What is an ailurophobic person fearful of?

An ailurophobic person is fearful of cats. Ailurophobia is a specific phobia involving an excessive or persistent fear of cats and other felines. The word combines the Greek ailouros, meaning “cat,” with phobos, meaning “fear.”

The fear can be triggered by seeing a live cat, hearing meowing, touching fur, or even viewing pictures of cats. Like other specific phobias, it may develop after a frightening encounter, through learned fear, or without one clearly identifiable cause.

Ailurophobia is sometimes confused with ordinary dislike or discomfort around cats. A person with the phobia may experience intense anxiety or avoid homes, friends, or places where a cat might be present. Related names include felinophobia, elurophobia, and gatophobia.

Treatment commonly involves cognitive behavioral therapy and carefully graduated exposure, in which a person encounters increasingly realistic cat-related stimuli at a manageable pace.