Cómo superar la DEPRESIÓN en GATOS 😿| ¿Por qué está Milú tan decaído?

My Lou is depressed, but in today's video, we're going to help him get back to his old self. Hi, I'm Carlos, a clinical veterinarian at Small Animals. Welcome to the Happy Pets and Families Channel. Although if you follow the channel, I'm really surprised you don't know him. Mew is the cat that lives with my parents. And now he seems a bit down. He's a pretty happy cat because he's always up and down in my house, which also has two floors, and he even goes out into the garden, always supervised. The truth is that he's a cat who never stops moving, who's always looking for something to do and something to hunt. He's quite restless. For example, he loves it when you walk past him and he stalks you from behind a corner and suddenly throws his legs at you. I know that's something that people don't usually like very much and that I personally detest. But with my parents, he got used to doing that, because even though it may not seem like it, my parents never do it to me under any circumstances. For example, my father lets him play with his foot, and he is very used to throwing himself at my feet to catch them. However, last week when I went to visit him, he was kind of listless, kind of out of sorts. He didn't want to do anything. He didn't want to move from his blanket. And he was kind of angry because my parents had been away from home for a few days, and since the drive was going to be quite long and they didn't know how my appearance was going to behave because it could be very stressful for him, well, they thought it would be better for him if he stayed home alone. But of course they weren't going to leave him unattended. They left a neighbor in charge to come in every day, check on him, see how everything was, give him fresh water, feed him, and also clean the litter box a little. Well, everything was normal up to that point. The drama came when my parents returned. The night my parents returned, they found him a bit strange. He was a bit melancholic. And although it is true that he went to greet them at the door, it is also true that he did not want to get as close to them as before and was always keeping his distance. It seemed as if he was holding a grudge against them for leaving without him. And the next day things were not any better either, because my mother tried to reward him. She tried to give him the food that he liked, and yet he did not want to eat much either. He would sit on his blanket the whole time, tucked into his basket, and not even after dinner, when he loves to eat a bit of yogurt, did he come to the table to ask for it, and that was it. Then my mother said, is there something wrong with the cat? Of course, he had also started doing things that he had not done before, like for, for example, wanting to go outside all the time. He was always scratching at the door as if my parents would open it for him because he wanted to go out into the yard by himself. And he is forbidden from doing that. In fact, one day my father could smell the work, and when he opened the door, he ran away like an arrow and went out into the street. And guess where he ended up? No, he didn't go beyond my house's garden, but he went to the door of the neighbor's house and started calling him. I don't understand how he knew that the neighbor lived there, because he has never been to my neighbor's house. Although it is true that he can see the door of his house from his favorite window. And he may have known about it perfectly. I don't know. And of course, the second or third that my mother saw him like that, who do you think she was going to call? Here's a joke. The hunters? Well, logically me, her family vet. When she told me about it on the phone, I started to get a sense of where this could be coming from, to be honest. But taking advantage of the fact that I was going to spend a few days with them, I took a look at him. Does all this sound familiar to you? Have you seen it in your cat? Well, it could be that your cat is depressed and you might say, but I haven't left him home alone. How can this be? Because cats aren't the only ones who get depressed when they're left alone. There could be many other things that can affect them. You know how sensitive cats are to things like stress, for example. There are many dark legends surrounding cats, such as that they don't require affection, or that they never want to be around us, when you know perfectly well that this is a lie. Depression in cats can appear due to anything that has changed in their environment, such as someone new moving into the house because the cat suddenly feels like they have to share their home with a stranger, or, for example, the death of their feline companion. If your cat was very close to the cat that just passed away, it's normal for them to feel lonely, empty, not have anyone to play with, and just want to sit on their blanket, watching the hours go by. Another time when cats tend to get depressed is when a new baby comes home. Because they can no longer be as close to you. Because, for example, they used to have certain rooms they could go into that they can't now. Or because, for example, when you hold the baby in your arms, you don't let them get close. These are some of the things that will tell you that your cat may be depressed. But be careful, because sometimes these types of symptoms can also be masking an illness. Often when cats are sick, they want to move much less, they want to eat less. You can't assume that your cat is simply depressed at these times. You have to observe them a little, for example, if there's blood in their pee, if there's diarrhea, or if there's vomiting. If you see any of these things, don't assume that your cat is simply a little depressed and take them to the vet immediately. What I always say. But hey, you've already made sure that your cat isn't sick, so pay attention because here I'm going to tell you the advice and what I did with my lu that can help your cat overcome his depression. The most important thing of all is that you let your cat know that whatever has affected him, that the traumatic event he suffered is not going to happen again, and that whatever it was, it will never distance you from each other again in life. When I arrived at my parents house, what I did with my look was to prevent him from feeling so strange. So I tried to spend more time with him. I tried to pet him more when he was asleep. I would go over and spend a little time by his side. If your cat is the affectionate type that accepts petting, well, try doing it with him and you'll see how he relaxes and does very well. What I was showing Milu by this is that we were by his side and that we weren't going to leave him abandoned, alone and helpless for a week again. Well, the most important thing is that your cat feels that. Because obviously my parents will go on vacation again at some point and they might not take him with them. But your cat has to perceive that it's not the end of the world and that you're going to come back and everything will be as you left it. And as I told you, Nilou had started doing strange things that he didn't do before, like scratching the doors. When my mother saw him, she said, oh my God, he's going to destroy my house. And then she started scolding him. Please don't scold your cat. Count to 10 and take a breath, because he did that in a moment of anger and he's not going to understand why you're yelling at him. If your cat is a bit depressed and all you see is for you to suddenly scold him when you walk in the door, when he sees you, he's going to think, oh my God, here comes this ogre again. And he won't know where to hide. Scolding or scolding him will only deteriorate your relationship and make him feel very, very insecure around you. But that, of course, does not mean that the cat can do whatever it wants. I recommend that you put into practice the advice that we have already taught you on the channel so that the cat does not destroy the doors or hit them or anything like that. I will leave the video here in case you have not seen it yet. And another thing that has helped us a lot with Meelu is to reward him through his stomach, as if you do not reward a cat. Of course. Although at first he ignored the food a little, we continued to give him some treats from time to time. And little by little, he began to pay more attention. Whatever the reason why your cat is depressed, you will always be able to win him over through his stomach. Always give him some special treats or maybe some wet food that he loves. And when you get home, he knows he'll find it in his bowl because that will keep him waiting for you to come back and will also cheer him up when you're around. We've also spent a lot more time playing with Milou these days. Playing keeps cats much more alert and is a great remedy for depression. There are games that stimulate their minds, and there are also games that move around the house on their own and the cats spend all day chasing them. That will keep your cat much more active and keep his mind busy thinking about something else. If you don't want to spend a lot of money buying a toy, you can always put a cardboard box in it and get a little creative by making slots in it and also making nooks so your cat can move around and explore it. We did the same with Milou. We put a box in it and he really enjoyed it. And something that cats usually really like to spend their free time playing on is having a tree at home. Well, we don't have one for Milou inside the house because she keeps it outside and always uses it under supervision. But if you live in an apartment and your cat doesn't have access to the outside. Buy her a tree with different platforms, with different areas to climb up and down. Put it near a window so that she can observe the outside world and she doesn't feel so bored inside your house. Of course, there are also lots of tutorials online so that you can build one yourself if you want. That's also a good solution and I think it's cheaper. For example, Rokio made one for Greta and the truth is that she's really handy and it turned out great. If I had done it myself, it would have been a disaster. I recommend that you visit her Instagram. I'll leave the link on the screen right now because she'll tell you step by step how she built this kitty paradise. The truth is that she is amazing. And if Ruocchio already had all my admiration, she has it even more now. But as I have already told you, cats do not only get depressed when you move away from home, but there are also times when they miss family members who no longer live with them or who have passed away. In these cases, if your cat is sociable and if it already lived with a cat before, it will be much easier for you. You can consider adopting another new cat so that it can see a more complete life and also have another playmate again. Remember that not all cats get along with each other and that sometimes two cats get along very well because they have the same temperament. But that cat with another one can get along to kill each other. To avoid any type of problems. What I recommend is that you go to a protection association and have a foster cat in your home and also introduce it to your cat. The advice that we have already given you on the channel that can help a lot to end its depression and feel more cheerful. And that's it. I hope all this advice has helped you. And although many times we can't prevent our cats from getting depressed, you should know that there are many things you can do to reverse the situation. Fortunately, all this advice I've given you works little by little. Don't think that everything is going to be great from day one because you have to work on it a little bit. And my appearance is already much better. He's back to being the cat he was before. And I ask my parents for yogurt at night for dinner. Although you already know what my position is on the map, I don't want them to give it to him. But you also know what people say about vets. None. Just kidding. And that's it for today's Video. If you liked it, give it a like and share it with everyone. Remember to subscribe to our channel if you haven't already, because if you don't, I might get depressed and hit the bell. So that YouTube will notify you every time we upload new content. Thank you very much for following the Happy Pets and Families channel, and we'll see you in the next video. Today we're going to continue getting to know your pets. How can you introduce them to us on our Facebook group? Of course, Pablo is introducing us to Fuzer, and here he shows us him walking in his carrier. The truth is that he's a very handsome cat. Did you know that these cats are called Blue Jose? He shakes his head no. He's very happy on his bike and very safe in his carrier. I like that. Whenever you take him out on the street, they're protected and they also enjoy the bike ride, of course. And this little one, we also know her on Instagram. Her name is Mia, and she asks us if she's adorable or not. She's only seven months old. You tell me if she's adorable or not. Look at that little face. And the last one. Well, in this case, we only see Michu looking a little bit smirking. In a photo, Marga Gomez Escobar asks us why Michu might put his toys, especially his favorite toy, inside his drinking bowl. Marga, we answered that on our secondary channel here on YouTube. I'm going to leave you the video we made where I explain why cats sometimes get the soroka wind and put their toys inside their drinking bowl or food bowl. And if you know why cats usually do this because you've already seen the video or because you already knew it before, leave it in the comments so Marga can find out too. I don't know if you've heard that we have another channel on YouTube, a channel where we upload videos almost every day of the week. They're very, very short videos answering very specific questions that you ask us either here on YouTube, on our Instagram account, or on Facebook. Also, come and subscribe. It's called Questions and Answers from a Veterinarian. And it probably contains many questions that you're asking yourself right now about your pets and that we've already answered. See you next week.

He's recording. Ah, he's recording.

Ah.

We do that a lot, don't we? He was sitting on his blanket in his basket the whole time. Oh, how sleepy. Oh, my goodness. You can see my legs the way they are now. Oh, they're so weird. They'd go numb otherwise. Oh, how nice that they're scratching you here.

You're depressed. He knows that they're watching over him. Huh? Don't you think? He doesn't.

Like this. You have to get him together. No, not anymore. I'm not going to do it anymore. Tower like that. That's what you like, right? You can't be lazier.

Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?

Nails on the chairs, right?

Huh?

What's he doing? What's he doing? He drags the camera. But what's he doing? His butt sticks out and he makes a mistake. Phew. Wow. Hello. Who are you going to call? The Ghostbusters? I mean, no, no.

Me.