Ailurophobia – definition: an abnormal fear of cats
Today’s word nearly stumped me. What do I write? Can I relate? I have managed every word (so far) in this year long journey of a post a day. Am I really going to have to admit defeat with this word? Then it occurred to me that it depends on the definition of cat. What if it was big cats, such as tigers and lions. I could certainly relate to fearing one of those large and magnificent animals chasing me down in the wild. A paw would be as big as my head so I would certainly have no defense whatsoever if the full force of a muscular and lithe body pounced.
Domesticated cats do not scare me in the slightest, I have owned several in my childhood. Two cats were my constant companions along with my Alsatian (German Shepherd) as a toddler. We would ‘escape’ to my Aunt’s house on occasion. The dog would dig under the wire fence and I would hold it up to let my furry friends out then crawl through myself. Then when I was in my early teens my Mother bought me a Seal Point Persian, whom I called him Rajah. He was a one person cat, and that was me!
English: A German Shepherd dog Polski: Owczarek niemiecki (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Bizarre as it sounds my only phobia was rhino’s -a long story but I did overcome it when my young daughter made me pat a real rhino on a wildlife trip. Since she was little she would pick up creepy crawlies and now has a reptile room, so I’m desensitized to any phobia.
Do you have a phobia?
Have you written a character with a phobia?
Related articles
- Phobias- What are you afraid of? (cynthiastacey.com)
Mandy Eve-Barnett's Blog for Readers & Writers 