Letting my cousins play hunter with my cat?

Question

When my cousins come over they like to play this game called hunter. Basically they pretend my cat is the man eating tiger and they need to hunt it down. They use squirt guns and sometimes get it into a corner and poke it with sticks. Can this s***w up my cats mental stability?

Answer 1

Hi there... absolutely.  Your cat may develop a tendency to fear the company of people rather than feel comfortable/trust to be around them which would also make your cat less affectionate. Some cats may become aggressive as a result of such teasing if they are already timid or nervous.

The best way to help your cousins understand that this is not an appropriate game to play with your cat is to present the image of how your cat sees this. If someone were to chase them with a real gun (this is how your cat sees the squirt guns) and back them into a corner and repeatedly poke them with a large baseball bat (it appears this large to a cat) how would they feel or respond.  They clearly would be scared and upset just like your cat most likely is feeling.