Cats and Stress

A cat is not a small dog! Keep this in mind when you decide to share your home with a cat.

If a dog could talk, it would say: "I am part of your family!" A cat would define your relationship like this: "I am the landlord of this house and you are my friends – my flatmates."

It is fair to say that over 50% of the causes of non-infectious diseases in cats stem from stress factors. The delicate mechanism of the cat's neuro-hormonal regulation, under constant attack, eventually breaks down.

Hormonal diseases, diabetes, skin conditions, urinary problems... the list is long.

Diagnosis is often late, because preventive check-ups and tests are not yet an established routine. A cat shows outward signs of a problem only once the processes are advanced. Treatment then becomes the Sisyphean task of pushing the "boulder of recovery" uphill. With medication we can eventually reach an uncertain balance, after suppressing the body's pathological reactions. As long as the original source of stress is still at work, we cannot hope for a full cure. Which brings us to the question: "How do we reduce stress in the cat we live with?"

The answer is simple – never forget the cat's attitude: "I am the landlord of this house and you are my friends – my flatmates."

Naturally, there are many small details and subtleties in the art of building a stress-free home. They are the subject of this and the following articles.

Cats are predators whose natural enemies are dogs and humans. They are not herd animals, so their methods of resolving conflict are different. They learn differently. Cats are born hunters – stalking, climbing and darting after their prey. Ready to fight to defend their marked territory. Habits that annoy us once we take this animal into our home. In trying to root out the animal's innate habits we may well succeed in breaking it, turning it into a prisoner of our convenience... at the cost of a great deal of stress for the cat.

How do we achieve this? By respecting the cat's basic needs.

1. Water and food 2. Sleep and rest 3. Playtime 4. Claw sharpening and marking 5. Litter tray 6. Learn about care and feeding 7. Communicate with the cat in your home 8. At the vet's

I hope you found this article interesting and useful.

Materials from the Indoor Pet Initiative were also used.