Everyday Cat Stress 

We can't buy your stuff in EUROPA!!

Turning down volume of any loud noises is great advice. I have to reinforce that "it's okay" when my feral recently adopted cat gets stressed. I'm learning daily what things stress him. He's mostly a home buddy but in the middle of the night cries to go outside. If I feed him something that he doesn't like I'll stop feeding him that. Everyday is a learning curve. Since the TNVR, he has gotten to be the most affectionate sweet cat. I've learned so much listening to these podcasts. Thank you so much.🐱

I am currently cuddling My orange cat Winston the orange terror I love him

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU MAKE A VIDEO ABOUT HOW TO PREVENT A CAT’S UTI @ Jackson Galaxy

I talk a lot to my cat, and he talks back to me. If I slow blink, he does too. What’s really bizarre is when I go to the loo, he goes into his cat box too. I wish I had my privacy 😜😂

I handle my ADD abd Aspbergers the same way whenever possible. And my cat is a huge de-stresser for me. So every time the same tricks calm both of us down, it makes ne really happy

Thank you, Jackson! Good stuff. I have a 14 month old cat (I’ve had her since she was 5 months old) who was raised by a feral momma and who, on occasion would take her two daughters out into the wild for spells of time. Then the woman whose horse barn the feral momma kept choosing to have her litters, decided to try to find a home for the one daughter who kept coming back with her while still very young. That person would be me. When I got Dove she was very shy. I got her trust early on but she continued to be very skittish. When anyone came to my apartment she would fly under the couch, the bed, the chair until they left. She still does this to a degree. I am a bedridden paraplegic so I have a caregiver morning and evening. Dove got acclimated to them although it took a long time. Out of necessity Dove’s base amp is my bedroom. It is citified to the hilt! Thank you for all the instruction on that, Jackson! Dove has cat tv from my second story bedroom window, she has her cat tree, special bed, her own bathroom in my room and the other one strategically placed in the bathroom, plenty of things to scratch on and climb on. My bed, which she occasionally will use to hide under when a loud person comes to visit (it’s getting better, too!) and cat toys galore plus an available mom person all the time at her disposal when she wants cuddle time when she isn’t running around the rest of the apartment or snoozing are all done because of you and your advice on how to have a happy cat! To top it all off my caregivers play with her morning and late afternoon as you have instructed. It is part of requirements for their hire. They must be willing to play with Dove and they must be “cat people”. Because I can’t walk they need to fill in the vigorous play time. Dove and I have developed our own version of play. When she wants to play we play “I’m going to get you”! She knows I can’t but she sure acts like I can and tears around the room and the rest of the apartment like I am actually trying to “get her”! It’s hilarious. When she’s done “running away from me she comes back for round two and repeats the process until she needs to stop zooming around the apartment. I have a fairly good sized apartment. I’m a good cat parent because of you, Jackson. Thank you for all you do to educate us, Jackson! I continue to watch and learn. Dove is a healthy, happy girl because of you and all your teaching. Again, thank you so very much!♥️

That’s basecamp and catified. I hadn’t noticed that autocorrect had “helped” me on both! I guess autocorrect isn’t a cat person!!!😂🐈‍⬛🐈

That's an excellent point. My teen daughter is autistic and has always instinctively known what is best for any cats in our home. Never put 2 + 2 together until your comment. It's all about the mutual respect of routine, rhythm and ritual for our cats and our kid. Thanks for that eye opener!

Thats so true. I wish people even who aren’t neurodivergent would consider how changes can cause stress even if they are positive changes, and that stress can affect your emotions and behaviors. It’s not just us that are affected. For instance I notice when my best friend gets more anxious or snippy it can be traced back to a stressor or change

That's very true.

Very

Facts

My first cat Lucy (1 of 2) would get on my lap when I was crying and give me kisses. Cats are the best!

@@karenjanusch7978 We had a Lucy too. We just lost a 17 year old cat "Tammy", right before Christmas. She was my constant companion. If I was home, I was wearing a cat. Lol Rocky knows I'm heart broken. He sticks by my side now, the whole time I'm home. He never slept with me before, but he does now. Tammy slept on my pillow, now Rocky does. 😢

Me too. I can't handle loud, chaotic environments. I am a kitty cat person! 😁

Same

I typically don’t mind about any of the thing u mentioned but I stil love cat

Same

You're the best❤

What happens when your routine has to be different for a day? I’m wondering if it’s a good idea to get a routine down when you can’t guarantee that you can stick to it perfectly

@@maloumasereel966I think about the same thing!! Excellent question.

Mine is the same way!! I love that about cats so much

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same, only i go to bed mad early most days and wake up... also mad early. my regular build in alarm has me wake up at 4am, (like natural alarm, when your body just kind of wakes up) and i usually get sleepy at about 7-8pm. my cat is literally perfect... but in the most unperfect-perfect way :)

Wow. Just wow. First, I'm so sorry that you all went thru such a traumatic event. Second, that's amazing that your cats did that!! I wonder if they were trying to keep him safe by "burying" the blood, thereby hiding his injury from potential predators? It's interesting, sad and super sweet, all at the same time. Gentle hugs...

Sending love ❤

Oh my gosh, im so sorry for all of you. I hope your husband recovered/recovers fully.

💝

There re pills for u, u know, u do not need to live a miserable life. One pill every morning and u will be a normal contribution to society

@@bambinaforever1402 bruh. pills don't immediately fix everything. there may be pills for anxiety that help some people but it almost never solves everything if it even works at all and some suffer side effects that outweigh the help it provides.

​@@bambinaforever1402what in the mlm

poor thing! GET MORE CATS! nah, im playing, but the more you set their environments to their needs, the more they can focus on your needs and be of good assistance when you need it most! i have anxiety, depression, ocd, odd, autism and ADHD, so im the full package, and my cat helps me a lot, and i find it hard to be to anxious when im around her!

👍 🙏 😻😻😻

Way to go 1940. Pets are expensive. This is one scenario where money does buy love. We spend it on our furry friend's well being, and get so much loving in return.

@@julierose8207 Thank you. 4 of our 5 cats came from the local animal shelter. This one was a stray that showed up in our yard, hung around for 6 months, so we took him in. He's very special because of the way we got him. He was looking for a home and found us. 🙂

Just wondering did your vet tell you never to feed your cat cat food with fish and fish oils after that ? Mine did. She said fish and fish oils cause urinary blockage. Exspally in male cat's.

thats awesome. theres so many people who abandon animals and then theres people like us

I've got two cats, and they also tend to be polar opposites whenever they are faced with something or someone new. One always assumes everyone is a best friend, the other is wary of everything. The cool thing is: When the second one watches the first one venture out and have fun, she usually follows after a while.

What a great cat 😊 I read one of Jacksons books in preparation for a move last year (moving in with a friend and her cat, as a temporary living arrangement), and tried to follow the advice in there. My catbeast was not having it 😅 he took the first opportunity possible to wrangle the door to my room open, sprint through the living room, out in the hall and into roomie's bedroom to explore. Her cat was sleeping on the bed, not happy about the disruption 😂

The same with one of ours! She's always happy to dive head first into situations and involve herself in everything. Our other is a lot more sensitive and cautious though.

My cat is the same way! Loves everyone, gets so excited when people visit, and moved 4 times with me without issue. He’s a great boi 😊

Two of mine are like that lol. Always up my butt. I re-arranged my room where they spend most of their time and they LOVE the new layout. I put my bed by the window so theyd have another nice spot to watch outside.

It really is remarkable. If I ever cry or gasp or show any other kind of distress, at least one of my three cats immediately comes to check on me and offer affection.

I agree! When I rescued my kitty, I was in midst of painting, installing new flooring, etc. Timing of things made it challenging for kitty and myself. Once I put first tall cat tower next to window, stacked different heights of furniture in a way that let him hop from one end to the other side of the room, and what a happy, settled, yet playful kitty he became! Did same thing one room at a time so he has MOJO and cat TV at several window areas.

My cat recently was put on Prozac too. Does your cat have issues with constipation?

I'm glad your fur baby is better

@@dudette2x no, I guess I lucked out. I heard that is a side effect, sometimes.

​@@dudette2xDo you know about cat laxatives? It's a paste. I use it to help with hairballs.

@@dudette2x I lucked out. He does not.

8:00 This is true, the volume of the tv, I usually don’t watch tv much lol we both like our peace and quiet! Could you PLEASE 🙏 do a future video on just how sensitive cats hearing is? Like a docu-science series? 🤍🙏🙏🙏

My shirt says "My cat and I talk shit about you." we are the mean girls of the house.

When I tossed out an old, damaged piece of furniture my cats reacted similarly to one of yours. All three immediately explored the “new space “ caused by the removal of that chest of drawers. One even rolled all over it.

I'm so happy for you 😊 I feel you are so right. I kind of see it like a feedback loop. Like if we're stressed, they get stressed, making us more stressed and so on. For me it is one more example of all life being connected, and in a home, our energies really combine and intermingle. Very happy for you and your husband and your awesome kitty!

Yes agree with you,( it also stresses me out too).

@@cynthiastogden7000 me too, it's just not worth it to me.

I have autism too

fourth autistic person in the comments so far... (hi there, im one of the four lmao)

Having adhd has 0 effect on your pets.

give your cat more love and hug and a new cat. he is alone and suffering from the inside.

I agree they are sensitive little souls, Gabby, was put in to boarding while I was in ICU , I asked Jackson if she would remember me after 9 months in hospital, Jackson said YES, when she was picked up she looked around the house, came up for a special cuddle within 5 minutes, I noticed she had fretted, her eyes got brighter, but she just waited, perhaps dedicate a special one on one time to grieve with your cat , I am so sorry about the terrible accident, Gabby has her angel 🪽 wings she passed 5 weeks 3 days ago from a chronic illness and she asked me by her body language, please stop the pain, it was the right decision for Gabby, although I miss her dreadfully, I love the name Ziva , perhaps softly talk to her and stroke if she wants the touch, I’m sure she understands you want to help

Or maybe she is allergic. Our siamese ate his fur on his stomach and paws, so now he is on Atopica for life. Once we reduce the dosage he starts eating hair again. He is not stressed - no small children and we are always home

😢😢

😻Hello Jamie!👋What a clever lady!!🌺Tossing the treats into the air like that- I Love it!!👏👏👏 It makes life more fun,yes!! Thank-you for sharing this cool tip hun'! I'll bet that you have more creative ideas,I'd like to hear them! (And hey, don't we all need abit more Fun right now??🐾🐈🐾😸💞

I do the same things with my cats!! They know the deal as soon as I walk towards where I store their treats, they start running after me meowing and they LOVE running after the treats, usually they end up batting them around for awhile so they get some good exercise too! A win win win!

I cast single kibble treats around the house for them to catch. It's the last part of play sessions so they get stimulated to eat. Works a charm to estabilish the ending of play time.

me too!

Oh wow I do that with my cats too! I either scatter the dry food across the kitchen area and all three them soon find every single morsel with their noses. The other game is the cat “stick” treats that I can snap into larger pieces than the dry food kibble. It’s much easier for them to see the pieces when I toss them. I make sure she (the cat I’m playing with) can see the piece in my hand and her eyes lock on target. Then I toss it and she usually either catches it in midair or gets it with her paw deflecting it elsewhere for her to hunt, catch, kill and eat. It’s a great game as it taps into all their natural hunting instincts. I just didn’t think anyone else did it.

I have a cat that gets hyper and bitey when he gets overly tired. When he starts getting like that, I wrap him in a blanket and he falls asleep pretty quickly

In my experience, us NDs tend to have very strong bonds with our pets. I have a good friend who is AuDHD who is also a psychologist and she agrees with me. I have chronic pain on top of my ADHD, and one thing I can't recommend enough are freezer meals for a slow cooker or pressure cooker. I live with my AuDHD son and autistic dil and they also struggle in the kitchen. That way you are getting something healthy on days you can't cook. It's super easy to prepare multiple meals at once. Just type in "freezer meals" to youtube.

just so you know, add is an outdated term! they're both adhd, just different types

omg join the club! 5th maybe 6th but it's unmentioned, autistic person in the comments so far that i found! (me included) i dont know why but now im on a mission to count all the autistic people LMAO! i have that much time on my hands... i dont do much :')

@@angelawossname adhd is way overblown tons of people deal with it . Wont keep anyone from cooking or eating laziness will though

The felliway plugs are brilliant for lowering their stress.

Very good to hear. For my cat feliway did not have any affect

@@bambinaforever1402 the Prozac is what helped the 13 year old cat the most. I noticed after I took him off the prozac that the cats would start fussing at each other more than usual if I didn't replace the felliway. For sure the Prozac was key for my boy.

Lol I feel you. I agree so much about the smell too, some of my cats love laying on a shirt or my bed, one likes under the covers and will wake me up to tell me 😅

​@@patricknez7258it never occured to me that this is why my cat laid on clothes that were sitting out! I just found it annoying.

@@madisonmiller4581 they want to smell like you, and they also want you to smell like them

Same here. Before adopting my cat I binge watched a load of Jackson Galaxy videos and leaned a lot. I tried to follow his advice as much as possible, and thanks to him my cat is the most wonderful, amazing, awesome companion I have ever known.

aww yeah❤️ i call that his morning patrol 😍

They do...mine would open every cabinet every morning and evening before he would sleep. Current one checks every single window blind prior to hopping in bed.

The couple argument story & the cat's reaction to it is classic cat body language communications at its finest. It really doesn't get any better than that example right there.

"Too much attention to my cats"??? From who's perspective? the cats will let you know when it is too much... anyone else does not matter!

Good idea. I'm a self admitted kitty helicopter mom. Sometimes I over do it and have to back off.

Helicopter cat owners like me have trouble with routines (see the great comment below about ADHD and routines!), because it occurred to me, I get so excited when I have successful communication with my cat, that I reward it. Never mind the fact thati know it's not meal time, I'm excited that I know that my cat is asking for food and I want to reward him by showing him that I know what he's saying.

Sincere condolences at the loss of beautiful Freya❤

Yes feeding time is when theyre hungry even if youre sleeping bc theyre staaaarviiiing and neeeeeeeed fooooooood haha

I understand that but I'm autistic instead.

As a sensitive person too please use boundaries, it’s easier to establish them before becoming overwhelmed, laugh , be yourself my little cat girl loves seeing me laugh , happy and does zoomies chases her tail then relaxes for snuggles and cuddles time 🥰❤️

Yes! That would be a great video. He's covered it, partially, and some of the my cat from hell episodes, but let's be honest, the RU-vid videos are so much more informative and so much less sensationalized. I want that video!

@@edwardallenthree Absolutely! I remember those MCFH eps and it def makes me want a more in-depth training

@@LimegreenSnowstorm I was just thinking back about how ourcat's at the time were introduced to my kids, and realizing that my 12 and 14 year old cats (at time of death, litter mates) both died soon after the birth of one of my kids. I can't help but thinking retrospect... But we can't live our life that way can we!

With my little boy, we started using sign language with him starting at about 2 months old. They can't really see anything except light and dark before then. We used ASL as much as possible, in the off chance he would have a caregiver that was fluent in it. One of the first signs he learned was "gentle", followed closely by "let go". I don't have anyone to compare him with, but I think it helped A LOT once he started being mobile. We also got baby gates with a pet gate in it. Once he was grabby and mobile, they could safely leave the room if they wanted. Mostly it comes down to patience, repetition, and modelling correct behavior in front of your child. Until your baby can be gentle, don't pet or handle your cat in front of them. If the cat rubs on you, let them, but don't pet until you feel that your baby can handle them with the gentleness they need. We had 2 cats when our little man was born, and they didn't have any issues with him. If anything, they were protective of him, but not in an aggressive way. More of in a "Nanny Cat" way. If he was laying down for any reason, the cats put themselves between him and the doors, and if he was asleep on the couch or the floor, they would curl up against one of his legs. We did not let them go into his crib, and they had pretty good boundaries about it.

Hey! I have ADHD and autism as well so I can relate. I had trouble with feeding my cats separate diets as well so I asked my vet if it would be okay to give them both the prescription food and they said it was fine so that's what I've been doing and that has helped us a ton. I feed them both half a can of wet food twice a day and supplement the rest with dry food that I have in an automatic feeder. I don't know if these are things that will help you with your food situation or not. My big challenges are remembering to change and clean their water dish and taking care of the litter boxes :(

They have lids for open cans if you're not feeding/using entire cans. I didn't know that til I saw them hanging on small rack in cat food section. Make sure you have two litter boxes pee cat. Do not use scented litter aa cats are extremely sensitive to any scent. Clean litter box twice daily, and whenever you see they used litter box. Keeping it clean makes them happy. I got a cat genie so I no longer have to smell their "business" throughout the house, nor waste bags tossing them into trash daily. That was a Godsend! Cats love and need everything clean. Please clean food and water dishes at least daily, or whenever they're fed. I know these sound so simple but I see cat owners that don't wash water bowls daily. Cats need to actively play at least one hour a day so I had to buy many varieties of interactive toys because some, he played with right away, and some, he'd ignore for months, then decided to play with them. I'm probably sharing things you already know, but I never had cats before so I had to start from knowing nothing at all! I hope you'll be able to buy Jackson's books because it teaches just about everything important that every new, and even experienced cat owners must know, in order to keep their/our kitty's healthy, happy, and feeling loved and confident "mojo" as Jackson calls it. I wish you the best and thank you for caring so much about your cats. We all need help every step of the way! I'd be lost without Jackson's videos, books, toys and cat-education!!

@susansculley2562 wow, thank you so much! Some of these I didn't know- I'll be getting some of those can lids ASAP! I love my lil kitties so much, and I believe any pet deserves the best life that can be given ✨️

@@Simplebadger27 It's nice to know I'm not the only one struggling! I'll ask the vet about the food and see if I can do something similar to what you're doing. Wishin' you all the best with the neurodivergent experience + struggles! :)

I'm autistic and I just adopted a cat a month and a half ago, my first cat. It's been a huge learning experience for me. It's hard for me to establish a routine for myself but I feel motivated to try, knowing it will make my cat happier. The first thing will be changing him to feeding times as opposed to free feeding, which is what they did at the shelter I adopted him from.

Dear god how overpriced vet dry cwt food is going to cure a compressed disc. Your vets ate just ripping u off

I've seen on the ShoKo channel that Rob had a cat-tree with steps, so Shorty could also climb (walk) up instead of having to jump. Maybe have a look at something like that.

​@@bambinaforever1402that dry food DOES help my cat with anxiety based urine issues (she can't pee and will pee blood.) If she has the food she is ok. If she doesn't get it she starts not being able to pee again.

Ramps. They can be inexpensive to make yourself. It's just a wider board covered in carpet. Put them in his favorite spots and don't make them too steep. If it's possible to put it on the wall or against it I would advise it. There is less risk of tripping or stubbing your toe but if it was my cat with pain I would put them against the couch, windowsill, bed, and anywhere else my cat wanted to go.

Two things really helped my 17-year-old cat with her pain and mobility issues. I bought some inexpensive foam pet stairs and rubbed catnip into the fabric covering to encourage her to use them. I also have have had very, very good results with Bach flower remedies. Marie Pure is a competent, reasonable cost source for personalized blends. I've used Bach flower remedies for decades on different species, so I was able to make a blend myself. One dropperful in the bowl with fresh water every day. The alcohol smell evaporates quickly and the remedies have no taste. As a scientist, I was very skeptical about the remedies and I ran some experiments. I cannot really explain how the remedies work, but I gleaned empirical evidence that they do indeed work. I hope that you discover what helps your feline have an easier time.

What she said. ❤ Around here I often ask, “What would Jackson Galaxy do?”

Same 😊

There are good cat sitters out there! They may be hard to find, but they exist. I have used some pet sitting websites online and had good results.

Yes, this is correct. We wanted to travel for 3 days, get them to cat hotel, where they had own ROOMS, not sitting in cages, and during day they wondered around. I thought maybe they would socialize a little bit, especially the orange one whose name is Menace. No. The owner was sending their pictures - first they did not eat ( we brought our own food), then they were sitting in caves looking miserable. Very miserable. So we cut a trip one day short. Now if we want to travel we fly one of my sons or bring the cats to where they live. Another country. They live regularly between two homes so they remember the house and the garden even after several months. Do not put your cats into cat hotels. They hate it

ASD here, and same!