Cats are volatile animals. Although they may seem pretty self-sufficient, they do need love and care in order to stay happy. There are many things that can tip cats off and cause stress. Cats love routine. They love the security of their home and they love the routine of their daily life. A simple change in their living condition can be a big stress for them. Her stress can come from the environment, feline emotions, or her physical body.
Environmental StressThese include:- RelocationIf you’re moving to a new neighborhood or shifting to a better house. She’s not used to the new environment and this can put a lot of pressure on her.
- Too many pets under the same roof.As you may well know, cats love attention. They are not big fans of sharing that attention with others. Whether it be another cat or a dog, she loves her attention and wants her human to be completely dedicated to her. If she feels that you’re not paying enough attention to her, she may get depressed.
- Undue confinementCats hate when they are put in a kennel or a carrier. They love their freedom and hate to be restrained in any way.
- Lack of sunshine.If your cat used to be an outside cat and you now want her to stay inside, this might stress her out. She loves the great outdoors and confining her to the house will seem like punishment. She could even feel suffocated.
- Change in routine.Cats love their everyday routine. If it changes for some reason, they can get easily confused and this stresses them out. For example, if you’re on vacation and you’ve asked someone to cat-sit for you, your cat may not be used to her new caretaker and this can cause stress.
When her body is going through different changes, she might get stressed because she’s unsure about what is happening and this may confuse her. She doesn’t know how long these changes will last and whether they’re permanent or not. The changes include:
- Illness
- Obesity
- Surgical Procedures
- Physical Trauma
- Worms, fleas, ticks, and other parasites.
As cats are animals that aren’t really excellent at expressing and communicating their emotions well, these stressors may be harder to identify than others. The stressors include:
- Loneliness and boredom.If you’ve left her alone for a long time, she may start feeling neglected and this tends to stress her out. Cats are animals that get bored easily. The key is to give her something to do to occupy her time while you’re away.
- Death of an animal or a human family member.Although she’s an animal, she knows when someone that has been part of her daily life is missing and this can cause a lot of stress.
- Rivalry/ JealousyWhen there are more than two pets in the house, she may feel jealous if you pay more attention to the other pets than you do with her. Cats are possessive animals and need their owners to be dedicated to them.