High Strung Kitties

In today’s world stress is very prevalent. I don’t believe this was true in earlier times. But nowadays a lot people are high strung and so are their kitties. Maybe the focus on stress occurred as a result of Psychiatry and Psychology becoming accepted as legitimate medical practices.

If such were truly scientific practices they would show results a very large percent of the time. But they don’t. Modern medicine uses mostly drugs to handle both physical and emotional problems. However, a lack of drugs is not the real cause of any physical or emotional issue. Finding the cause of a problem opens the door to its solution.

Lifestyle changes, drugs (including medical, over the counter or illegal), modern food trends and lowered moral values have created a more dangerous world. People suffer anxiety, worry, fear and stress. The problems of humans easily transfer over to their pets.

Have you ever known or been the owner of a stressed out kitty? I think many would answer “yes”. One reason is cats are sensitive to the feelings and emotions of their owners. No matter how hard you may try to hide it, your cat will find out, sometimes even before you become aware of it. So if you are falling apart personally it impacts strongly on your kitty.

Until you handle your own stress your cat will be affected. I would recommend natural and safe ways to chill out. Examples are: avoiding stressful people or environments, exercise, meditation music, visiting with good friends, bathing in baking soda or Epsom salts, enjoying a funny movie etc.

Getting one’s own house in order is the first step to handling a nervous cat. But each cat has its own past and sometimes they’ve had some real tough lives before finding a safe home with you. If you observe your kitty’s behavior you will see that some things trigger fear while others foster comfort.

Try to remove all fear triggers from the environment and provide more comfort creating ones. These might be a special bed, toy, or cat tree for your nervous cat. Kitty treats for positive actions are also helpful as they let your cat know you approve. This builds up a sense of security.

High strung kitties respond to love, attention, taking time out to play with them and doing all possible to create a safe environment. In this respect they are not so different than humans. Plan and implement steps that enable you and your cat to have a relaxing home and regain a sense of calm.