Can cats lose their confidence

 Many people suffer from a lack of self-confidence. Some are born feeling less than others, some have a traumatic experience and lose the confidence they had.

But what about animals? Can animals suffer from a lack of self-confidence? Apparently they can. Just ask Gabriel.

Gabriel likes to sleep on higher ground, namely the wall unit. To get there, he jumps from the floor on the loveseat, from the loveseat onto a display cabinet, and from the display cabinet onto the wall unit.

He’s got a basket there where he can sleep, nap or just relax.

And then one day something happened and everything changed for poor Gabriel.

In our condo building, we received a notice that all filters in the A/C unit had to be changed. To make it easier on the service staff, residents had to move any type of furniture that was obstructing the filter unit by at least three feet. In our case this meant, the display cabinet.

We moved the cabinet, but the next time Gabriel jumped from the loveseat onto the said cabinet he found that he could no longer jump from the display cabinet onto the wall unit. The gap between the two was too big. This clearly threw him for a loop.

After the filter was changed and the maintenance crew had left, the display cabinet was pushed back into place, but in Gabriel case the damage was done. Things had changed and he had lost his jumping confidence.

Now when he jumps from the floor onto the loveseat, he sit there, calculating his jump onto the display cabinet and doubting whether or not he will make it. It’s both sad and funny to watch. He sits there … I think I can, I think I can, no I can’t risk it.

Not risking the jump, he will proceed standing on his hind legs, trying to figure out what the problem is, after which he will attempt the high jump again. His confidence failing him once more.

Eventually I will just pick him up and put him on the display cabinet where he will either curl up for a sleep or make the jump to the wall unit.

So, if you think an animal’s confidence can’t be damaged … think again.