Four Tips for Reducing Cat Stress and Anxiety

Do you know kitties experience emotional stress, the same as people can? Too much emotional stress can be a hassle for the cat in several ways. Symptoms of stress and anxiety in cats can include being over-excited or over-tired, pulling out hair, changes in eating patterns, peeing or defecating out of the litter box, loud meowing, and others.

The good thing is you can do a number of simple things to reduce the stress your cat endures. That will help to make both of you feel much better. Here are several tricks for eliminating stress in your cats.

Tip 1: Take good care of the basics

The easiest thing that you can do to reduce your cat's stress would be to make sure the essentials are taken care of. It may seem easy, but making sure the cat has sufficient water and food plus a fresh litter box will go a good way.

There are many feeding tactics you may use, and you might need to experiment to find out what works well with your cat. If your cat eats daily, consider splitting the meal to a morning and a dinner meal. Or, you might try feeding daily, but change to the evening hours instead of the morning hours (or vice versa). For a lot of kitties, a night time feeding may help calm them before you head to sleep, so this can have an additional advantage to you too. One particular technique to stay away from would be to constantly feed your cats - leaving a bowl out all day is not good for your cats because they will frequently eat way too much and become obese.

The litter box location and litter choice is also something to think about. Usually, you will need a minimum of one litter box for each cat. In case you have more than one floor in your house, think about placing a cat litter box on each story, with no less than one per cat. Ensure that you choose a basic cat litter box free of gizmos like entrance doors or sweeping mechanisms that could scare your cat, and make sure that you scoop it daily. Additionally, consider using an all natural cat litter to help encourage your kitty to use the litter box, and help to keep her healthy as well.

Tip 2: Never forget play time

All cats - including mature kitties - enjoy a chance to play. Taking 15 minutes out of your day to amuse your cats will do wonders to help you decrease their stress. Playtime energizes your pet's brain and offers them exercise that they normally would not get.

There are numerous cat toys on the market to select from, and you really should have a wide variety. Laser pointing devices are a fantastic, affordable toy that almost all cats enjoy, although you need to be mindful not to point the beam at your pet's eyes. Many kitties love catnip products, in particular catnip stuffed mouse toys. Some indoor-only cats will even handle mouse toys just like a real mouse, delivering you a "gift"!

You may also create handmade cat toys from things in your home and found objects. Kitties really like old cardboard containers, so when you find a box your kitty might possibly fit in, provide it to her to have fun with. Tying a piece of string around a stick is yet another good idea. Should you be handy and have the supplies, you can create your cats a scratching post or kitty house too using some lumber and old carpet.

Tip 3: Be sure your kitty has company

Despite the fact that kitties can look like loners, a lot of them like company, particularly when that company is human company. Kitties whose owners aren't home often are often stressed out from simply being by themselves all day. If you only have one cat and are also gone frequently, consider getting a second cat (or even a puppy!) to help keep each other company. Clearly the kitties need to get along and that might take time for that to happen, but spending the time and effort to adopt your cat a feline buddy is definitely worth it.

In the event you travel for a living, you're probably accustomed to either leaving extra food and water out for your cats, or having them boarded should you be gone for a longer period. Alternatively, consider a cat sitter. Cat sitters are often inexpensive and always come to your house to give food to and spend playtime with your cats while you are gone. You don't need to concern yourself with driving the cats to the boarding facility, plus your kitties are usually much less anxious.

Tip 4: Consider using a pheromone diffuser

If you have tried the other ideas and your cats still continue to have stress and anxiety problems, consider a pheromone diffuser. Pheromone diffusers plug to a wall outlet and emit an all natural scent that relaxes your cats. You won't have the ability to detect the pheromone, but your kitties will really feel more comfortable. If you choose to try a diffuser, ensure that you read the instructions and buy enough diffusers to cover the locations that your cats devote most of their time. These devices really can make a difference for over-stressed kitties.

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