Did you know that long term stress triggers changes in your cat's physical and mental health?

Over time, ongoing stress can lead to behavioural issues and long term illnesses in cats, just as it can in humans. The single most important thing you can do for your cat is to understand their emotional and physical needs. This means thinking like a cat, not just providing food, water and a roof over their head, nor lavishing your cat with the human idea of what a cat needs (eg expensive cat collars, luxurious cat beds, gourmet human grade food, their own Facebook following). These things do not equate to minimizing long term stress and on the flip side, neither does leaving your cat outdoors all day to do as they please. So it's important to get the balance right and I can show you how.​

How can you de-stress your cat's life?

The Cat Vet can teach you the signs of stress in cats & how to calm cats down. Bring inner peace to your cats' life. Learn all you need to know to get you to think like a cat! ​

Make sure your home and garden are ​CAT FRIENDLY ​by following my SIX steps...

​

Step 1 - Think Like A Cat 

Cat are nothing like humans really, but behaviourally there are more similarities between us and our cats than you may think!

Like us, cats…

• Are creatures of habit
• Don’t like change (especially the sudden & unexpected kind)
• Are influenced by early life experiences
• Have different personality types (eg anxious, confident)
• Don’t always get on with everyone they meet or live with
• Like to pick their own friends (ie not necessarily the companions we choose for them!)
• Like to control their surroundings
• Are susceptible to social and environmental stressors
• Can be good at soldiering on, hiding their anxiety levels from those around them until they are often overwhelmed 
• Like to be masters of their own destiny​

Read more about ​Identifying causes of stress for cats from iCatCare

Step 2 - Understand cats' environmental needs 

Your cat’s happiness is largely affected by your behaviour and the sort of lifestyle you can offer. Cats are territorial so this means their surroundings are everything!  Read more

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​your free copy

Step 3 - Be mindful of the health problems caused by stress

Watch this very informative video on the role of
​Stress in BLADDER DISEASE (Cystitis) 

HOUSE SOILING 
BLADDER DISEASE (cystitis)
ANOREXIA
BULIMIA
OBESITY
GUT DISEASE  (vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, hairballs)
RESPIRATORY DISEASES
HEART FAILURE
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
SKIN & COAT ISSUES 
DIABETES   

​... and more! 

Step 4 - Find a vet with cattitude (one that truly understands cats) & also appreciates the value of home visits

Look for the gold standard in veterinary care, a dedicated cat only mobile vet clinic that has ISFM (International Society of Feline Medicine) membership.

If looking for a traditional/static practice, look for your local Cat Friendly Clinic.

If you must travel to a vet, think about ways you can minimise the impact of stress for your cat. Also have a look at my favourite cat carrier for travelling a cat to the vets.

Step 5 - Consider using pheromone plug-ins & sprays

​Pheromones are potent chemical signals which are widely used for animal communication. When emitted by one individual, pheromones are then detected by other individuals from the same species, and affect their behaviour. 

Find out how pheromones work

Feliway is not a one stop solution for stress, but it can definitely help when used in conjunction with STEP 1 & 2! 
​Find out more...

Not sure which Feliway to use for you cats' particular situation, Classic or Friends? Check out Feliway's FAQ page

​Try the Feliway App "Make a Cat Friendly Home"

Step 6 - Consider species-appropriate background music

Just like us, cats can be sensitive to sounds. As predators of small mammals, they have evolved to hear pitches that span over ten octaves (to put that into context, Mariah Carey's voice range spans half that octaves and we can hear around!). You'll see from the study linked below that cats can hear much lower frequencies than dogs can & have a wider hearing range - the "lesser" canine species always gets the headlines for having amazing hearing, but just as with most things feline, the cat's hearing is far superior, almost double the range of dogs and both higher & lower! ;-) Unlike us, cats can independently move their ears (like little furry satellite dishes) and hone in on sounds from different directions. 

Why am I giving you a lecture about cat ears... well it's because these quirky scientific facts help to understand why all the sounds that we take for granted such as fireworks, vacuum cleaners, young children & even the high pitched noises emitted from electrical charging cables and hearing aids, must be very hyperstimulating & even overwhelming for some cats. Our furry feline friends can't control exposure to these noises unless we do!

As a classically trained musician myself (albeit very out of practice!) I have found music has a very powerful & emotive influence over my thoughts & mood & over the years I have definitely noticed that my cats seem calmer with soothing classical or meditative forms of music. Could we take this concept seriously & apply it to our cats? Composed music for Felix rather than by Felix (sorry a Mendelssohn joke for the musicians out there)?

​Initial studies into species appropriate music by the University of Wisconsin, suggest that cats are at the very least interested in it. Further studies are needed to evaluate exactly whether this equates to enjoyment or curiosity but initial impressions from testimonials seem to be positive. Of course this in itself is down to how we as humans interpret the cats' behaviour.

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Another study involved cats under anaesthesia (so completely unconscious!). Each cat was given headphones to listen to a series of pieces of music. I kid you not, they played 2 minutes each of ACDC, Natalie Imbruglia & Barber's Adagio For Strings & compared it with silence. Increases in breathing rate & pupil size were used to measure stress. Cats were more stressed by heavy metal music, than pop music. 

FM 99.9–101.9 MHz

​Classical music was the least stressful with low breathing rate and smaller pupil size. There seems to be a role for mellow classical music in vet surgeries to minimise stress, reduces anaesthetic drug doses & risks. Next they plan to measure stress hormones & scan for brain activity. 

Read the full articles:

• Hearing Ranges of Laboratory Animals 
• ​Cats prefer species-appropriate music
• Influence of music and its genres on respiratory rate and pupil diameter variations in cats under general anaesthesia: contribution to promoting patient safety

Top tips for
Reducing Stress for Cats This
​Firework Season

Is your cat
​peeing or pooing
outside of
​the litter tray? ​

​Visit my page on House Soiling & download my ​Handy Cleanup Guide 

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