What are your pet's irrational fears?

[Beware the Beast Man]

Is there a household object that strikes terror within your pet? I can understand fearing the vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, or other loud appliance, but my cat Coleman is terrified of the guitar. A couple years ago I took my acoustic into the shop to get the neck fixed. When I came home, I had it in hand, and Coleman cowered in fear. I told him, "No, it's okay, it makes pretty sounds," and strummed a chord. He took off running.

Now, I use it as a last-resort punishment device. Once, when he wouldn't stop picking on his sister, I picked up the guitar and chased him around the house, singing a ditty on top of my lungs while plucking out the most dissonant chord possible. That'll learn him. :)

[Mutley]

1. My dog doesn't like her brush.

She gets a wild look in her eyes when I pull it out. We're down to brushing only during the bi-annual major shed (or when she's made a mess of her fur), but she still hates it. Don't most dogs love to get brushed?

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. I dunno if this is irrational

but when I sneeze, Lucy runs like hell.

Maybe she thinks I'm gonna 'splode.

[NewWaveChick1981]

3. Ceiling fans.

Our younger dog thinks ceiling fans are satanic. When our a/c went out about two weeks ago, we had to turn the bedroom ceiling fan on in order to keep the air moving, and she freaked out. She cuddled up against my husband and just cowered all night. :scared:

[Beware the Beast Man]

4. Coleman is transfixed by the ceiling fan, especially when it mocks him.

:D

[mikeytherat]

5. The ironing board

The squeaky sound it makes when you open it up sends all three cats running!

Of course, there was the time that Charlie (our orange cat) was sleeping on the subwoofer during a viewing of "Cast Away." During the plane crash sequence. He never did that again!

mikey_the_rat

[johnnie]

6. My birds freak when they hear sirens

And considering I have a fire station at the end of my street, they freak a lot. I would guess it is because of the high pitched sounds. Watching the show "Cops" is almost impossible. And for some reason they get riled up when the theme for The Simpsons is on too. :shrug:

[Common Sense Party]

7. My fat cat is freaked out by crinkling plastic bags

even from across the house. He FREAKS.

Ofr course, he's no fan of the vacuum cleaner, either.

[myrna minx]

8. My kitty is convinced that monsters live under my bed.

He will LAUNCH himself off of my bed into the hallway on order to avoid the "monsters" under there. I mean he FLIES! He also has a phobia about piles of laundry. His skin crawls when he sees separated piles of laundry. I can understand the vacuum cleaner, but laundry? He cracks me up. :rofl:

[Blue Diadem]

9. The automatic/battery operated tape measure

scares the heck out of our lab. My son gets an :evilgrin: when he presses the button just to watch the poor dog run as the tape comes out.

Funny..it must be the noise because a regular tape measure doesn't bother him at all.

[kiraboo]

10. That if I don't fill both the water and food side of his kitty dish

then somehow he will run out of chow mid-meal. They've both got to be filled to the brim. Only then will he eat. Darned cat. Grumble.

[Cathyclysmic]

13. Coleman freaks out over a half -empty dish also...

He will wake me up in the middle of the night to alert me that he can see the bottom of his dish. Never mind that there is food in the dish, he freaks at the possibility of being out of food in the future.:wtf:

[kiraboo]

14. That sounds like Maximouse.

A couple of geniuses, our cats.

[Haole Girl]

11. One of my cats is afraid of music boxes!

She just really freaks out...and the one I have isn't loud at all. It's really pretty funny.

Oh, and she's afraid of a plastic turtle I have, too!

[Rue]

12. Having others in the kitchen when eating.

My younger cat, Pompey, will dash out of the kitchen if anyone so much as makes a step toward him. It's odd because none of us have bothered him while eating in the five years we've had him.

Pets are just as quirky as any living being.

[Debbi801]

15. Not a household object, but toads....

Aurora is 4 1/2 months old and 34 pounds of white fur. We live in the woods near a stream and this time of year, we get the occasional toad. If we're outside and Aurora sees one, she hightails it to the door to come inside with her tail between her legs. If one croaks, she completely loses it.

The other thing that scares her are the outside trash cans that have wheels on one end. She doesn't like the noise they make when we bring them down to the street or back up to the house.

[Ohio Joe]

16. Garlic

My cat hates garlic and attacks at the first smell of it, which is rather annoying since I love garlic.

[Ariana Celeste]

17. The vacuum of course, and she gets really upset when

she looks out the window and sees people in a boat on our little man made lake.

[SacredCow]

18. Same as my roommate's dog...

If she's ever bothering me, all I have to do is break out a guitar. Maybe my playing just sucks that badly?

[fizzgig]

19. i don't think they have any irrational fears

but my big boy, yossarian, while terrified of the vacuum, is completely non-plussed by the lawn mower. i have to turn the mower off and chase him away

[uppityperson]

20. My dog has a couple fears

Got a store cheescake once, with a hardish plastic cover on it. That cover turned into a scary object when it made crinkly noises when getting crinkled. Oooooo, run, bark, growl, tail between the legs of my 90 lb dog. scary. Just got a full sized cardboard cutout of a TV person that has him very concerned. When it faces the dog, dog gets growly and barky, turn it around to blank white cardboard, dog looks confused, rotate "OMG! THERE HE IS AGAIN WOOF!"

doofus dog.

Ever use compressed air on your keyboard with a cat in your lap? Don't.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

21. Not a current pet but...

Our German Shepherd, Cheyenne, fell down the stairs once. After that, she would only go up or down the stairs, if you said, "It's okay. You can do it." Then, she had no problem. If you didn't say that for her, she'd pace back and forth whining. Well, she whined constantly anyway. German Shepherds are very emotive.

[huskerlaw]

22. Spencer is afraid

of being picked up. No, seriously. He's the most loving thing IF he comes to you. But God help you if you try to pick him up. He'll flail and run like you're swinging a bloody axe.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

23. Paper Towels

Baby just FREAKS when he sees them.

[Mother Jones]

24. One of my dogs has a fear of movement when she's lying around

She won't lay on the couch next to us, only if she's alone....and if you get up too quickly and she's at your feet, or close, she freaks.

Although, she's a rescue, so we think maybe she was kicked and/or stepped on alot.

My cats, on the other hand, have dozens of irrational fears, depending on the day! lol


LOVE the guitar story!!

[MissMillie]

25. Millie is afraid of just about anything, even me sometimes

If I'm sitting still in a room, she'll come to me and want luvvies and all, but if I'm moving around, she scoots to get out of my way, whether or not I make a move in her direction.

She's afraid of everything, except socks.

[smokey nj]

26. Willie (my 20 year old diabetic cat) is afraid of his younger,

brother cats, but I wouldn't call it irrational, they pick on him.