Everyone who has a cat knows that each cat has their own unique personality. All cats have their preferences, whether it is different foods or different places where they like (and don’t like) to be stroked.
But what do cats hate?
Like, really, really hate?
Well, the answer will depend largely from feline to feline. However, there are a few things that most cats generally dislike, other than the two obvious ones: dogs and water.
In this article, we’ll cover the following:
While cats definitely have emotions, they probably don’t “hate” in the same way that people do. While human beings can hate everything from traffic to their neighbors, cats usually reserve their feelings of intense dislike to things that make them physically uncomfortable.
If your cat hates something, you’ll probably know because they’ll probably tell you! Cats can show their discontent in a variety of ways, from simply avoiding a stimulus, hiding, pulling back their ears, or even hissing or “hitting.”
Cats’ preferences for food are varied. For example, while some cats love peanut butter, others can’t get away fast enough.
Generally speaking, cats dislike bitter and sour flavors. Here are a few tastes that the vast majority of cats can’t stand.
And then there are some cats that hate the taste of everything, apparently.
Since taste and smell are so connected on a sensory level, most cats dislike the smell of things that they don’t like to eat.
This cat wants you to get that disgusting mint away from him. Now.
We know that cats love comfortable things, such as your bed or your couch. Cats also tend to like rough surfaces where they can sharpen their nails. But what textures don’t appeal to our feline friends?
If your cat runs and hides as soon as they see their carrier, you’re not alone! Plenty of cats don’t like taking a ride in the car, and the reasons are pretty straightforward:
One way to combat the fear of the car is to choose a carrier that is comfortable and which provides limited visibility for your cat. The less they can see, the better!
Ever since videos began circulating online of humans scaring their cats with cucumbers, we’ve all asked ourselves: what’s the deal?
While seeing cats freak out over cucumbers is funny, it’s actually not a very nice thing to do to your cat! We do not recommend that you try this prank; it’s just not nice and can stress your cat out.
The good news is that cats aren’t inherently frightened of vegetables, cucumbers or otherwise. Rather, cats are frightened by unexpected elements that are introduced suddenly into their environment.
So, when you put a cucumber behind your cat while they’re eating, and then they turn around and jump 5 feet into the air, they aren’t so much afraid of the cucumber as they are nervous about the fact that something totally unexpected just showed up out of nowhere!
Cats are very in-tune with their environment and will react to even the slightest changes. The same reason cats are freaked out by unexpected cucumbers are the same reasons why cats generally don’t like it when you buy new furniture, move things around, or change homes.
Aside from all these other things, cats also hate fleas and bed bugs because they make them itch and nobody likes that!
What does your cat hate? Does your cat love any of the things that cats generally really dislike? Let us know in the comments, we want to hear all about it!
After moving to New York City from Rome, Italy, I began working in the nonprofit world. Despite my day job, my passion has always been animals, especially dogs and cats, and writing. What better way to combine the two? I’ve been a pet owner for 15 years, and my menagerie includes dogs, cats, hamsters and the occasional hermit crab. My beloved cat, Mozart, who I found as a newborn kitten, sparked my love for felines and is now nearly 15 years old. I am an enthusiastic volunteer at the local ASPCA, where I enjoy spending time with the cats and cleaning up after the dogs. I’ve been writing about pet ownership and care for the past five years.