If it’s difficult for us to stay closed at home and we have to find ways to distract ourselves to maintain our mental health. So, it is easy to understand that, for our companion animals, especially for cats who are used to being alone all day long, it is also difficult to adapt to this new reality in which their owners are constantly at home, invading the space that, for them, is theirs.
This fact can generate a lot of stress and, as cats are very susceptible to stress, behavioural problems and pathologies associated with environmental changes can appear.
In this sense, we want to alert cat owners to behaviours that they should be aware of and clarify some ways to minimise stress at this time.
Most of the problems that appear are urinary problems.
Feline Idiopathic Cystitis (FIC) is characterised by urethral spasms and difficulty urinating. It mainly affects cats between 2 and 7 years of age, generally males, overweight, who have undergone recent changes in their environment.
In addition to FIC, the existence of crystals in the urine can also occur at this time, once again aggravated by stress. If your cat is going to the litter box excessively and if you notice that he just urinates a little or that he is straining when urinating, you should immediately contact your veterinarian. Urinary obstruction, regardless of its origin, is an emergency and can have very serious consequences.
On the other hand, behavioral problems may arise such as aggression towards other animals at home, urinating and/or defecating outside the litter box and excessive licking.
Therefore, there are 5 essential things to do to maintain your cat’s well-being.
1. Provide a safe space: you must provide your cat with places to hide and rest. Be it under a bed, keeping a wardrobe door slightly open, or the bed or sofa where he usually rests.
2. Provide specific and separate environments: food, water, litter box, areas with places to scratch, places to play and places to rest. The ideal is to have the number of water and food bowls, beds and litter boxes equal to the number of cats, plus one.
3. Provide opportunities to play and exhibit hunting behaviour: regardless of your cat’s age, he will need to play and hunt. Young cats have a lot of energy and can play for a long time, but older cats appreciate short games of about a minute, just enough time to express their behaviour. In this sense, if you have several toys for your cat, you should keep them out of sight, and change them throughout the week. This will ensure that, for him, it will always be something new. As far as hunting behaviour is concerned, you can use rods with toys and threads at the end. The movements must be different and unpredictable so that your cat has fun and “hunts” the prey.
4. Provide positive, consistent and predictable human contact: when you are at work and at home, try to maintain routines as much as possible, this will be great for you, but also for your cat. If you are teleworking, adopt normal working hours, look for a place in the house where your cat is less and don’t give it as much attention as you usually do when you are at home. Establish times to play with him in the morning or at the end of the day (times when cats tend to be naturally more active). In these moments of interaction, let your cat come to you and make himself available. Attention: when cats show us their belly, it is not a sign that we can touch their belly! It just means they feel comfortable around us.
5. Provide an environment that respects the importance of the feline sense of smell: we should avoid too many changes in smells at home, for example, air fresheners or candles with new scents can trigger stress in your cat. We must remove our shoes from the street and store them, as they will also have different smells. In addition, you can use pheromone diffusers at home, such as Feliway® Classic, which indicate to your cat that it is a safe and friendly place.
If you notice changes in your cat’s normal behaviour, contact your veterinarian so they can advise you on the best strategy to use.
We are here for them!
Vet.Point – Oeiras Veterinary Clinic
24h emergency | 927896112 • 211918923 | geral@vetpoint-ivl.com
