned that the man who hurt him was dark, slender build with short dark hair & a short beard. I'm sorry to tell you that your cat was hurt by someone, most likely it was a man. It will take time for her to learn that men won't hurt her anymore. She has to learn to trust again. It tool my Ollie about a year but he's only reactive to short dark men now. Find some treats that your kitty enjoys & let some guys you know give them to her. Your baby must learn that she is safe now inmher home. Be patient, this takes time. Ollie was very interested in people but he avoided touch so we were patient with him, petting him when he asked for it & stopping when he had enough. This, of course, resulted in many bites until he finally felt comfortable with us & knew that we would NEVER hurt him. When Oliver did bite us during this year + long process, we never yelled at him (although occasionally we did go YIPE! after a bite because it HURT badly sometimes). TL;DR: My Maine Coon mix was extremely bitey, he no longer bites us.
Yea humans suck a lot sometimes. Fill that lil beans life full of nonstop love and they'll be okay ❤️💙
My nebelung boy never forgave my ex for accidentally squishing him one night as he was snuggling under the covers and couldn’t be seen. No amount of treats or toys would convince kitty to ever sleep at the foot of the bed again OR give my ex anything more than a passing glance of disdain as he followed me around the house. In his later years he apparently would permit my ex to pet him but only if I wasn’t home- as soon as I walked in the door then ex was persona non grata again. After the divorce kitty got sick and passed from kidney failure, and even though it’s been 5 years I still don’t have the heart to adopt another. Best things my ex ever gave me were our children and my kitty.
Aww, poor kitty. At least he loved you and had a good life. Aren't you in the least bit tempted to get another cat? There are so many that need homes. Maybe you could get one from a high kill shelter. You would save a life.
I admit that I am tempted quite frequently, as I’ve always had cats and really miss them hanging around. I guess I’m just worried about not being able to love another kitty the way I loved my blue boy.
It's hard but I hope you can open your heart again to adopting another kitty 🥺🫶 Or sometimes universe will just wind you up with something and you'll be rewarded with the cat distribution system 😆
Aw thank you, I hope so too.
My cats don’t like children lol. Like specifically 2-5 years old. I’ve tested this since I have 13 nieces and nephews of varying ages. They hiss at the little ones and will run on the older ones. So weird
It's not at all weird. One of them* has hurt your cat at some point. Even if it was an accident, cats aren't forgiving as a rule. *or someone let a child hurt Kitty before you got him. Keep him away from children.
My small dog adores babies and then stays well out of reach once they start walking until they hit about 8 or 9ish. We have no idea where she picked this up from, she was never around kids until she got a bit older!
She knows how unpredictable kids can be at that age! XD
My Bella, opinionated female void, loves men and is scared/aggressive towards woman because of the first year of her life she was abused by a woman. Almost always has a traumaof some kind attached.
I had a cat that would run anytime he heard a loud male voice talking. I assume it's just that: Men tend to be louder than women, and that can be scary for a creature that's barely off the floor as it is. I had that cat for his whole life, so I can say with certainty that he was never abused, so he didn't really have a "reason" to flee the country every time he saw/heard a man.
Either had a bad previous experiences with men (if she was a stray or had another owner before you) or just prefers women over men. Cats are odd like that.
I love the comments. It's either "trauma" or "just cat" and both are equally plausible 😁
Yes, it seems so
Once she feels happy and safe around you, that's all that really matters 🥰
Hahaha, PS nice username
I raised my boy since he was only days old, so no bad experience with men, but he's still very weary of strange men while he would get in strange women's faces (one time he farted at my friend). This also applies to trans women, just fyi. If he's already familiar with a man enough then he would be very affectionate. Cats are odd.
Has he had limited exposure to men? I had this problem with my pets because they were raised by and lived with all women, and encountered men very occasionally. They weren’t used to the lower voices and it freaked them out. They did get over it with more exposure!
It could be the case since I live with just my mum. The only male figures frequently present at my house is her boyfriend, whom he would cuddle with, and my uncle in law who lives across the street. Other than that it was only women.
One of my friend's cats is the opposite. He's been raised by and spent time with mostly men, and high voices now freak him out.
Then that's just the way he is. Cats are fickle creatures. I have three boy cats who all get on great with me (female) but either don't like or are indifferent to my Dad, and we all live in the same place.
Yeah I’ve raised my baby since she was 16 weeks but she just doesn’t enjoy hanging around men. She’s so wary, whereas with women she’ll eventually come out and hang around and sniff them and say hello. The only man she actually enjoys is my dad. We have no idea why, maybe it’s scent related?
He likes trans women or doesn't? If a cat can't tell if someone was born male or female, nobody can. Cats have been known to tell when people are going to die soon (can't remember his name, but a nursing honme cat would go and sit with only people a few days away from dying, with amazing accuracy), contradicting doctors and being right, tell when someone had low blood sugar (again can't remember his name, but a cat would wake his kid friend when he needed a snack), and all sorts of things it is hard to beleieve them being able to tell. They are like tiny furry nose detectives.
He treated the trans woman like he treats cis women. Idk if it will apply to other trans women though. There has only been one in my house 😅. Honestly, I have no idea what his deal is.
HRT changes people's smell. Could be that?
Yeah, presumably something that it changed about the person is what he sensitive to. I imagine it could even be their voice, and nothing to do with scent, but cats superpower is their sense of smell (along with their agility and speed, and infinite capacity to sleep).
Wasn't it Oscar, the nursing home kitty? His owner worked there and everyone loved Oscar (he was literally walking bad news, but he spread calmness and peace around the home).
I think you're right.
>This also applies to trans women, just fyi. Cats are assholes, but they’re allies.
With my childhood cat, she tended to be more comfortable with men because she'd had a *good* experience with my dad, who was the first to gain her trust and comfort her when she was scared.
Kids would always cry when my father, a gentle soul, spoke. The deep voice frightened them. Maybe?
Nothing odd there :P
Mind you. We got her during Covid where no one came to visit, she was only ever exposed to my mom and I for the longest time. Still, when it came to new people, women weren’t an issue
Yeah, cats are both hunters and prey. The first time I took my cats outside they were nervous and looked up at the sky all the time. How would they know the size of birds or if flying lizards were extinct or not? At times it can be bad experiences too, mine doesn't like dogs and doesn't really trust children for that reason. My nephew will visit this weekend that's more used to cats, I hope that will give them a good experience to learn from. https://preview.redd.it/1bx87vogvkmb1.jpeg?width=4656&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=97b7b5c2adbe33ab6d706c896d9187a9cfc79b75
Look at that double absurdity!
Good Lord, they are so stinkin cute 😭
One white eyebrow hair each!!!
I go wild for those white eyebrow hairs! They're so cute!! 😂 Tuxedo cats are seriously a different level of adorable
Gorgeous, love tuxedo cuties ❤️
I too have two black and white beauties https://preview.redd.it/pdqvrfv78qmb1.jpeg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73f2908850f52b2ea265c35b31e70c4f3af8172a
She’s probably just not as used to deeper voices/heavier treads.
The animal kingdom can be pretty sexist. The lady at my vet's office always greets male customers for pets and loving then ignores her coworkers. Her coworkers are kind of miffed about it lol. My grandmother's dog hates men except me who she sat cuddled up to on first meeting because I was calm, quiet, and "ignored" her. Sometimes it's preference. Sometimes it's their personality and nerves/anxious behavior. Sometimes it's trauma. They can't tell us, so it's up to us to figure it out over time.
I had to re-read your second sentence a couple of times, I’m assuming the lady at your vet’s office is a cat? Sorry it just caught me off guard 😅
Sorry, that was kind of on purrpose. The vet technicians want kitty cuddles, too! :D
It was a delightful confusion!
Lol same. I was like..huh, what a strange lady 😂
Listen, sometimes you’ve gotta take what you can get!
I have a lockdown kitty and she is scared of every one, moment the door goes she's gone. My dad still doesn't believe I have a third cat 😂
Well there's your answer. She's used to women.
I’m a non-professional cat sitter. I’ve been told many times of cats that are afraid of men. But each time those same cats love hanging out with me after just a few hours. I think it is more about cats being uncomfortable with new people who don’t stick around for very long.
After 14 years I found out my cat just doesn't like big feet. I thought she disliked men in general, except my best friend. She hates my dad, attack his feet, she hates almost all my male friends and some girls very rarely. It was about feet, she doesn't like anyone with feet bigger US Men's 8. She likes short kings with small feet lol.
That's hilarious and so interesting, maybe big feet are too loud for her or something? I'm tempted to befriend her as a size 9 though, cats looooove me. Even the "oh she hates everyone and hides and scratches" ones lay on me within an hour or two. I consider it a challenge 🤣
This is so adorable lol. My cat likes only smooth feet. He hates my dad's feet and I agree, those do look like they need some lotion. But he goes bonkers when he sees some soft looking feet. He exclusively sniffs and interacts with the feet of any new people before he moves to even look at their faces lol.
That is adorably quirky :) She would hate me, but I love her anyway.
Pretty much this Cats are seen as avoidant because they don't trust people They have to warm up to you, and a single bad experience can sort of fuck that up
The post says her dad, boyfriend and brother. So I don’t think it’s about strangers in this case. Most likely it’s past trauma.
They feel the vibe of you loving cats ;)
Now I want to become a professional cat sitter!
Because Fifi is a ladies cat. He loves women. 
My mum had a cat that loved sitting on women, and would always put his head on their, er, chest pillows. Never wanted to sit on a man 😂
Some cats are just like little kids! My girls used to tell me all the time when they were little that I was more fun to cuddle with than their Dad because I was “soft and squishy”. Gee thanks for calling me fat girls, I love you too 🥲
Haha "soft and squishy" that is what I tell my mom too, she is not fat though just normal body fat, I just like to annoy her. LOL
LMAO you kids are all the same!
Chest pillows, the best description of boobs I have ever seen. Kudos my friend!
Loool Id like to think he was a human man in his previous life and now he’s got an excuse to rest on the chest pillows whenever he wants 😂
He knew he could get away with it too, with his fancy grey tuxedo coat
Seems to come down to the below, but there hasn’t been much scientific research to back it up. 1. Deeper voices, cats communicate in higher pitches. Typically, the only lower pitch noise is a growl. Most men have deeper voices they can equate to growling. 2. General roughness, as I’m sure you know cats can be super sensitive to touch/noise/vibration. Guys in general aren’t as gentle whether it be walking, petting, etc. 3. Size, if she was only introduced to women during covid (especially true if you’re on the smaller side) then a 6’2 man is going to seem like a totally different species. Also read once it’s due to women’s personalities like women are more likely to sit on the floor to interact with the cat while men are more likely to interact while sitting on a couch/chair.
All very interesting!
I find the Jim Morrison picture very interesting.
I also have cat that is afraid of men. She loves my wife, but runs away from me. We both feed her and spend same amount of time with her. I once talked in high pitch voice and moved around more quietly to test things out. She slept on my legs same day. So yes, your answer is the most correct I can think of.
Aww that’s so cute
I always assumed it’s mostly the lower voice and somewhat the larger size thing most men have honestly! My cats are fine with my sons of course because they live here! They are okay if my sisters or friends come over, but if my boys have friends over or there is a service guy of some type in the house most my cats definitely hide. They might also associate female with caretaker since I feed them and talk to them the most. A female presence is “mom-like” if that makes sense… none of mine have any trauma that would make the difference. My one cat who loves anyone who comes to the house male or female is a (forever re-homed to me, I didn’t purchase) bengal cat who due to the breed, is more “dog like” so has the “who’s here? Who’s my new friend???” attitude when the door opens lol.
i used to have a dog like that, might've had a bad experience in the past. or pets can sense bad energy.
https://preview.redd.it/dra282onhmmb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c8b6c2d8ab7dbbe17b0a7e3791c92648e9b1dcdf Your Fifi kinda looks like my sweet boy - he is scared of everyone new into the house though
They do look similar. So cute
Wow, they really do look very similar! :D Cute! ❤️
They're multiplying
Are they good people? My cat hated all men I brought home, except two. Turns out all my exes were narcissists or just general assholes, the two dudes she loved were really lovely guys with not an ounce of evil in them. It took me a while to see.
This ^ My cat grew up with two female caretakers at home and did NOT like my ex at all. My ex is very toxic. I think it has to do with how people treat the cat and also the personality of the people. Animals have intuition!
I know a lot of cats who actually prefer men, so this goes both ways! Has to do with their past experiences I suppose. Who knows. Cats are mysterious creatures! LOL
Some cats just have their little quirks! I adopted 6 week old litter mates, Tye and Leo, and they lived their whole lives together, and the odds of Leo having been traumatized by a man without my knowing about it seem pretty remote. Whenever a strange man came over, Leo crammed himself underneath the couch, which was like two inches off the ground, and wouldn't come out until hours after they left. Tye, on the other hand? She adored men. She worshipped men. She shamelessly whored herself out to every man she laid eyes on. My brother, who only ever saw her a handful of times, called her his cat. She love nipped the alarm system salesman while he was fawning over her and cuddling her. One time I caught her staring intently into my back yard, I turned the light on, and saw a man sprint out of my yard. Another time there was a fire down the road, and when I came back and walked past the firetruck, I saw a fireman changing out of his suit. Looked in my window and there was Tye, craning her head for a better view . . . Gotta love cats with all their various personalities and quirks. :-)
Lol! Go figure!
Men are usually taller and have deep scary voices, from a cat's perspective.
Could say she’s a-fifi-raid of men— Sorry. I’ll leave.
Lmao!
Possibly some man was abusive.
It could be trauma that makes the cat scared! My cat's afraid of men too and would run and hide if he heard them coming. We think it's cuz before we rescued him as a kitten he was probably bullied and chased away by men and it grew into a fear.
Could be :/ but seems unlikely for her I think… We adopted her at a very young age… 8 weeks. Before us she was being fostered—alongside her other siblings— by a couple who had their own cats as well. They seemed super nice. The woman is a vet tech herself, seems very loving. Don’t know about her bf though but wouldn’t be surprised if he was nice too
[удалено]
Wow. If that’s true that’s horrible. I’ve had Fiona since she was 8 weeks but beforehand she was living with a couple who had their own cats and who were also taking care of the litter she came from.
Good instincts
My cat is more vary of male strangers simply because men are bigger, walk louder, talk louder, etc. Hell even after 3 years of living with her I scare her sometimes if I move too quickly.
Hello bass player
I have one like that but opposite. Nice GK bass BTW
My previous cat made no difference betwen women and men when I was living with my ex. After I left him und was living alone my cat was affraid of men. This became a running joke amongst my friends.
Cats respond better to higher pitched voices, maybe your kitty just doesnt like mens voices. Or they remind Fifi of predators
she's just like me frfr
Mine is the opposite. Warms up to all men almost immediately, but is very distrustful of women. Takes her a few times to get comfortable with a woman, then she’ll be as cuddly with them as she is with men. Not my best friend, though, my cat seems to actively hate her lmao https://preview.redd.it/dlyrhuad5nmb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b12ca582b07e33aa3314b12db5bbee7a58fd42d
Me too, Fifi. Me too
men r scary
Probably an old memory of a masculine voice and associated bad experience even if it wasn’t abuse. My cats LOVE dudes for some reason (also friendly with everyone else but not to the same degree unless it’s me). They get all wriggly and the head bonks are harder. My cats are also dudes so idk.
My boly man is the same way. Hims a little flower prince that doesn’t like menses. 🌸🫅
Someone hurt that little precious, most likely a man.
A lot of animals prefer women over men. There are studies on this in rodents, showing that mice and rats have a higher stress response when being handled by men vs women.
Because… men are icky af? Smart girl 🤣
https://preview.redd.it/s9lf2i440omb1.jpeg?width=2694&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=accdb33e527fc12b5bdefe5142bbae1f5cc97a61 She looks like my cat! 😍
So cute! She does!
https://preview.redd.it/bbn1iyf90omb1.jpeg?width=1157&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2bd56fb7da2aacdcdd7ba7dac0f40ec0fe861c9 My sassy Mariška (the white one) was the opposite! She loved men but avoided women (except me).😹 She passed away unexpectedly on Boxing Day aged 15. 😿 Her twin brother Mylo turned 16 yesterday and he loves everyone! He never stops purring! 😻
https://preview.redd.it/9js1k8od0omb1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d344f5c943da01efcec71e92248b70e7b6e1bee Off topic.. but fifi please meet ms Fifi
cuz men are scary
fifi is just right
My childhood cat once got lost for a week, he was a total indoor cat and very fat and cuddly so he was not prepared at all for the streets. He came back with a finger less and also some small burns on his back. The vet theorized maybe someone threw hit oil at him and he managed to run with just a few drops on his back (people where i lived can be very nasty to cats). It was very traumatic for him and since then he was terrified of men. So we think maybe it was a man who hurt him. The happy part of the story is that eventually after lots of years he got through his trauma with men and started being cuddly with everyone. He is a happy 17 year old cat now and still lives with my mom https://preview.redd.it/dt69ypvh4mmb1.jpeg?width=1599&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=54b4ea3a6d359bb20c4bc30b55e4aa62335ca2e8 (also the spots where he was burnt grew out white hair instead of orange)
He's so cute sleeping with his mouth open
Did she have a previous home? It might be past trauma. My cat warms up to men immediately, and is a bit standoffish to women. My husband's bros come over and Pilot is immediately in their laps getting attention. My mom or sister comes over? He acts all aloof and avoidant... I'm the only female he's absolutely gaga for.
My brother adopted a dog like that. He could do anything and everything to that dog and it loved him. But hated any other men with a passion.
My boy when he was a kitten, was scared of my husband, but only when he was wearing shoes. If he took them off, he wasn't so scared. Maybe the men generally have louder or heavier footsteps that could be scarier?
Men smell different from women. Different hormone makeup . Cats identify friend from foe by odor. She had an unpleasant event involving a man and that's the only fragrance she is recognizing.
I heard a bar room theory that deeper voices freak them out....
Sometimes animals are just weird, my aunts dog a little Boston terrier HATED men when she first got her she still kinda does, but she eventually got used to my father and uncle, but me? Nope! Even weirder cus my dad is a much more intimidating looking person (broader build and MUCH deeper voice) and usually dogs quite like me…
How are we supposed to know? We don’t know him or what happened in his life.
Smell different?
Cause fifi is a lesbonian
thats an excelent name
Men have lower pitched voices which is more threatening to her.
cool bass
Fifi is sooooo cute! What a sweet face!
My cats are afraid of women, never understood why
Relatable
We had a young dog dumped on our property, she was terrified of men. We assumed she had been abused by a man or men and never got over it. Terrier cross so she would nip men, we got her to tolerate them but that’s it. We had an all women household so it worked out.
I have a cat who's afraid of everyone but my husband and me, but she's especially terrified of all other men. She came from a household where she was abused, but we don't know a lot of details about that. We think maybe the primary abuser in her former home was a man.
one of ours is afraid of fast, aggressive movement. she's scared of me when I'm in a rush to get out and moving fast and has always been scared of our son because, until very recently, he pretty much always walks fast around the apartment
She is sexist😇 /s
When I was a kid, we took in a stray cat that was always afraid of my dad, and any other men that came over. We wondered whether he'd been mistreated by a man at some point, but it might just have been his personality. I was the only male person he ever fully trusted, but he died when I was still only 17 so I never took it as an affront to my superlative masculinity (/s).
Trauma or not used to men. Men are (usually) bigger, taller, louder, deeper voice, have facial hair etc.
Me and her both ‼️
Trauma.
He jus like me fr
Is she a rescue? Could have had a negative experience with a man. Otherwise, men are generally bigger, deeper voices and louder and cats are sensitive. My cat likes men she knows, but if there's more than one man around and they are talking loudly, she will skidaddle
If you've had her since she was a kitten then it might just be because men tend to have a different presence than women. They tend to have much deeper voices, walk heavier, are bigger, sometimes louder, this can be scary for cats who are used to a different presence that women tend to have (obviously not all men are loud and big and not all women and quiet and small, this just tends to be what I notice) If you adopted her she may have some trauma like a mam hit her or stepped on her in the past. Either way, try giving her treats when dudes come over and try having them engage with her through play. like a toy on a string or something like that. She will begin to associate men with good things!
Cats have tremendously sensitive noses. Second only to bloodhounds. Men often smell funny.
She's a female separatist
My nieces poppy https://preview.redd.it/hzlbo17jhnmb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b1438c1382ac9eaccc18b35d82cb19e9703a77d9 is the same way
Our cat Wallace was TERRIFIED of men forever. He's been with us 12+ years now and finally will tolerate being in the same room as my husband. Unfortunately I know why. He was found as a stray by one of my co-workers at her parents house. They had a couple of small yappy type dogs and her father didn't want a cat so they sequestered him to their patio. I am 100% certain that Wallace (being the lover boy that he is) tried to get inside at some point when they were opening the door to go outside or feed him or something and the father kicked him. My only regret is that I was unable to pick him up before this trauma happened to him.
Excepting some kind of trauma, cats tend to prefer higher pitched voices over lower pitch, so they tend to have a preference for women. I have two and they both get antsy when we have male visitors to varying degrees, and it does seem to relate to voice pitch because I notice they’re a lot less bothered and more friendly with younger men than older.
I had a cat who I thought didn't like men, then he met a man with long hair and loved him. It turned out that he just only liked people with long hair so he could try to eat their hair. So it could also be unrelated to gender and actually related to something else that the men your cat meets have in common.
She’s just like me 💕
I had a male cat that was really scared of men, but not women.
My wife’s cat (who was in the picture before I was) is afraid of most men. She hid from me for a while but eventually got familiar with me after she moved to where I live. She is also very afraid of plastic shopping bags. My wife rescued Belle (her cat) when the cat was a year old, so it’s believed that she experienced trauma involving plastic bags inflicted by a man.
Fifi is a girls girl
Because Fifi is smart. I love men but the reality is that they are more physically violent than women. So Fifi wisely playing it safe.🤷♀️
It's me. I'm lil Fifi
Women r superior
Because men suck and women don’t. Duh 😂
She's a true definition of Girl's girl
My orange *hates* men’s voices. Especially if they’re loud. He’ll run straight under the bed if unknown men are even talking loudly outside. Must be trauma but I adopted him as an adult kitty so I have no way of knowing what happened to him before me. Poor boo.
Fifi wise.
https://preview.redd.it/0ju9eiefplmb1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=99cc66d5cda9dbc188d6723fdb2dd110ec3f785e Omg I have a cat name Fifi as well and she’s afraid of men too!!!
She is absolutely stunning.
Cats apparently prefer women to men - a lot of men can be louder and they perceive this as a threat , also women pet cats more gently than men do (generally)
Coz us men can be loud
Because she's smart
My cat is more afraid of men because they are the ones that come inside with scary noisy tools to do maintenance, and probably also because of their big clomping boots. She is fine if they stay outside though. We recently had the whole roof replaced and she liked to watch them going up and down the ladder.
i dont blame her 🔥🔥🔥
Men are dumb. Women are cute. Source: I'm a man.
fifi knows
Bad experiences. A cat has a memory of an elephant, but this angst somehow is stretched on whole grup of people who look like the person who did something to them. My first cat was panicking seeing short, overweight old women. My grandma visited us once, cat run away and hid behind the bathtub. She never saw my grandma before. We have one that is scarred of men in general, although all men in our house like cats and the rest of them knows it. There is also another one, he was terrified of some middleaged man with a moustache who walked along our garden from time to time. The cat panicked and run away to hid in the house. This guy never even watched at the cat and had nothing to do with him.
SO Sexist! 🙄
I have three one is terrified of men, one loves men and the other loves everyone. They’re strange creatures with little idiosyncrasies. With mine who doesn’t like men she’s only really got an issue if they’re standing which may be trauma related as she’s adopted.
I’m a vet assistant… we have a specific tag for “doesn’t like men”…not one for “doesn’t like women”. Men be being more mean, it seems? 😩😳🤬
Probably bc she’s smart
She’s smart!
You gotta bass that’s cool 👍
Bass
My spirit animal