My DD is scared of our cats

Now all my kids are scared of dogs. I know the boys and I have had some run ins with dogs on our walks but I try not to show any fear and I always talk about dogs ect ect.. some friends have dogs and I try and get them to interact with them but there is still a fear there..

but DD is scared of our cats.. I mean she full on screams if they come near her. We have these 2 cats since before we even had Children. they are 13 and 12 yrs old.. Very friendly cats esp one who just loves my kids.

Has anyone else got a child who is scared of cats? It is just a weird thing to me. She will pat them occasionally more once she has been outside with them for a little while. If we are out the back and one of the cats appears she lets out an ear piercing scream and comes running.. It takes her a good 10 minutes before she will let me put her down and then she is fine and will even play with them..

any suggestions to help her overcome this fear (and the kids fear of dogs?)

it may just take some time for them to come to terms with the animals? From a kids perspective they probably look a bit freaky! Lol.

I think what you are doing sounds great, so keep trying to get them to interact with the cats and friend's dogs, but I wouldn't push them 'to the edge' so to speak as you don't want to scare them iykwim. can you take them to a pet shop/animal shelter and show them some cute puppies and kittens so they can see (especially at that age) that they are cute and fluffy and lots of fun! Even if you could get them to help out with grooming or playing with them.

Maybe read them some books that involve animals, I dont know what age group of books you would be reading to them, but some 'fun' stories like The Poky Little puppies (it's a Golden Circle book) might also help them to see that dogs and cats aren't scary.

I have a cousin who used to be terrified of dogs...she was at mum and dads when I was a younger kid and i remember her screaming at our jack russell mix through the glass sliding door! Not sure how she is with dogs now, i dont know if she has overcome her fear or not.