How to Keep Your Cat Anxiety Free!
Cat Stress and Anxiety is always the cause of behavior issues. We must address the stress before beginning cat behavior correction.
by Linda Hall and Rita Reimers, Cat Behavior Experts
We get requests for many types of kitty issues and behaviors. We see plenty of litter box avoidance, fighting between kitties, aggression, scratching, and many other challenges.
One of the things we’ve discovered, however, is that every one of these kitties has one thing in common… Anxiety. We must address the stress and anxiety first, before we can begin behavior correction to solve the problem.
Causes of Anxiety and Stress in Cats
There are many things that can cause anxiety in cats. They all boil down into these 4 general categories:
- Natural Instincts: In nature, cats are both predator and prey, right in the middle of the food chain. They are always on alert for their next meal, or on the look-out for someone who is going to harm them. This instinct is alive in all of our precious kitties, but on different levels, much like humans. Some people are easy going, nothing ruffles their feathers. Others see problems everywhere and deal with extreme anxiety. Our cats are no different. If your cat startles at every sound and needs to check out every movement, he is probably dealing with a naturally higher anxiety level.
- Change: Oh, this is a big one! In a cat’s purrr-fect world, nothing would ever change. They would ask that no one be added to nor leave the household. OH, and you can’t move! EVER! Never buy new furniture or rearrange the existing furniture. No one gets sad or angry. Of course that isn’t reasonable, but we can help make adjusting easier on your cat during these times, and try to minimize too much change at once.
New Beings: Cats don’t see species. They have categories. Are you prey, predator, or a nice being I can play with? It takes cats time to watch and decide in which category they go. The fear of a possible predator is very real to a cat. We know cats are territorial and tend to guard their resources closely. A new human, a new kitty or neighborhood cats in your yard can cause your cat to stress! In addition to being on guard against predators, they have to be concerned about their resources, like their food, toys and humans. Remember, YOU are their resource, too.
- Illness: When your cat feels sick, it’s stressful for the, and for you. Chronic pain can cause cat stress. Over 90% of cats over age 12 have arthritis, causing pain and inflammation we are often unaware exists.
Can Anxiety in Cats be Managed?
It’s important to remember that your cat isn’t “naughty.” If you get upset with kitty, it won’t help. In fact, it can make things even worse. We need to be patient while we identify the source of the stress for your cat. Once you find the source, you need to determine what you can do to minimize or resolve this stressor.
A vet check up is always a good idea. If there is pain or illness, your veterinarian can treat it to give kitty some pain relief. This should greatly reduce that stress!
If you need help to discover the problem that has led to your cat’s anxiety, please consider booking a cat behavior session, so we can create a plan of action for you.
We have helped many kitties and cat parents to reduce their problems, relieve stress, and become happy again.
My son moved back home and with him came his little dog. We had to put up barriers to keep the dog out of the living room, however, our cat can easily jump the barrier for access to the room where he enjoys sitting in the large bay window. We thought the two were getting along but the chihuahua attacks the cat randomly. I wish he would retaliate just once to put the dog in it’s place but he just runs away. My real issue is that our cat has been slowly licking the fur off his legs. There aren’t any raw spots at this point, but I fear that will eventually happen. What can we rub on his legs to keep him from licking and biting? We tried coconut oil but he just licks it off.
Hi Tony,
Licking the fur off is a definite sign of anxiety, as you are aware. Linda also has a chihuahua with her 12 cats; all it took was one swat from the cat for her dog to learn who was and wasn’t receptive to play.
Barring that, getting the cat into a calmer state is what we need here. One all-natural remedy we like is called Convivial House Cat: https://www.catfaeries.com/chc.html
As for healing the current “hot spots” your cat has, a topical ointment works best. Ask your veterinarian for a recommendation for an effect yet cat-safe ointment. I hesitate to recommend anything here since I am not a veterinarian, and you’d also need to treat any current infections as well, if any.
Keep us posted! We can help things get better between the cat and dog with a session if you’d like to do one.
Rita
I have 2 cats that are aggressive and behavioral. The female cat attacks the male cat because he uses to attack her when she went into heat early ( they’re both fixed). The male cat is peeing in one spot in the house. I put a plant there so he can’t do that but I fear he’ll just go elsewhere. Also, he wakes me up at night wanting in/out. Is this something that can be fixed?
It definitely can be fixed!
Good plan putting the pot there. We’d love to do a session with you if you are interested. We’d have to get some info on where he is peeing but it may be anxiety/ self soothing.
We can make a plan for calming the anxiety, re introducing them to change their opinions, and set up a routine so you won’t continue dealing with your late night alarm! 😉 A 60 minute session would be my suggestion. Keep us posted!
I have a ten month old kitten who was diagnosed with FIP. Fortunately, we have been successful in treatment. However, the TX was 12 weeks of injections which were painful for him, and stressed me. Before he got sick, he was a very loving kitty. Since TX, he now bites me on my feet, face, neck, and arm. He actually draws blood. He also lunges at me. How can I stop this behavior? I am considering rehoming him, but it is heartbreaking to even think about it.
Hi Kay,
First, let me say how happy I am that your kitty has beaten FIP! WOW, that is wonderful.
As for his biting you, it could be that he developed some reluctance to cuddling due to getting those injections. If a cat is anticipating that some bad might happen if he is handled by humans, he will be in guard and may bite. That is his natural “fight or fight” that every cat has to fear and anxiety.
Try associating a special word with cuddling or petting. Once he hears that word often enough when experiencing small positive experienced with you, he will relax more because he will know good things come along with that word. Be sure to give him a special treat for “good” behavior when he is with you without biting.
If he does bite, say NO BITE or some phrase like that, put him on the floor and walk away. He will soon learn that he does not get attention when he bites.
Should you need a hand developing these new routines, you can always book a behavior session with us.
Rita
I recently (2 weeks ago) took in a 3 1/2 yr old cat that had been abandoned by his owner and was running scared for 6 weeks and kept going back to his home. He was trapped by one of the neighbors. To make a long story short. He’s here with us making progress slowly but is sometimes acting aggressive. Did I make a huge mistake?
Hi Patricia,
First, I want to say you are an angel to take in this poor, scared cat. You are a blessing to him, even though he may not know it yet… You did not make a mistake, he is just displaced and scared right now.
Be patient with him. Talk lovingly, give him yummy goodies, and don’t try to force touching or petting just yet. Sit by where he’s hiding (I assume he is hiding?) and read out loud, or offer some wand toys to entice him to play. If he is in one room right now getting settled, it’s best to leave him in there until you see he is beginning to relax more. Access to the entire house right now may feel overwhelming to him on top of all he’s been through.
Time and patience are the keys here, along with consistent love and affection, even if right now it’s from a distance.
Please let us know how things progress! We’re here if you need some guidance.
Rita
We have 4 cats. Luna is 4, Rex is 2 months younger and they get along. Then 2 years later we added twin kittens to the mix, in part to give Rex someone else to play with because he was biting us for attention. All went well. Luna wasn’t thrilled but she adapted and Rex became known as Papa Rex for his nurturing.
Our daughter’s cat Oliver joined us for a bit. His tail was bit and shortly after Luna was bit. Both healed but Luna has not been the same since. She was always the original “scaredy cat” but has become VERY anxious. We kept her in her own space for months but then she’s not getting the space to roam and enough socialization. Just me when I’m in my office.
We’ve discovered that one of the twins, Cocoa, is the biter. She chases after Luna like it’s Wild Kingdom. We’ve tried to reacclimate them but Luna is traumatized. Wanting her to reacclimate to her attacker seems wrong and Luna wants nothing to do with Cocoa or her twin.
Do we have options other than a new home for Luna?
Hi Dot,
I am sorry to hear you are going through this. The good news is integration is our speciality. It’s going to take some calming to put them in a calmer mindset, and some exercises specific to getting them to think positively of one another, and at least live together in peaceful coexistence if not friendship.
Since it’s not a one-solution-fits-all strategy, we’d love to have a session with you to help achieve the peace. You can book a 15-minute Pre Consult to meet us to be sure you’re comfortable with us first.
https://catbehavioralliance.com/cat-behavior-consultations/
We look forward to helping,
Rita
My cat is essentially a rescue from a friend that was not treating her right. She was locked in a room alone for almost 24 hours a day (except when he came home), she wasn’t spayed until she was 2 years old, and when I adopted her, I probably traumatized her by getting her spayed right away and then moving her to another state. We’ve moved back and we lived with my parents for a few years (a household with 3 cats and 4 humans). I didn’t notice the signs of her anxiety and one day she came barreling towards my sister, tail puffy, yowling and screaming, and bit her on the arm. Everyone’s okay and she is on anxiety meds now. It’s been two years without incident now and we’ve moved out of my parents house to a small apartment. She gets along well with my roommate and she likes being the only cat in the house. A few weeks ago, my roommate had a friend over and this friend has 4 cats of his own. My cat, Sabbia, smelled him at first with a puffy tail, but didn’t do anything. They left for a bit and she was calm, then when they came back and sat down, he made one move and suddenly she was sitting on his feet, yowling at him. Before I could tell my roommate not to, he tried to push her off of the friend’s feet and boom, she was yowling, scratching, biting (practically feral)until I was able to get her into my bedroom alone to calm down. Everyone was okay, though it was a little traumatizing to hear those sounds. Two weeks later she scared us again by cornering my roommate with her puffy tail and yowling when he came back to the apartment from this friend’s house, smelling like his cats. Now my roommate and I get nervous whenever entering the apartment and I’m especially nervous if we have guests over. What can I do to help relieve her anxiety about new people and is there anything to be done about her freaking out the moment she smells another cat?