Love working from home?

But maybe your cat would prefer you weren’t???

Many cats show signs of stress when their daily routine is interrupted. If you don’t leave for work their expectations of a day full of mischief – or sleep! – are blown apart. Their stress levels go up.

Since the start of the COVID-19 lock-down we have seen an epidemic of stressed cats. Many have difficulty urinating and passing blood in the urine. Quite a few have sore eyes or gastrointestinal upsets. All need veterinary treatment and a plan to reduce their stress levels.

To reduce stress and these illnesses linked to stress try and make your cats lives as close to their normal routine as possible.

Don’t take over ‘their’ room as an office. Leave the places they spend the day while you are at work as undisturbed as possible.

They might also regard your demand for their attention as stressful. It’s important not to force them to help you with your work. They have important things to do, too, like sleep and eat.

On that note, be careful not to feed them more than usual.  If they constantly ask for food try using food puzzles or hide the kibble around the house so they get a mental and physical work-out. Cats generally put on weight going into winter anyway. With extra munchies they risk obesity as well as stress.

Like us, many cats have acclimatised to COVID-19 lock-down now. Perhaps their stress levels will go up when we return to our workplaces full-time?