If your cat is acting out, either with aggression, hiding, not using the litter box, constant meowing and other "bad" behavior, it might be cause by anxiety. In this video I discuss cat anxiety, its signs and possible causes.
I inherited my mother's 10 year old cat when she passed away. Her cat had been abused by a prior owner and had a whole set of issues to begin with. I already had three cats of my own. After a year of being in my home, she started peeing in her bed. A Vet check proved she was healthy. One of my cats (a 13 year old declawed male) chased her ONCE when she came out of her "safe zone" and thought it was fun. He could not and would not hurt her (she has her claws) but he intimidated her and she would not go in the litter box. It had a lid and he must have trapped her in it, so she stopped going in. He got sick and passed away and the day that we took him to the Vet to be put to sleep, she blossomed. She never peed in her bed again. She started coming out and exploring and she is the DIVA of the house now and bosses the other two boys around! She still has issues, but she has improved so much.
Your experience makes an excellent point, that anxiety can also come from the other cats in the household. I'm so glad things are improving. Thanks for sharing!
I've been watching the anxiety level of my cat today because I bought her a new scratching post with a platform on top of it. It's pretty beefy and huge compared to the cheap little scratching post that she's pretty much shredded. She dislikes anything that changes what she's used to. I've been using Feleway plug-in diffusers for a while and I like them as long as it's not in a small room that she hangs out in most of the day. She got so laid back that she quit caring about interactions of any sort and became a bit of a zombie. She's better now that it's been moved to the living room/dining room. I've also had pretty good luck with a treat-style calmer from a company called Pet Naturals. An entire treat is too much (zombie kitty again) so I need to break it in half or into thirds. I snuck half of one in with her regular Wilderness treats tonight so that she's less anxious about the new scratching post in the bedroom. Hope it helps.
Wow, I have not heard of cats reacting so much to the pheromone diffusers! That is good information. Thanks! It looks like you are finding the right dose for your cat!
I just found your channel-- thank you for being such a reasonable and sane person-- there is a tonne of poor (and sometimes frightening) advice out there. Thank you!
My rescue cats have anxiety at times and CBD for cats helps a lot. You don't need a prescription and it's safe & natural. It also has additional health benefits.
A couple drops of CBD oil and THCA oil in the cat water bowl will destroy depression and anxiety (respectively) without drugs by activating the cats endocannabinoid system. They also enjoy a dusting of ground psychedelic mushroom powder in the dry food periodically.
