Do Cats Attack Intruders? What You Need to Know
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While cats do have bonds with people, they may or may not attack intruders. It depends on the personality of the cat. Occasionally, the cat may not understand that the person is an intruder and may hide like they usually do when someone visits.
However, cats have been known to attack those that they think are intruding. In this way, they may attack intruders occasionally—it depends on the feline.
Therefore, your feline shouldn’t be relied upon to protect you from an intruder. They aren’t that suitable for that purpose.
You can see plenty of videos of cats attacking other cats and people because they believe that they are threats. However, they are not terribly reliable with this instinct.
Will a Cat Protect Me from an Intruder?
Maybe. Cats may protect you from an intruder occasionally. Some cats will be protective of their owner and understand when someone is being threatened. However, this can’t be taken for granted. Sometimes, cats either are too scared to protect their owner or they may not realize that the other person is a threat.
While some cats are more protective than dogs, not all cats are.
A cat’s natural response is to flee from trouble. However, some cats will override this response to protect their owner. Of course, there is no way to know for sure. A cat may protect itself from an intruder once and then not again.
What Do Cats Do to Intruders?
There is very little way to tell what your cat would do to an intruder. Cats typically hide when they are fearful, especially if they typically hide when you have guests over. Often, cats won’t know that the intruder is any different than your other houseguests, so they will typically treat them as such.
Of course, some cats may greet the intruder, not realizing that they are a threat. It depends on your cat’s personality.
However, cats will rarely attack an intruder. Usually, these cats are protective and troublesome when you have guests over. Still, even if your cat doesn’t like guests, they may be fearful around an intruder and hide. Truthfully, there is just no way to tell!
Final Thoughts
Cats may protect their owner from an intruder but there is simply no way to know what they will do. Cats are very unpredictable in this manner, so it can be challenging to figure out how they will react. Typically, cats will hide when threatened. Many will be unable to tell that the intruder is threatening and will likely treat them like any of your other houseguests.
For this reason, we recommend that you don’t rely on your cat to guard your home. That is simply not what they are designed to do. Cats are much more likely to hide—even if they do understand that the intruder is a threat.
Of course, some cats may attack intruders. However, these cats are usually very territorial in general.
Featured Image Credit: awlodarski, Pixabay
