8 Signs Your Cat Might Be Stressed And How to Help

Does your cat show any of these symptoms of stress? Let us know in the comments!

OMG you just solved a problem I've been having for over a year!! I thought my cat was pooping on the floors randomly but you mentioned vomiting and I googled what cat vomit looks like and turns out its hairball vomit! I thought it was a weird light coloured poop. Wow huge thank you. My cat is a long haired breed so I can see why she would have these poop looking hairballs

Having enough space and feeling at home are probably the most important features we should provide to our cats. I once lived with a young cat for half a year. I wasn't educated about cats, also I wasn't in the best mental condition myself, so looking back now I think my cat was really stressed by me! He grew the habit to go and sit inside the shoe shelf near the exit door of the flat, the most unpleasant and darkest place in the home, like he exiled himself. The flat itself was very small too, and I barely left any space exclusively for him and disallowed him to reach or climb many places he could've used. I hope someday to have another cat but when I start thinking on providing a decent conditions and a happy life for that cat I think that I'll fail again. And I don't want a cat to suffer because of what a stupid human I am. With the cat comes the resposibility. Thank you for the video!

Years ago, one of our cats began licking herself until there was a big bald patch. I spoke to the vet, who identified it as a sign of stress, but we will never be sure exactly what was stressing her. She seemed to have the life of Riley around our house, although we did have another cat and a dog. But she had been with them for years before she started m licking excessively. Eventually, we think we figured it out, but who really knows? At one point my son, who was much more attentive to the details than his working mother noticed that one of her eyes was dilated, and the other wasn’t dilated at all. We decided after much discussion that she might have had a stroke at that point. She later died of a stroke, so that convinces me more convinced that she had had a stroke at that point. We talked to the vet; he said the stroke thing was possible, but she was doing fine neurologically when he examined her so he wasn’t that worried about it. But later, my very attentive son figured out that she no longer could hear. So our hypothesis is that when she had that stroke, she lost her hearing and then eventually she got used to it, and stopped licking. But there was probably a year maybe where she started the licking, went bald in one whole hip and then eventually calmed down. Really wish pets could talk!

I am sure my kitty was just wired for stress. He had a urinary blockage, then intermittently peed blood at times of stress, usually when he could hear the neighbours cats or see them perching on our patio fence. He also chewed all the hair off of his belly. He was on rounds of anxiety meds, and the last one caused him some anorexia which then gave way to hepatic lipidosis and we had to say goodbye to him. I don't know if there are any studies to prove this, but I'm convinced that the extreme case of parasites he had as a kitten did something to his system.The vet said he'd never seen such a little kitty with so many parasites, his poor belly was hard and full of them. He was a sweet and loving kitty and we miss him so much. I just wish we could have made the world feel like a safer place for him. We really tried for 14 years, but I think he was ready to be done with being afraid. Rest well, my baby.

Our FIV+ boy Eddie (the one in the profile pic) has a strange stress reaction. We were treating him for asthma & recurrent conjunctivitis with 2-3 months between episodes of both. Assumed it was a FIV related thing. Our wonderful vet suggested calming aids & we found the cure! When he has a pheromone plug in & calming capsules on his food we don't see any issues for 2 years. We think his stress is from being abandoned before we adopted him & now he thinks if he can't see me it's happened again. He doesn't seem to have any issues with day to day life, just hates being left alone, even for 5 minutes. Thank goodness for our wonderful vet!

I would like to have a video on boredom in cats and how to help with that. Our cat has a lot of energy! I’m exhausted before he is. He can go on for hrs and he prefers to interact with humans during play time. How can I wear him down and prevent boredom?

Good to know importance of keeping the litterbox clean no wonder my cat peed on the bed a couple weeks ago right before changing it up to new litter btw my cat enjoys eating different foods and looking in the mirror without getting stressed...thankful for those

This video was so helpful! I'm so happy every time you post, my cats really are like my kids so I want to do everything I can to make them feel as stress-free as possible. I have bad anxiety and I know how uncomfortable that is so I want to make sure my babies never feel like that! Thanks again for another awesome video, thank you for all that you do! I appreciate you, much love from a long time viewer 😸🙏🧡

Thanks for taking the time to give us all this information! Many people don't have a clue when it comes to why their cats behave abnormally. Unfortunately, it sometimes leads to the cat being given away, punished, or sent to animal control. Obviously, that's very traumatic to the cat and their owners. I'm sure that many of your 113,000 subscribers, and their cats will benefit from your efforts.

As a new, first time cat guardian (adopted a nine week old female tabby and then a 6 month old male Siamese in 2020), Thank You for your helpful, no nonsense, comprehensive advice!!!

We have a grove around our home and I think my cat go into some weed killer that is sprayed under the trees. I think it has caused neurological issues: excessive grooming. The vet wanted me to put him On an anti depressant and I just can’t bring myself to do it yet. I know how long it took me to get of that stuff and hate to think if I were somehow not able to keep the dose up. I know what that was like to miss doses. Took me years to wean myself off. Surely there is something more naturally calming.

Very helpful. Thanks

Your videos are so helpful! Thank you so much, Dr. Whooten! 🧡

Very informative the clearest I have heard yet for the problems we r going through

Could you do a video on adding another cat to the family and how to minimise stress for your existing cat as much as possible during the process?

Awesome Awesome info thanks for sharing

Thank you so much.

honestly thanks a lot some really unique tips in here I didnt know! Much appreciated!

Thank you!!