# A new appreaciation of the term 'fraidy cat' **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 22, 2002, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388 "2002-12-22T15:33:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/1 "2002-12-22T15:33:53Z")
I have my girlfriend’s cat, an 8-year-old (neutered) male. White, with a gray tabby tortoise shell markings on his back and head. He weighs 12 pounds now, not huge, but not a tiny kitty, either. Anyway, a few days ago, I heard him bump up against my back door, so I went to check on him. And what do I see: My (our) kitty cowering against the door, while perched on the 3-foot wall that surrounds my back porch is another (some neighbor’s) kitty intently glowering at him with that “Hey, I’m the big cheese around here” look–and also about half his size. I kept thinking “Why are you taking this? Slap that MF.” But no. He (ours) just wanted to escape. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/2 "2002-12-22T15:46:45Z")
Cats usually avoid actual combat if they can. It’s a good thing, too. Cat bites often get infected, and those little puncture wounds are hard to treat. When cat meets cat at the edge of territory, they’ll usually growl and stare for a while. Eventually, one cat will cautiously walk away, with no harm done. The guys at the UN could learn a lot from cats. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/3 "2002-12-22T18:17:50Z")
I used to live in a house with a good view of cat-territory negotiations. There’s a creek behind the houses across the street, and the cat from the house opposite mine owned his front yard and _half_ the width of his driveway. The other half was a public path for the rest of the cats in the neighbourhood to reach the creek. He spent a lot of time sitting in the middle of his half watching the others pass through and confronting anybody who wandered too close. I’d see a dispute every week or two, just like the ones **AskNott** describes, but didn’t see a single fight in several years living there. ---
**Author:** ![Lure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@Lure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lure)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/4 "2002-12-22T21:53:15Z")
My cat must be a weirdo then.When she was younger in two separate locations-one an apartment complex and now in a condo complex.about once a month I’d invariably hear the yowl then fight sounds of cats,usually by my door or patio fence,and upon opening door another cat would run away leaving mine in various stages of dirtyness from rolling around in a knockdown drag out.She always seemed to get the worst of it,but next time she’d get out thru jumping the fence or blasting thru the doorway when I opened it she went looking for more. These things were initiated somewhere else on the property,tho I’ve never encuntered her outside more than a few doors from mine,so it’s not like she sat outside daring some cat to come near. I’ve also had to shoe cats who vaulted my fence on the patio looking for,what I guessed,was an easy mark to make that one’s bones. And I did have to take her to the vet once for an infected catbite on her leg.She’s neutered,so mating urges shoudn’t be at play here. Is she,as I suspect,just a hard headed bitch? ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/5 "2002-12-23T22:00:57Z")
Cats wear shoes? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/6 "2002-12-23T22:08:52Z")
I think alot of it has to do with the neutering. A neutered male seems to care a lot less about fighting for territory or anything else, than a cat with all the factory equipment installed. Females fight as well, but it is usually more of a wrestling dominance match, than an actuall attempt to hurt the other cat like unneutered males do. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/7 "2002-12-23T22:17:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NinetyWt \* > \*\*Cats wear shoes? \*\* Sure. Never heard of _Puss in Boots?_ ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2002, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/8 "2002-12-23T22:32:51Z")
My cat will actively stalk any cat, dog, or moose that comes in the yard. First the crouch, the tense first step, the lowcrawl, then the sprint, until he reaches the end of his line and gets yanked back. ---
**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/9 "2002-12-24T02:11:46Z")
My cat is more afraid than any of your cats: He runs and hides at the sound of a plastic bag being crinkled. If he’s sitting on my lap and I sneeze, he has to run and hide. The other cat in the house, who is 5 years older, about 6 pounds lighter, and female is able to kick his butt on a regular basis. It’s pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![boomvark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@boomvark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boomvark)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/10 "2002-12-24T05:24:42Z")
I have an ex-feral cat that got her ass kicked, almost fatally, by a big osprey. (Yeah, I know; it sounds crazy to me, too.) For months after I converted her to indoor living, she’d dive off the windowsill and under the bed every time she saw a large bird. Given the number of turkey vultures and night herons around here, this happened a lot. She’s pretty much over that, now, except in the case of one individual bird: Another guy in my block has a big cockatoo that rides around on his shoulder, exercising its vocabulary as loudly as possible. The thing looks bigger than the cat, which is bad enough, but the fact that it _talks_ freaks her out completely. I can count on not seeing any sign of the cat for at least half an hour after he goes moseying by with that thing. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/11 "2003-04-05T17:05:00Z")
We now have a new kitty, a black 7-month old female. We’ve had her a month now. So, she’s _significantly_ smaller than he. At first, she was the one being chased–but something changed. Now _she_ lies in wait and stalks _him_!. And _he_ runs! Ya just never know. ---
**Author:** ![MercyStreet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@MercyStreet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MercyStreet)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/12 "2003-04-05T17:29:01Z")
As kitties go, the girls are little geniuses and the boys are big dum-dum heads. ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/13 "2003-04-05T18:15:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ethilrist \* > \*\*Sure. Never heard of _Puss in Boots?_ \*\* Oh! _Those_ kind of shoes! I was trying to picture what a blacksmith would look like after trying to shoe a cat. Not pretty, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/14 "2003-04-05T21:31:59Z")
Glad it wasn’t just me. Visions of Cat Farriers aren’t pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-new-appreaciation-of-the-term-fraidy-cat/144388/15 "2003-04-05T21:57:12Z")
This is why my cats are all indoors. But even so, Buffy and Piper Grace are both terrified of company. They’ll run upstairs and hide under someone’s bed.