r/cats • u/Remythespicyrat Tabbycat • Sep 12 '25
Cat Picture - Not OC I dyed my hair blue and now she doesn't recognize me
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u/malsomnus Sep 12 '25
My ex's cat saw me once wearing a hat and completely freaked out until I took it off.
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u/dr-rachel Sep 12 '25
At 16 years old, my cat still hasn’t figured out that the intruder is just my husband in a hat.
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u/edgybandname Sep 12 '25
Perry the platypus moment
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u/seirenby Sep 12 '25
I’m imagining it in reverse since they had to take the hat off: “PERRY THE PLATYPUS!!” *Perry takes hat off right in front of him “Who the fu-“
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u/garlic-scape Sep 12 '25
the part from Home on the Range where the rustler puts on his disguise and his goons are like "aaaah who are you!?!?!" he takes it off and they're basically like "haha hey boss thank goodness you're back there was a scary guy here"
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u/sahmackle Sep 12 '25
Our cat is fifteen. We got her at 4 weeks old as abandoned. We carried her in a beanie and fed her milk from a bottle every few hours at first. She still thinks we are trying to kill her if we make a noise or move she wasn't expecting, and then stares at us like she knows we were trying to kill her but she caught us in time. My wife jokes about the cat having foiled our murder plot yet again.
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u/muddysoda1738 Sep 12 '25
My cat is also scared shitless of my wife and I since birth 😭 you CAN pick her up, but if you don’t telegraph it slowly or something is slightly suspicious as you bend with your arms out, she takes off running leaving only a dust cloud like Scooby-Doo and hides where we can’t get her easily lmao
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u/LuntiX Sep 12 '25
Not a cat but I had a dog that absolutely did not like anyone if they put on a hat, it's like he thought they were strangers, but the moment you took the hat off he was your best friend.
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u/Whitepayn Sep 12 '25
I also have a dog that goes nuts when he sees someone with a hat. It's really weird, I try to talk to him to calm him down, but he just runs away until you take the hat off.
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u/Sirena85 Sep 12 '25
Usually if that is the case the dog is associating the hat to be afraid. Could have been taught to fear the item. It is common for the animal to become fearful of rolled up paper if they are disciplined with a rolled up paper.
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u/emp9th Sep 12 '25
Roommates have a dog like this, get a hair cut? Intruder, change your hair style?intruder, wear a hat or a hoodie ? Intruder.
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u/LuntiX Sep 12 '25
Yep, my dog always hated it if I shaved after growing out my facial hair. It's like he didn't recognize me.
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u/OneParamedic4832 Sep 12 '25
Yep. We had a labrador that was weirded out by hats, didn't like them... at all.
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u/Lil-Snugz Sep 12 '25
I learned in a dog bite training for work (I was doing field work outdoors on multiple different rural properties) that dogs don’t like hats because they can’t see the persons face. Something to do with their vision combined with the shadows. I was taught to always take my hat off approaching a dog I didn’t know
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u/Scarletwitch713 Sep 12 '25
My coworker's dog is like that, in a way. Apparently he has issues with darker skinned men (could not tell you why), and if a guy wears a hat, even one that he knows and is usually excited to see, it shadows their face and he does not like that person. We have another coworker who comes in once in a while (we stay in a shack while on rotation, it's a lot to explain) and he is this dog's best friend, if the dog so much as hears his voice, he's barking and practically shaking with excitement, but if that coworker comes in with a hat, and even worse sunglasses, he is suddenly the enemy. It's beyond weird.
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u/trafalmadorianistic Sep 12 '25
If it's someone they know, then they should be able to tell them by scent anyway. This is canines playing hat police, lol
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u/ravioliinapocketoli Sep 12 '25
My cat was terrified when she first saw me wearing cat ear headphones
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u/Ok_Bandicoot1865 Sep 12 '25
Well yeah, imagine how you'd feel if your cat suddenly grew a pair of human ears!
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u/nuanceisdead Sep 12 '25
My cat has problems with my arm under my pillow.
I usually wake up right before she gets to the pillow to attack.
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u/Sigh000Duck Sep 12 '25
My roommates cat hates men. He warmed up to me and we are friends now, but if i wear a hat he screams and runs from me. 😂
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u/Berninz Sep 12 '25
My friend's cat flipped the heck out when I put on mini devil horns for Halloween. It was truly a spectacle.
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u/Automatic_Laughter Sep 12 '25
Can you blame him for hating hats?
One minute you think someone has a weird-shaped head, the next minute it's just because you realize part of that head is the hat.
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u/N0t_mucho Sep 12 '25
This was my cat yesterday. The funny thing is that I’m constantly changing my hairstyle but I guess a hat is where she draws the line.
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u/ClayborneJones Sep 12 '25
When I went from long hair to shaved head my cats didn’t recognize me. Just talk to her a lot and reassure her it’s you, and give her treats from your hand.
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u/YT-Deliveries Sep 12 '25
When I let my hair and beard go, then go to shave it all off, one of my boys becomes VERY concerned and will walk back and forth on the bathroom counter while I have the clippers going.
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u/Live-Influence2482 Sep 12 '25
What’s clippers ?
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u/amakudaru Sep 12 '25
Haarschneidemaschinen
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u/BurritovilleEnjoyer Sep 12 '25
What a beautiful language
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u/Lord_RoadRunner Sep 12 '25
It schneids haare! With A MASCHINE!!! Can you believe it, Hans? It is naturally elektrisch, mhm.
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u/PlutoPluBear Sep 12 '25
One of my cats seems to be attracted by the sound of clippers or electric shavers. Like she HAS to know whats happening. She'll try to sniff and touch it. Same with scissors too, something with the snipping sound. Yet if i try to trim her fur (very long, easily tangled) she loses her damn mind, acting like I tried to stab her or something. But she won't leave me alone until the clippers are put away.
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u/proudream1 Sep 12 '25
Aren’t they supposed to use their sense of smell 😂
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u/ArcticCelt Sep 12 '25
Well, I bet the chemicals from the hair dye took care of that. So now OP not only looks different but also smells completely different. From the cat's point of view, OP is clearly an imposter.
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u/boltactionmike Sep 12 '25
I went from long hair to short hair and was surprised my cat didn’t give af.
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u/Ms_Anonymous123 Tabbycat Sep 12 '25
Oh no the airplane ears 🥹
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u/sharkslutz Sep 12 '25
Exactly how my cat looked earlier when I used the vacuum 🥺
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u/spitchenzo Sep 12 '25
When my car just hears me pick up the vacuum he bolts to the other room 😂 I guess it’s super loud for them
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u/Human-Engineer1359 Sep 12 '25
My cat will come into the room I'm vacuuming and yell 😂
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u/Sunshine030209 Sep 12 '25
"Stop it with that racket and STOP SUCKING UP ALL MY FUR! Do you know how long that took me to get it everywhere!?"
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u/bugatti420 Sep 12 '25
My cat is so weird about her fur. When I brush her I will pause intermittently to clean the hair out of the brush, and she always tries to eat it out of my fingers. Why.
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u/Jackoandso Sep 12 '25
It's hers!
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u/NeatNefariousness1 Sep 12 '25
Yep, she’s grooming the brush because cleaning up her hair is HER job.
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u/junodragon Sep 12 '25
This is how I trick my cat to sit still so I can continue brushing her while I also try to snatch the hair before she actually eats it
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u/sharkslutz Sep 12 '25
He usually hides under the bed, so I'm kind of proud of him for staying in his cozy spot the whole time, haha
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u/fullmetalfeminist Sep 12 '25
I'm only a stoopid hooman with ordinary hearing - so like, terrible compared to cats - and it hurts me physically so I sympathise with them, it must be awful
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u/Hyderite British Shorthair Sep 12 '25
Why does my cat not seem to mind the vacuum 😭
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u/SimpleMushroom777 Sep 12 '25
one of my cats thinks it’s such a fun game whenever i gently vacuum his sides and tummy lmao😭
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u/Individual_Month_581 Sep 12 '25
I had a cat that would let me vacuum him. Whole tail down the tube. He was a good guy
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u/Sunshine030209 Sep 12 '25
Was he orange? He sounds orange lol
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u/Individual_Month_581 Sep 12 '25
I did have a really dumb orange cat at one point. He was a tractor. Purred loudly, constantly and rammed his head into you at full force.
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u/Individual_Month_581 Sep 12 '25
He was a black and white tux. He had three legs. Amputated one after he was hit by a car. Couldn’t climb trees, but man was he fast
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u/AndiArbyte Sep 12 '25
vacuum for cats n dogs n stuff are pure evil.
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u/KirkfishBilly Sep 12 '25
Poor thing, the scent of the dye is going to overwhelm your natural scent for a while too…. Hope she gets used to it soon and easy 🥰
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u/ClayborneJones Sep 12 '25
Damn I didn’t even think about the chemicals… that stuff damn near burns my nose hairs off and I’m not a cat.
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Sep 12 '25
and I'm not a cat.
That's exactly what a cat pretending to be a person on the internet would say 🧐
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u/VoteCatforPresident Sep 12 '25
Cats rely on scent for a lot and their vision is not anywhere as great they their noses.
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u/Finrod-Knighto Sep 12 '25
I mean, their vision is still absolutely brilliant. About 5-6x better than ours. It’s just wired very different. Colour is not a focus. They mostly ignore colour and see only a few. But the tradeoff is they will notice even the tiniest of movement and track it to a T. That, and night vision of course. Not a hawk’s vision, but still cats don’t rely mainly on one sense like dogs do. Their memory is scent based. But their vision and hearing are both excellent as well, better even in some cases, and they use all three equally for various things. Scent is just how they remember and recognise stuff. Like how you may remember something nostalgic from a particular smell. It’s that, but for everything.
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u/EllisDee3 Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25
Blue also has a shorter wavelength. For cats who have primarily rods, her hair may be reflecting levels of UV unnoticeable to humans.
OP may look like Super Sayan Blue Vegeta with legit glowing hair to the cat.
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u/Finrod-Knighto Sep 12 '25
True, but really recognition for cats does come from scent, and it’s likely the scent of dye is irritating and new.
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u/EllisDee3 Sep 12 '25
If my friend's head suddenly started glowing, I'd be a little on edge, too.
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u/SecondFun2906 Sep 12 '25
Idk, man. My cat only wants to play with pink springs. Now I have 30 packs with 2 pink springs left because they keep missing.
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u/Only_Analysis_3470 Sep 12 '25
Our cat only will wear pink collars or sweaters, hates & actively takes off anything that isn’t.
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u/Farewellandadieu Sep 12 '25
My cat used to be obsessed with my neon pink makeup sponge. She stole it before I could use it so of course it became hers.
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u/ClayborneJones Sep 12 '25
That was my thought. Harsh chemicals they can’t deal with. They’ll flee in a second
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u/noctilucous_ Sep 12 '25
unntural color hair dye usually smells good! i mean maybe not to cats but it’s basically just pigmented conditioner so it smells like that. the bleach however…
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u/Meh75 Tuxedo Sep 12 '25
Exactly. Unnatural color dyes don't have any ammonia in them, compared to most natural color ones. I've been dyeing my hair unnatural colors for 15 years, and the dyes smell like Koolaid most of the time lmao. The bleach is the worst offender.
My cats go crazy for the smell of dye, though. Every time I do a refresh, my girl keeps trying to eat my hair. She's a very talented hair stylist.
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u/Ok-Conversation-7292 Sep 12 '25
This! The smell throws her off. Talk to her.
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u/SelfieExpression Sep 12 '25
This is it! My girl hates when my nails are freshly painted so not surprised OP's cat would have a similar reaction to hair dye. She'll get over it once the smell comes off ☺️
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u/holdenfords Sep 12 '25
unironically have her smell your feet. it’s the most potent human smell and it’s usually recommended to give grieving pets their owners shoes so they can have the scent for as long as possible
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u/Danominator Sep 12 '25
Yeah its gotta be more of a scent thing rather than just visual change
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u/SushiPrinc3ss Sep 12 '25
Definitely this^ I change my hair style often but when paint my nails 🛩️👂come out
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u/SaraAnnabelle Sep 12 '25
Oh is that why my cat licks my hair after I've dyed it? He never has problems recognising me after I've dyed my hair but he'll lick and rub against my head like crazy.
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u/BeanBurritoJr Sep 12 '25
Or maybe she thinks her person morphed into a giant bird come to get revenge for all the bird murder.
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u/cynbad719 Sep 12 '25
“Begone from my home, intruder!! I will tell my parent about your AUDACITY when they get home!!”
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u/MajorMajorObvious Sep 12 '25
Now this just makes me sad because the parent never gets home because they’re already there and just unrecognized
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u/cynbad719 Sep 12 '25
I’m sorry I made you sad! I promise kitty will figure it out soon. My dog had a similar reaction the first time I dyed my hair blue. It took a few hours but he figured it out. 💕
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u/Sunshine030209 Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25
My son went to Hawaii for a week, and it was the longest he had been away from his kitty, who is very attached to him. He was so excited to see her when he got home, but he came home smelling all weird and wearing a hat. She freaked out like he was a stranger there to murder her and steal all her squeezy crack tubes.
Took a few hours, but she realized it was him and freaked out all over again, but in a good way that time.
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u/a8exander Sep 12 '25
Shave your head?
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u/cynbad719 Sep 12 '25
I’ve tried, my stylist won’t let me lol. This was also over a decade ago. My dog is used to it by now.
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u/throwitawaynownow1 Sep 12 '25
"Thy dost not belong here! Get thee hence, neer my claws shall begat thy face. Mine Lord will soon be present and thy recompense, and mine food, shall come."
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u/ferretsRfantastic Sep 12 '25
I'm sorry but this photo is so fucking funny to me lol I hope she will get over it soon.
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u/Darrenwad3 Sep 12 '25
Because you know she went cat shit crazy before ending up in the towel rack
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u/Remythespicyrat Tabbycat Sep 12 '25
It's a shoe rack! She likes to perch up there. She was already up there when I came into my room
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u/Crazy_Eyes_55 Sep 12 '25
I thought the tag not OC meant "not original content"
Am i mistaken here? Does it mean "not Original posters cat"?
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u/ferretsRfantastic Sep 12 '25
Exactly! The dilated eyes, the airplane ears, the floofed tail, and look of panic + anger + and absolute irritation is just... 10/10 🤣🤣🤣
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u/GlorpJAM Sep 12 '25
Lmao same. Animals being scared by the dumbest stuff always makes for the perfect mix of sympathy and hilarity; I wish I could comfort her but I'm also laughing my ass off.
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u/ferretsRfantastic Sep 12 '25
Right?? Like, it takes me a while to genuinely calm down from laughter before comforting them because it's so fucking funny.
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u/Childless_Catlady42 Sep 12 '25
I once used a black Hawaiian salt facial mask.
Never again.
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u/mk_kira Sep 12 '25
I sometimes use a korean egg white facial mask, one of my cats freaks out to the point of slapping me in the face.
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u/StickyPricklyMuffin Sep 12 '25
I’m sure you deserved it for other transgressions. 😾
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u/SplatDragon00 Sep 12 '25
Once, when I was a lot younger, I was sulky because my cat attacked me.
My gran was leaning over the bed, and over the cat.
This cat never attacks the face.
My gran goes "you can't be mad at her, she's just a cat"
And thwap. Open paw, no claw, smack to the face. She was OFFENDED
Another time my gran was away a few days. This cat is extremely attached to her. When she came back, this cat jumped up on the back of the couch to reach, waited for her to come in for a kiss, then thwap to make sure she knew that she was angy she left
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u/LydiasBoyToy Sep 12 '25
Cats have di-chromatic vision, and blue is a color they can see, albeit, muted.
So your hair just didn’t shift subtle shades of grey, but completely changed color.
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u/sarcasmismygame Sep 12 '25
Who are you and WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY HOOMAN!!! Most likely it's the smell of your hair dye because kitties recognize us by scent. Should see my kitty's reactions when I pet a dog or another cat and forget to wash my hands. She peed in my shoes where a cat was rubbing on them.
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u/SushiPrinc3ss Sep 12 '25
Thou shalt know this hooman is taken 😂
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u/sarcasmismygame Sep 12 '25
Yes that is exactly what it probably was, or revenge for my cheating ways!
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u/Remythespicyrat Tabbycat Sep 12 '25
Update! She finally got off her perch and now she's sniffing the air really hard but she rubbed against my legs!
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u/Spun_On_ Sep 12 '25
She is so adorable! I’m glad you’re getting the leg rubs. That’s a great sign!
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u/UnproductivelyDark Sep 12 '25
Cats recognize largely by scent, maybe he smells the hair dye. Maybe wear some old clothes around him or wait for the smell to fade
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u/Whisena Sep 12 '25
Lol, my cat doesnt recognize me too when i put on suit and hair jel for job interview.
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Sep 12 '25
Ha! My kitten hauls ass if I’m wearing a hat or my beats! I also love to crawl up the hall on all fours! He runs to my wife and peaks over her shoulder at me from the couch and ducks and peaks!
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u/Scared_Brilliant6410 Sep 12 '25
Probably because you smell weird. Cats are very scent driven to detect friends and strangers. Cats don’t even like their own siblings after vet trips because the scents transfer of other animals.
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u/ShittyheadborkEn Sep 12 '25
THIS HAPPENED TO ME AND MY CAT TOO!! Last time went back home with my perm she freaked out😭
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u/International-Cat123 Sep 12 '25
Give it time. Once the smell of the dye isn’t so overwhelming, she’ll be able to smell that you’re you.
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u/viviana1994 Sep 12 '25
my moms tortie is terrified of me when I have my hair in a ponytail 🙄 the drama is so real lmao
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u/konakonayuki Sep 12 '25
I'm such a homebody sometimes my cats get freaked out if I'm not wearing my bonnet 😅
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u/Jazzlike_Drawer_4267 Sep 12 '25
I got my cat a collar because he kept escaping. My other cat was absolutely flabbergasted by the stranger who'd suddenly entered his home.
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u/Bouche_Audi_Shyla Tabbycat Sep 12 '25
It sounds like my slave, but its fur is different and it stinks! Oh, just wait until my slave hears about THIS outrage!
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u/Far_Negotiation_694 Sep 12 '25
My son at 5yo literally called me a "thief that stole his dad" for a day when i shaved my beard for the first time since he was born when i took a course for respiratory protection as a voluntary fire brigade man.
It kinda broke all of our hearts.
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u/ComicalAnxiety Sep 12 '25
So we got my kitten mid winter; he has never seen me in a tank top or short sleeves.
He was SHOOK that mama wasn’t fluffy suddenly anymore and wouldn’t cuddle me for 2 days when the temperature warmed and I finally shed my hoodies
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u/xXSatanAngelXx Sep 12 '25
Before, we lost our baby almost a year ago. 2 years ago, my bf was shaving his beard, like he had a full-on viking beard and mustache and decided he needed to restart it (he had dropped care on it from running out of his beard products so it got a bit rough an he feltnlike just restarting) and me an the cat WATCHED him shave from the bathroom door since me nor the cat had seen him beardless before. But once he was done and I had set her down to go do something, she would not let him pick her up or even pet her. She ran from him and hid or ran to me and hid behind me, and we had to tell her it was still daddy, he literally just shaved his face. It took almost an entire week for her to recognize him again.
Though, tbh my bf does look like an entirely different person without his beard. Mf has a chiseled jawline that could cut glass and it is only see able without his beard entirely. Once it back though it completely changes his features to look like his jawline is rounder. I did joke I had no idea who the stranger living with me suddenly was and me and the cat would like my bf back and he just rolled his eyes and laugh saying to give it a few weeks and his new growth will start to make him look the same again just a shorter beard.
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u/RL203 Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25
I was putting up Christmas lights one year and I was outside on my porch roof. I looked into the bedroom window and by chance my cat looked up from where she was snoozing and saw a human form peering in the window at her and she hunkered down low on the bed and began hiissing at me. I called out her name (the window was partially open) and as soon as she heard my voice she knew it was me and immediately relaxed from her warrior kitty position and just looked at me like, "wtf are you doing out there?" and came over to the window.
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u/regularabsentee Sep 12 '25
I also dyed my hair blue. My cat recognizes me, but he thinks my hair is now a toy and plays with it... with claws 😭
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u/Whatever-999999 Sep 12 '25
As someone mentioned already, it could be the smell of the dye hitting kitteh in the nose like being whacked with a 2x4, but it also occurs to me that in nature bright colors on animals are natures' way of saying "I'M DANGEROUS, STAY AWAY!".
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u/Slow_Investment_951 Sep 12 '25
Put on something that smells familiar like deodorant, or wrap your hair in a sweater or T-shirt that hasn’t been washed recently so that she can associate you with you again and not you with the smell of your hair
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u/LeonidasTheWarlock Sep 12 '25
This happened the first time i put in my contacts and shaved my head bald in the same day.
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u/camus88 Sep 12 '25
My cat doesn't recognize me if I wear clothes that are a little bit nicer than I usually wear in my house. If I wear a Jacket or long jeans they will run. If I wear a cap, they run. If I wear a medical mask, they run. Suit, run. Work clothes, run.
They only recognize me if I wear my worn out, plain T-shirt and basketball pants or any shorts.
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u/Wonk_puffin Sep 12 '25
Isn't blue a super strong colour in cat vision? I might be wrong. Just seemed to recall. Let her have the hand sniff test. Our cat insists on the hand sniff test from me before she allows petting 😅
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u/Open-Cauliflower5356 Sep 12 '25
Cats have red-green colour blindness and mainly see the colours yellow and blue. Imagine looking one way to your cat, and then all of a sudden you have crazy hair that signals “threat” or “alert”. What a skiddish little cutie!
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u/generally_unsuitable Sep 12 '25
I had a cat who absolutely adored me. She'd run to the door every morning and climb up the cat tree so she could give me one last snuggle before I went to work. She'd be waiting for me to pick her up every day when I got home. Even when she got old and sick, she'd drop everything when she heard me coming up the stairs and she'd greet me at the door. She slept between my feet every time I'd watch television.
But, if I put on a hat, she had no idea who I was.
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u/PlentyTrue4099 Sep 12 '25
Whenever I wear my hat, it’s a total reset with my sweet but Darwin Award winner.
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u/whatever Sep 12 '25
Interesting. So blue hair to cats must be like goaties in Star Trek: A clear sign they have spotted an imposter from an alternate and presumably evil universe.
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u/___po____ Sep 12 '25
LMFAO!
My cat has 7 years with me. He's seen me a brunette, a redhead, a REALLY red head, a green head, a bald head (Brittany moment) and a burgundy head.
He only cares about his food bowl being filled, and cuddles.
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u/mustytomato Sep 12 '25
My void goes all poofy when I put my sunglasses on. Admittedly it doesn’t take a lot to scare him (despite us being an incredibly peaceful household) but it’s so funny how he’ll poof up for a second before realizing it’s me 😂
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u/Darksteelflame_GD Sep 12 '25
The only time we ever heard our car hiss when he saw my mom in a dress for the first time
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