The Irrational Fear of Cats

Witches are conjured up

The irrational fear of cats is called ailurophobia. A fear of cats may result in a phobia.  A phobia may result in a fear of cats.  The two seem to be bound together but we're not sure.  A phobia is a “persistent and irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that is excessive and unreasonable, given the reality of the threat" (American Psychological Association-glossary).

Ailurophobia is also called felinophobia. The former is more commonly used word. Ailurophobia is one of many anxiety-related disorders, which have been defined such as: agoraphobia (fear of crowds), acrophobia (fear of heights), and arachnophobia (fear of spiders).

A phobia about cats does not seem to be linked to a dislike of cats.  I guess it has to be a fear, an irrational fear.  What causes the fear?  I don't think even scientists are always certain about the causes.  The fear may be the result of a bad interaction with a cat at an early age.  That is the common sense answer.

Although many children may have a fear of certain animals at an early age, they often grow out of it but adults who continue to retain a fear of certain animals including of course cats appear not to have grown out of the problem.

The symptoms of a cat phobia may include: sweating, dizziness and breathlessness.  Sometimes the symptoms could be more severe such as heart palpitations and a full-blown panic attack.

Treatments range from traditional psychotherapies to behaviour therapies and hypnosis.