Health anxiety triggered by my cat

[violet33]

I have a lot of health anxiety, some of which is related to mild headaches , sinus , stomach. & ibs issues & i have 3 cats. They're all very sweet & I'm
Very attached to all of them. One of my cats is EXTREMELY STUBBORN & REPEATEDLY does mischievous things I don't want him doing. This causes a LOT of stress for me, which in turn triggers anxiety, which in turn causes physical symptoms , which then triggers more anxiety. I CANNOT get rid of cat . I'm too attached to him . I don't know how to handle this & it's been going on a long time. I think I'm posting in right forum since this situation does trigger physical symptoms causing health anxiety. Does anyone have any ideas how I can manage this as stressors do trigger anxiety. & it escalates? Please don't suggest giving up cat as that isn't an option for me. That would just cause sorrow for me. Please respond as I could really use some feedback. Thank You

[Fishmanpa]

Look up "My Cat From Hell". It's a TV show on Animal Planet. This guy is a "cat whisperer" for lack of a better word and helps people with problem cats. You may gain some valuable tips on how to help change and control your cat's behavior. There are some episodes on Youtube I've seen.

Good luck and positive thoughts

[NotCool]

Read this:

http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-a-Cat-fr...and-Scratching

The most useful method, proven effective, could be seen as crude, but it's damn effective - the spray bottle/water pistol method. If that doesn't help you change the deviant behaviour of your cat, nothing will.

[Fishmanpa]

Read this:

http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-a-Cat-fr...and-Scratching

The most useful method, proven effective, could be seen as crude, but it's damn effective - the spray bottle/water pistol method. If that doesn't help you change the deviant behaviour of your cat, nothing will.

This would be a good subject for the Pets/Animals forum here.

Being the owner of a very well adjusted and social cat, I can speak from experience there are more effective ways to deal with unwanted unwanted/bad behavior than the spray bottle and some are mentioned in that article. A cat will not understand other than fear why they're being squirted. A cat isn't being defiant as much as it's just being a cat and reacting to stimulus which makes it feel afraid and/or insecure and thus it acts out it's fear and insecurity.

Positive thoughts

[Lin71]

Hi Violet

Sorry you're going through this but just want to say good for you for not wanting to give up on your cat! So many people see them as disposable and 'get rid' of them at the slightest behavioural problem

Cats behave in a certain way for a reason, it's all about getting inside their heads and seeing the world from their perspective to try and understand what's triggering the unwanted behaviour.

Please try visiting the website catchat.org. They have a forum for cats health and behaviour, and the members very friendly and extremely helpful, they will likely come up with lots of suggestions to help.

Hope you and your cat get to live in harmony together very soon!

[Lilharry]

I second "My Cat From Hell". It's a great show and I've had a look at the website which is also helpful. There are lots of things you can do. One of the major things the guy on the show does is make sure the cat owner plays with their cat every day. This means that the cat is using up its energy and will be calmer. It's also a nice bonding time. So get some toys and play with the cat every day to tire it out.

[Althea]

Yeah, the two biggest ones are playing a lot with the cat and making sure, especially with three cats, that there are lots of places, especially high places, for the cat to sit undisturbed.

[anthrokid]

'My Cat From Hell' is fantastic. It's really helped both my partner and I understand our kitten and help give her what she needs. We find that she only misbehaves when we have been doing something wrong (e.g. not playing with her enough, not leaving her scratching posts/toys in lots of accessible places, etc). Depending on what he is doing there could be many really simple explanations for his behaviour.

[violet33]

I got a lot of useful info here on cats. I REFUSE to give up my cat ! He's very sweet. Just STUBBORN ! But I would not give him up. I'm going to check out this info . Thank You!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Perhaps on top of dealing with your cat, take the CBT line by trying to change your response to the misbehaviour which will alter your higher state of emotions to the situation.

Maybe working on staying calm and generally relaxing will help towards this. Try things like breath control techniques, calming method, progressive muscle relaxation and Mindfulness meditation.


So, tackle it from the practical angle that others have said but work on retraining your reactions which might help your anxiety issues in general. At least if your cat wont behave, you reduce your response to it.