Electric Shaver of Death
Puddy doesn’t get scared easily. Being a former stray, she had to learn to be strong and brave early on in life. I will never forget the first time she saw a rottweiler that was being walked on a leash past our house. Instead of freaking out and running away, she lunged at it, puffed up and hissing and I found myself attemping to pull my cat off the (stunned) rottweiler, apologising over and over to the bemused owner.
Since then, she’s tried to attack other cats, a german shepherd and even the poor mail man, so as a result, she usually goes outside on a leash, or when I am within grabbing distance. Even though she’s a quarter of their size, she thinks nothing of starting something with them!
While she is a brave cat, she does have her limits. The vacuum sends her into a frenzy. Strong winds freak her out, forcing her back inside the house to hide until it calms down. And hair clippers … oh dear, we discovered this particular phobia by accident one afternoon when Puddy was napping and Phill and I were examining my brother’s old electric shaver. We turned it on, it whirred to life and this was Puddy’s reaction, which took about a second to play out:
Her pupils dialated and she stared at the shaver apprehensively. I was surprised at this, since she tolerates more intense noises without a problem and the shaver wasn’t particularly loud. The only thing I can think of is maybe it reminded her of a trip to the vet last year. She had to be put on a drip, so they had shaved a little fur off her front leg. The vet had told me when I came to pick her up that she had been extremely pissed off the entire time and kept hissing at them, but particularly lost it when they started up the shaver.
Poor Puddy!
How does your cats handle loud noises, crazy winds and hairdryers?
Weekend Cat Blogging is being hosted at Life from a Cat’s Perspective, the Carnival of the Cats is being hosted at the House of the (Mostly) Black Cats, and the Bad Kitty Cats Festival of Chaos is at Meezer Tails.
Our cats live outside and just have to figure things out!!!! Somehow they’ve survived!
Rabbits’ Guy – That’s why cats are awesome! =)
My burmese babies actually like loud noise, including lots of people, children and hairdryers. What they do not like however, is when I blow the hairdryer on them. Was only trying to be nice, seeing as they were sitting on the cold tiles. Must get a photo of the horrified look on their faces.
Janita – You know what this means, right? Photos! I’d love to see your Burmese kitties – horrified expressions are most welcome!
It’s very funny, but I hate most loud noises except the hairdryer. I sit there calmly while it’s going. When I was a kitten, I liked being brushed with a hot-air brush set to Low.
My two little boys hate the sound of fireworks which is unfortunate because we live right next to the town centre. They would hide under the bed for hours and when they are walking around, kind of do this weird dodge and run thing whenever it starts up again. Thunderstorms in Brunei are quite loud and even I jump at the occasional sound of thunder. Midnight is the least affected, she just buries her head in her paws and continues snoozing.
My two cats are scared of the vacuum cleaner and dustbuster. As soon as I turn it on, they run for their lives! They were both strays too but they’re not very tough at all!
My cat is scared of vacuum and shaver sounds too! But hairdryer is the worse reaction I get from her… I cannot forget how she shot up in the air and scratched my throat all the way up to my face. >.<
After that I never dare to on hair dryer near her anymore.
Daisy – That is very impressive that you can tolerate the hair dryer – many kitties find that a little too scary. But then again, I always knew you were brave!
Adrina – Oh, fireworks are terrible for animals, so it’s a pity you live next door to the town centre! I guess the upside is that perhaps they might become a little more used to it and not as scared?
Salihan – Haha, the vacuum cleaner is terrifying, isn’t it? I first discovered her fear of it when I was vacuuming the kitchen and Puddy leapt up onto the stove top! Luckily it was turned off, but she did that cartoonish-running-on-the-spot-before-taking-off thing and bolted! hehe
Chuchu – WOW that sounds impressive – cats can jump so high in such a quick leap – definitely make sure she’s out of the room before turning it on again!
Poor Liddle Pud.
Love to Deahn Undah. : )
John – Don’t worry, she got a lot of pampering and snuggles to make up for the nasty noise!
Our little Zippy just loves the shaver, the electric toothbrush and my vibrating massage pillow. She likes to have them placed on her tummy so she can enjoy a nice vibrating massage.
Zippy, Sadie & Speedy – That is very cool that Zippy likes those things – and very brave too! The movement can be scary for cats!
I think I like your cat!
Veronica – Me too, haha! Only when she’s being cute and nice though … when she’s being a little devil that’s a different story!