my cat’s previous owner thinks that the cat was dropped when she was a kitten and that thats the reason that she hates being picked up. i was wondering if there was any way that i could slowly teach her to be more comfortable with it. Any tips?? thanks

I found a similar question on Y!A. There were a few answers to it, so hopefully they’ll help you: http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081202051634AAdM22O

my cat’s previous owner thinks that the cat was dropped when she was a kitten and that thats the reason that she hates being picked up. i was wondering if there was any way that i could slowly teach her to be more comfortable with it. Any tips?? thanks
thankyou very much-very useful indeed.

any more tips??
she is three years old btw guys!

We have had cats who did not like to be picked up and I’ve managed to change some of them – not all, but some.

I did so by picking them up and immediately putting them down, every time I saw them.

As the weeks went by, I would hold them a bit longer each time.

Some cats do not like to be picked up because they are afraid they are going to get hurt, that you might drop them, or that you are picking them up in a way that makes them feel unstable.

Make sure that anytime you pick up a cat, any cat, you do so correctly and in a way that the cat will feel stable and not feel like it can fall.

By the way, some people get scratched when they pick up a cat because the cat feels unstable and reaches out for something to hang onto and many times, if not most of the times, that something winds up being a human arm or body or face.

Just start picking her up and setting right back down. Continue doing this each time you see her and work up to holding her a bit longer each time. Increase the time by a second or two each week or so.

This may or may not work, it depends on the cat and how well you do it.

Good luck