Everyday Cat Stress

believe me, everything I say in videos I've done wrong in my 30+ years of living with cats. If your home is stressing your cats...it's cool! Just forgive and move on with solutions. And spread the good word! :_mojoHeart::_mojoHeart::_mojoHeart::_mojoHeart::_mojoHeart::_mojoHeart::_mojoHeart::_mojoHeart::_mojoHeart::_mojoHeart::_mojoHeart:

Being autistic, I always ask myself how I would handle something to best work for me. It is why I love having animals in my home, honestly. They have the same needs and perspectives I do, generally. I love my routines, quiet environments, comfort, and gradual change if change is necessary.

I had to laugh because i realized I'm not that different from a cat. I, too, get overstimulated by change in routine, being around strangers, loud TVs, and children. No wonder I love cats

My cat has my routine down so well that at 10:30 pm, when I normally turn in for the night, she is THERE. She will usually show up at the exact time or be 1 to 2 minutes off, but for a being who doesn't understand how to read a clock she is incredibly precise.

'Your stress is their stress' got to me a bit. I have chronic anxiety, and while my cat isn't an anxious one, I definitely notice her getting riled up when I'm overly anxious. I usually try to help get it out of her system with some play, or she'll come and sit on me and purr loudly and that helps. I'm very glad that she's a resilient, vocal little bean with lots of energy and cattitude, I would hate if she got second-hand anxiety from me.

Cats are Very sensitive to their human companions. They can sense when someone is stressed, upset, sad...and it truly effects them.

I wish my cat understood what weekends were. He knows we usually wake up at 7am, so if we don't on a Saturday or Sunday, he gets very upset!

My husband had a heart attack in our home, collapsed on the floor breaking his nose, I did CPR and he was resuscitated by EMS. I went to the hospital and when I came home one of my two cats had buried the blood under a bath mat. One of them developed urinary issues, we went to the vet (several times), and he was stressed. So we are on special food, and I’m doing my best to manage my stress as they both picked up on my stress level. Thank you Jackson

I started giving my cats treats after I vaccuum because I felt bad that they got scared. It worked too well and now they're not scared enough and are in my way when I vaccuum! 😂

As per usual, there's always one who's different. When I renovated the living room this year before getting a new couch, my cat was the one riding the piles of furniture around wherever I pushed them and investigating the tools and paintbuckets while my dog was hiding in the bedroom. She loves adventures, new places, new people, all of it. Ever since she stepped out of her carrier in an airport bathroom 7 years ago, tail held high and looking for fun, I knew she'd be special. <3

One of our cats developed a urinary tract infection. He was yowling (in pain?), hiding under the couch, something he never does, and telling us he was not well. We took him to the vet immediately. It took a few visits, but finally it was determined he needed surgery. $3000 later and more than 2 weeks in recovery, isolated in one room of the house, he's fully recovered and a very happy cat.He's still attached to the room he recovered in and spends a lot to time there asleep. He was one expensive stray, I can tell you that! But we're happy we saved him and gave him a home.

That's always been one thing that has really amazed me about cats; just how empathetic they are. They know when you're hurting and will often try to comfort you by getting closer to you. They know when you're stressed and will stress out as well. What you do, they tend to do. It's remarkable.

My family growing up had a couch and a couple recliners. The cat wasn't allowed on the couch--and he knew it. One day, my mom moved the furniture so the couch & chairs were switched. The cat hopped right up on the couch and refused to get on the chairs. He learned where he was allowed and not allowed based on location, not what it was. So absolutely moving items around makes cats think they are all new, all different.

You've discussed base camp. You've discussed adding yesses to nos. And you've talked about enriching the environment overall. I watched these videos when my Burnie was 5 or 6 months old. I combined these lessons to make the perfect living room for both of us. She acted nervous when I shuffled furniture, but when I started moving her towers to the end of the couch and the window next to the recliner, she got all excited! She trilled and bounced around the furniture in a way toys never had. Point being, they get it. They know when you're involving them closer to your life. It's a specific aspect of catification I'd like you to focus on someday.

my favorite lesson you always reiterate is PLAY WITH YOUR CAT PLAY WITH YOUR CAT PLAY WITH YOUR CAT

I brought my cat to the vet because he was so stressed he was licking his fur off. The vet told me, after ruling out any physical issues, it could be something outside causing him stress. I realized recently that the black bear population is growing in my backyard and the “buzzer” went off. It makes sense now. He has been on Prozac for about a year now. His fur has grown back and he’s doing a whole lot better. Thanks for all you do.

I bought my large cat a beautiful Tommy Hilfiger dog bed. He loved it because he could stretch out, groom, have his toys around him, sleep, and just hang out. I had never seen a cat bed that plush, with comfy wooly type material, and walls all around to put his head on. He loved this bed and spent most of his day in it. Fast forward 2 years and I decided to move it about 2 feet to allow for a better flow of foot traffic. My office area was still close to him. He walked into the room after snoozing on his window bed, looked at his Hilfiger bed, jumped in, jumped out, and never set paw in it again. Even after i moved it back and put a piece of clothing I had worn. He was done with it. It made me sad because I know he loved it. He was still only 2 feet away from me. Do cats get stubborn? What happened? In January of 2024, I had to put him down at the age of 21. We had a good life together considering he spent the first 18 months in the street. He was semi-feral, if that's a real word. I never pushed him. After six months or so, he would finally brush against me. By the time he was dying, we slept together in an embrace every night. I'm going to adopt a female in a couple of weeks. Very excited.

My new couch was delivered a few weeks ago, and they took the old one with them. One of my cats immediately came out and started putting his scent on it and rolling around on the cushions. The other cat treated it like a bomb and hid for the majority of the day in my bedroom until she realized that this couch was the new normal. It’s so strange how cats can react so differently to things. Of course, she’s fine now and has covered the cushions in tufts of her long, fluffy fur lol

My best friend died recently, and my cat started out worried. I told her it's ok, mommy is just very sad, and gave her lots of love and treats. Since then, she has initited a lot more cuddling.

To anyone not a fan of needing to go to the medication step, it can be so helpful in allowing your cat to adjust. We were hit by a tornado, and the work on our (still totally livable) house lasted a year. My guy was completely overwhelmed when they started jackhammering our stone porch off the rest of the way. We had gotten through a bunch of stuff by that point, but that was too much. My vet gave us meds. They helped so much, and we ended up only needing them for a couple of days because he seemed to realize the work was going on and he didn’t feel scared, so it actually seemed to help him adjust, not just feel too tired or out of it to care. I don’t think it hurt that our old dog was too old to care about the work, and I was working from home by then, so he had some calm counterbalancing that helped him realize we weren’t upset, so maybe it isn’t so bad.