Why is my cat afraid of turkey?
November 28, 2019 8:36 AM Subscribe
My older cat is terrified of certain cooking smells, and is currently crouched downstairs in a corner meowing in fear. Could this be a medical issue, or is it a somewhat common fear?
A bit of background, we got my cat (Skeeter, a 11 year old possibly British shorthair) when he was about six from a shelter. He's a large, confident cat that doesn't appear to be afraid of much... but he's terrified of certain cooking smells. Currently, my husband is cooking a turkey upstairs and Skeeter is downstairs, in the room furthest away from the kitchen, crouched down and making a ton of deep, loud meows. He has done this a few times before - when my husband has cooked pot roast or fried meat/bacon, and once when our apartment was filled with fumes from our next door neighbor pouring caustic chemicals down the drain (in the latter case, I immediately grabbed him and ran to my car.. but he was so afraid of the smell while we were in the apartment that he urinated on me and was panting in fear - once we got in my car, he reverted back to my chill and lazy cat). We have other cats who were not bothered by the smell, but we got them out of the apartment, and are not bothered by certain cooking smells.
I'm really concerned about his behavior - and I wonder if it's indicative of a medical issue. I'll obviously set up a vet appointment, but I'm worried that it's potentially something that needs to be addressed as an emergency visit today. Having said that:
Can cats be allergic to certain cooking.. fumes maybe? I'm a vegan, and my husband sometimes cooks meat, but a lot of the time it's chicken (which doesn't seem to affect Skeeter). My cat has something of a stub nose, so I wonder if it's causing respiratory difficulties? Aside from the loud meows, he doesn't seem to have a massive difficulty in breathing.
OR can cats just legitimately be afraid of cooking smells (specifically meat)? He doesn't seem to be afraid of candles, or other cooking smells (soups, roasted veggies, baked tofu, etc.) We don't really know his background, but it seems like he had a rough life prior to arriving at the shelter (lots of scarring, healed broken bones), so I'm unsure if he's ever been in a fire. Again, my other cats are just casually strolling around the house, and one is routinely sauntering into the kitchen to see if he can grab any human food scraps.
Thank you all! I'm probably being an overbearing cat mom, but this behavior is so out of the norm for him.
A bit of background, we got my cat (Skeeter, a 11 year old possibly British shorthair) when he was about six from a shelter. He's a large, confident cat that doesn't appear to be afraid of much... but he's terrified of certain cooking smells. Currently, my husband is cooking a turkey upstairs and Skeeter is downstairs, in the room furthest away from the kitchen, crouched down and making a ton of deep, loud meows. He has done this a few times before - when my husband has cooked pot roast or fried meat/bacon, and once when our apartment was filled with fumes from our next door neighbor pouring caustic chemicals down the drain (in the latter case, I immediately grabbed him and ran to my car.. but he was so afraid of the smell while we were in the apartment that he urinated on me and was panting in fear - once we got in my car, he reverted back to my chill and lazy cat). We have other cats who were not bothered by the smell, but we got them out of the apartment, and are not bothered by certain cooking smells.
I'm really concerned about his behavior - and I wonder if it's indicative of a medical issue. I'll obviously set up a vet appointment, but I'm worried that it's potentially something that needs to be addressed as an emergency visit today. Having said that:
Can cats be allergic to certain cooking.. fumes maybe? I'm a vegan, and my husband sometimes cooks meat, but a lot of the time it's chicken (which doesn't seem to affect Skeeter). My cat has something of a stub nose, so I wonder if it's causing respiratory difficulties? Aside from the loud meows, he doesn't seem to have a massive difficulty in breathing.
OR can cats just legitimately be afraid of cooking smells (specifically meat)? He doesn't seem to be afraid of candles, or other cooking smells (soups, roasted veggies, baked tofu, etc.) We don't really know his background, but it seems like he had a rough life prior to arriving at the shelter (lots of scarring, healed broken bones), so I'm unsure if he's ever been in a fire. Again, my other cats are just casually strolling around the house, and one is routinely sauntering into the kitchen to see if he can grab any human food scraps.
Thank you all! I'm probably being an overbearing cat mom, but this behavior is so out of the norm for him.
Being afraid of the smell of caustic chemicals seems normal for a cat. But I wonder if the smell of meat has some terrible association for him, like whoever had him before you hurt him while a turkey was cooking and now he’s afraid it will happen again? Or as snuffleupagus mentioned, maybe The Terrible Smoke Alarm Monster will come back because he smells meat cooking. Poor Skeeter!
posted by corey flood at 9:00 AM on November 28, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by corey flood at 9:00 AM on November 28, 2019 [11 favorites]
I've never heard of this fear and asking the vet sounds like a good idea, but I doubt it's anything serious if the effects don't last or affect his eating/drinking/litter box.
My friend had a dog that was deeply offended by farts. Like if somebody farted, he would glare and go leave the room and hide for hours. That just seemed to be a quirk.
Maybe you could try a calming collar or Feliway before/during cooking meat?
posted by mermaidcafe at 9:15 AM on November 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
My friend had a dog that was deeply offended by farts. Like if somebody farted, he would glare and go leave the room and hide for hours. That just seemed to be a quirk.
Maybe you could try a calming collar or Feliway before/during cooking meat?
posted by mermaidcafe at 9:15 AM on November 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
Poor kitty. I suspect if he came from such a bad start that it might be something psychological, as opposed to medical. That being said, it may be worth talking to the vet to see if Valium or an alternate anti-anxiety prescription would be worthwhile for these types of situations.
posted by valoius at 9:23 AM on November 28, 2019
posted by valoius at 9:23 AM on November 28, 2019
I have heard of dogs afraid/anxious around the smell of cooking lamb (a Google search will bring up many stories). Cooking meats put off many many aromas that we humans don't have the olfactory nerves to detect.
posted by muddgirl at 9:30 AM on November 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by muddgirl at 9:30 AM on November 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
Could it possibly be from your partner's movements and noise while he's in the kitchen cooking, rather than the smell? Some people just have a different way and manner about them when they are in "git'er done" mode. Kitchens can be especially raucous.
posted by itsflyable at 11:06 AM on November 28, 2019
posted by itsflyable at 11:06 AM on November 28, 2019
My dog is terrified of the smell (and sound) of meat cooking on the stovetop and it's definitely because I set the Smoke Detector Monster on him a couple times. Whenever I cook something that sizzles he goes into the bathroom and lays down on the bathmat until it's over. It makes me feel like history's greatest monster, but doesn't seem to be physically dangerous for him. Animals have some weird smell associations. Hopefully that's also the case for your kitty!
posted by fancypants at 11:31 AM on November 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by fancypants at 11:31 AM on November 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you all for the reassurances! Skeeter is currently chilling upstairs, eyeing a plate of roasted butternut squash (he's an odd cat for sure), after we opened up the balcony door for a while. Next time we go to the vet, I'll ask him if it's anything we should be worried about in the future - but for right now, he's back to normal :)
posted by oxfordcomma at 11:52 AM on November 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by oxfordcomma at 11:52 AM on November 28, 2019 [4 favorites]
My dog wont even be in the house when one particular person is cooking because they have set the smoke alarm off so many times. If she can't go outside, she crawls into the deepest, darkest space she can find away from the kitchen and tries to herd her favourite person away with her. This is a dog who is normally underfoot. Smoke alarms are the devil and no pet can fight them.
posted by fshgrl at 11:53 AM on November 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 11:53 AM on November 28, 2019 [5 favorites]
If this was set in motion by a smoke alarm, which seems like quite a reasonable suspicion, it might not be purely psychological because high frequency noises have been identified as a trigger for seizures in some older cats.
I don't think my first link says this, but hyperthyroidism is also more common in older cats and is also associated with seizures, so when you go to the vet, you might want to ask about thyroid issues.
posted by jamjam at 12:34 PM on November 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
I don't think my first link says this, but hyperthyroidism is also more common in older cats and is also associated with seizures, so when you go to the vet, you might want to ask about thyroid issues.
posted by jamjam at 12:34 PM on November 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
yeah I'd assume it's either smoke alarm related fear or, unfortunately, a former owner hit or kicked him while he was in the kitchen begging for/sneaking bits of the related food items during cooking. cats have an unbelievably long memory for things that frighten them by accident, so I can't even imagine how long they stay traumatized by things meant to scare or harm them, done regularly, on purpose.
posted by poffin boffin at 3:45 PM on November 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 3:45 PM on November 28, 2019 [3 favorites]
Yep, sounds like a touch of kitty PTSD to me. You might make a spot for him that you work on associating with only safe happy comfy things, like a soft blanket in a nice box where you give him treats and affection, and when meat is being cooked make sure access to this spot is available for him.
posted by Mizu at 10:40 PM on November 28, 2019
posted by Mizu at 10:40 PM on November 28, 2019
« Older Where can one purchase a rock tumbler in Toronto... | How and when to transplant oak saplings? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
As far as peeing on you while being evacuated in a hurry, cats will react to your panic and agitated movement too. Especially if already alarmed.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:55 AM on November 28, 2019 [11 favorites]