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How To Keep Your Cat Relaxed

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Lora Matt
How To Keep Your Cat Relaxed

Cats are independent and enigmatic creatures. They can be intelligent but playful, cute and elegant, graceful but klutz, overall, they are perceptive and fascinating. As cat parents know that felines are also creatures of habit and find comfort in routines.


They can become stressed in unfamiliar environments, ranging from a car trip to a new pet or person in the house. Stress can affect their health and your bonding with them, so it becomes essential to understand their behavior and help them in uncomfortable situations.


Understand Your Cat’s Behavior

Your feline’s way to perceive the world is through their senses. Let’s learn more about their way of experiencing their surroundings.

  • Smell: Their sense of smell plays a very important role in communication. Cats mark their scent by rubbing their body and face on objects and people, and unfamiliar smells can make them anxious. 
  • Hearing: Like their sense of smell, cats’ hearing is also much more sensitive than human’s. Loud noises from other animals and unfamiliar people can easily startle them.
  • Touch: Cats use their whiskers to feel their environment and they do not like when there is pressure on their whiskers. When over-sensitized, even gentle, petting, or stroking can scare them.
  • Sight: Cat eyes can well accommodate in dark and are sensitive to movements. Rapid movements can make her reactive.

Recognize the Signs

You already know that cats prefer familiarity and often need time to get used to a new place or person. Each cat can react differently when distressed but here are some common signs that you might notice in a distressed cat:

  • Hiding more than usual
  • Becoming less tolerant of others
  • Reluctant to use their litter box
  • Excessive meowing, hissing, or growling
  • Overeating or eating & drinking less
  • Twitching tail and protracting claws

How to calm a distressed cat?

If you notice the above-mentioned signs in your cat, you might want to calm them slowly. Approaching your cat too fast can spook them even further. Calming a cat is a process that requires a lot of patience and understanding; here we have provided some tips that you can use to help your kitty return to their happy and mischievous self.

  • Avoid cleaning your cat’s scent off their areas.
  • Consider getting some synthetic feline pheromones like Feliway Spray for Cats. It mimics your cat’s natural scent and will provide a calming effect in a stressful situation.
  • Try to make fewer noises around your cat, especially when introducing them to new people or places.
  • Pay attention to your cat’s body language, if they walk away from you that means they are not in the mood for physical affection. Don’t try to forcefully hug them or pet them when this happens. 
  • You can also consider giving them calming supplements like PAW Complete Calm Chews for Cats. These come as tasty chews that contain vitamins and key minerals to induce calmness in your cat.
  • Make sure there are no sudden movements around them.
  • Provide a safe space for them to climb and perch on.

Additionally, you can use natural calming essential oils as air fresheners or put them near the areas your cat frequents. You can also install a cat door for them to come and go as they, please. A variety of toys and exercise will keep your feline feeling lesser stressed.


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