This is a YouTube video titled "Síntomas de ESTRÉS en GATOS durante el CONFINAMIENTO 🙀 (Causas y soluciones)" created in May 2020. The content is a detailed monologue discussing how cats respond to stress, especially during confinement periods, with advice on avoiding punishment, providing exercise, recognizing stress symptoms, and managing interactions between cats and children. The speaker offers practical tips to maintain a healthy bond between cats and their owners during stressful times. There is only one speaker, and no conversational exchange is present.
Cats are animals that respond poorly to punishment, and during particularly tense times, this is even more important. This only upsets the animal, increases stress, and deteriorates the bond that the cat has with its humans. So at this time, when the social relationship is so close, it is important not to do anything that destroys this relationship instead of building it. In other words, we should completely renounce punishment, tension, shouting, and scolding. On the other hand, it is also important to increase exercise or provide exercise to the cat if it feels like it. Well, we can play with fishing rods, balls, mice, anything that helps the animal move. It is important that these exercise moments occur at a more or less predictable time of day for the animal, because this, as you will recall at the beginning of the video, helps to create a good routine and establish a good day for our animal. So it is good to schedule or organize these play times during the day so that there is a predictable moment that will be fun for the animal. It is also necessary to make sure that during these times, the cat obviously has enough resources, such as a number of food bowls, water dishes, litter trays, scratching posts, hiding places, elevated positions. Cats feel very calm when they have an elevated position from which to monitor their territory and from which they are not disturbed. We have discussed this in other videos, but now it is even more important at times when there may be moments of tension in the home. Finally, another very useful way to reduce stress is to install a feline facial pheromone diffuser in your home. That is to say, these air fresheners that release pheromones that make cats calmer, which are not miraculous, but within all the measures that I have mentioned, they play an important role and can help create a calm atmosphere at home. And other recreational substances for cats, such as catnip, can also be used. Catnip is a dried herb or, well, it can be in dry extract, it can be in spray, or it can be fresh. And it has a substance called nepetalactone, which has a structure very similar to LSD. So in cats, in some cats, like 60% of them, it produces a euphoric reaction of great joy, of great fun, which then decreases abruptly. It is something that lasts a few minutes, but the cat enjoys it and has no adverse effects. So if your cat enjoys cni, well, you can use it once or twice a week and give it this moment of fun and relaxation. Hmm. Well, I've been talking to you a lot about stress, stress, stress, but we know how to identify stress in cats. It's important to know how cats Manifest stress. Because when I talk about stress, many owners tell me, Susanna, but my cat is super calm. My cat is not stressed, he's alert. We have to take into account some changes in their behavior that will give us a clue that the cat is stressed. For example, increased vocalizations. Well, the cat meows. Meows when it didn't do it before, meows at us, meows at things, suddenly starts to yelp or starts vocalizing alert. Well, these changes can indicate that we have a stress problem. Cats that urinated and used their litter box perfectly stop doing so, or urinate or defecate in unusual places or inappropriate places. Animals that didn't do it well before and stop doing it is also a sign of stress. Also, those cats that may display certain aggressive behaviors. It doesn't necessarily have to be an attack, but they start playing rough, scratching, biting, a little more than usual. Be careful because this cat is tense, right? So this must also be identified. On the contrary, those cats that were active and played and such stop being so. They start to be more passive, they start to spend the day more hidden, and they refuse to interact with the owner, with family members. This should also be a warning sign. Also, those cats that stop playing. Cats have played all their lives. When they stop doing it, it's because something is wrong. They are stressed, they are sick, they are in some kind of pain. But also, the cessation of play or the decrease in the play routine is a warning sign. Cats. And finally, well, a decrease in appetite. Animals that used to have a good appetite and have a decrease in their appetite can also be a sign of stress or illness. If you notice any of these signs that I have just mentioned, it would be advisable to contact your veterinary clinic so that they can guide you on how to proceed. Because something that may be temporary could end up being a much more serious problem in the medium term. And it is advisable, as we always tell you in these videos, to prevent behavioral problems. Finally, to end this video on stress and cats, I would like to give you a few details about children. Children who were always in school and were away from home for many hours suddenly find themselves at home and are confined to the house and cannot go out under any circumstances except for an emergency. This has completely changed everyone's routine, including cats, of course. And children, because of their curious nature. Well, well, well, well, sometimes they are bored, so they can harass cats too much. The first thing to keep in mind is that depending on the age of the child, we should not leave these children with cats under Supervision first, because the cat could unintentionally or intentionally harm the child, or because the child could hurt the cat. So, well, we must supervise this contact. And if we can't, then keep them both separated. And in that way we will avoid a risky situation. On the other hand, we must teach children that when the cat is resting, it should not be disturbed. Just like when someone is taking a nap and suddenly a child comes and talks to them and scares them and their heart jumps out of their mouth and we understand what is happening. A cat that is not used to that sleeps peacefully all morning while the children or people are at school or work does not understand that suddenly the one who is sleeping peacefully can be woken up and upset. This produces moments of tension and adrenaline spikes that do nothing to strengthen this bond between little humans and cats. Children should also be taught that cats are not toys, and well, they can bond with them, but it is better to wait for the cat to come to us and for us to go get the cat. That is usually the most effective advice and almost the best advice I can give you in this entire video. Let the cats come to us and children should be taught about cat body language. There are videos by animal experts that talk extensively about these topics. You can watch them as a family and tell them when the cat shows that it is happy or unhappy, how its facial expression and body language changes, interpret it and know when this animal is giving us signs that it is not happy with this relationship. And teach them to stop and respect our cats. They are not toys and they should also act a little when they do not want to have contact with people. On the other hand, we can involve children in the games that the cat enjoys in this way. Well, we teach them the proper way to interact with the cat. And we also strengthen the bond between the cat and the children with an activity that is positive for both and that they enjoy.
