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As the title says, I was feeding my cat her dinner and she was winding around my legs as usual. Except, this time I tripped on her and accidentally stepped on her paw. I also almost fell on her, but managed to catch myself on the counter in time - but I have no doubt it gave her a great fright. Fortunately, she wasn't injured (maybe just had a sore paw).

Now, she's afraid of me but specifically only around the counter area. As in, if she sees me there, she'll run and hide under the couch/drawers/bed etc. She also refuses to accept her usual meals from me anymore. However, the funny thing is, she seems to be fine with me everywhere else around the house. She'll even let me pick her up and purr. And as far as food goes, she will let me hand feed her treats, but not take her regular brunch and dinner while I'm around.

She's always been a bit of a skittish kitty so I'm wondering if there's any way for me to regain her trust without scaring her further.

Editing to add that:

  1. This happened about 3 days ago.
  2. My family and I observed her closely and did not notice any signs of injury, e.g. limping, so we are assuming she's not hurt from the incident.
  3. Edit V2 - a community member suggested a post where a user's husband stepped on their cat's head. It's not really the same as, for one, my cat isn't afraid of me outside of the specific location where the incident occurred. The thread linked also seems to describe a traumatic incident resulting in (seemingly permanent?) physical injury, which is not the case here.
Anxious kitty mom
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  • Does this answer your question? Husband stepped on the cat's head, and now she hates him If this is not what you asked for, then please use the edit function to let us know what is the difference. – Allerleirauh Jul 07 '22 at 19:12
  • @Allerleirauh it doesn't, unfortunately! For one, my cat isn't afraid of me outside of the specific location where the incident occurred. The thread linked also seems to describe a traumatic incident resulting in (seemingly permanent?) physical injury, which is not the case here. I edited my post with these details but am unsure if that's the way to do it, apologies as I'm not familiar with the edit function on this site! – Anxious kitty mom Jul 07 '22 at 19:39
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    Animals do not necessarily come to the same conclusions as we do, and in your case the cat appears to have gotten the impression that you are especially clumsy and potentially dangerous to be around when close to this counter. I would count this as a partial win, as the fear is focused more on the location and not on you in general. Traumatic experiences tend to stick quickly, but given some time without further incident should eventually resolve this. – bgse Jul 07 '22 at 22:47
  • @bgse thank you, that makes sense! I'll try to give her some space and lots of positive reinforcement around that area, and hopefully she'll come around. – Anxious kitty mom Jul 08 '22 at 08:05
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    It feels like your cat just uses caution, like people wearing a hard hat in construction sites after an incident happens. Smart cat! There is nothing wrong with her. – ck1987pd Aug 25 '22 at 09:32

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