You might be worried that about your cat that spends most of the time behind couches or inside the cabinets.
Naturally, cats enjoy privacy and they can get that by hiding. There are various things that may make a cat hide.
Why Do Cats Hide?
Let’s take a quick look at a few of the reasons why kitties like to hide themselves.
Security
Your cat might run away and hide after seeing a stranger or hearing sounds. Cats hide from unfamiliar faces or after hearing a scaring sound.
Doorbell sounds, furniture movement, phone ringing tone are some of the sounds that may frighten a cat to hide. They might hide from unfamiliar people and pets. Your cat might not be uncomfortable to have dogs around.
Hiding makes your cat feel safe and secure.
Sleeping
Cats love sleeping and resting in a secure place. They might sleep better in a hidden place with minimal noise and distraction from children and dogs. Cabinets can also give your cat comfort and security to sleep.
Hunting
A cat likes hunting and hiding is a technic that it uses to catch its prey easily. Your cat might hide under a bed or behind furniture so as to have the full view of what is happening without being disturbed.
Hiding gives it time to strategise before pouncing on its prey.
Health Issues
Your cat might hide from people if it is unwell or feeling some pain. Hiding give it time to heal without being disturbed. If you see an unusual trend of hiding, you might take your cat to the vet for an examination.
New Environment
A new or adopted cat might be scared of being in a new home and environment surrounded with new family members. It might spend its time hiding due to being in a new place. Some cats might run away and hide from visitors.
How to Prevent Your Kitty from Hiding
You can buy your cat a bed so that it can sleep securely without being disturbed. If your cat has a bed, you should keep the bed away from dogs and children so that your cat can sleep peacefully without being disturbed by dogs and children.
Unfamiliar noise might startle your cat and make it uncomfortable. Avoid making unnecessary noise in the house that might stress cat.
You may take your cat to the vet to rule out any health issues. You must also spend more time with your cat. Play and cuddle with your cat a lot so that it can feel secure.
Give your cat private space to enjoy its lifestyle.
If it’s a new or adopted cat, give it some time to settle. With time it will be used to its new home and it will romp around the house freely without being scared of people and the new environment.
You should monitor your cat to pick any abnormal hiding behaviour. It is natural for cats to spend most of the time hiding but it might be a cause for concern it is abnormal.
Is your cat hiding more than unusual? Share your experiences.