Stress is the leading cause of disease in humans, but did you know that your anxiety affects your cat too? It’s been proven that cats help reduce our stress, but now it’s time to start thinking about what our stress does to them.
You know how they say cats can “smell fear”? They can. And they can also smell stress. Cats have 200 million scent receptors in their nasal cavities that allow them to detect more than just food smells.
We may call it a “sixth sense”, but recent studies have shown that our bodies release certain pheromones when we’re fearful and stressed that our cats smell and react to.
How Your Anxiety Affects Your Cat
One study showed that, when brought into a room with a stranger and the sweat of fearful humans, a pet would exhibit stressful symptoms and would not approach the stranger. In another room they placed sweat from happy humans and the pet would approach the stranger without fear or stress.
Cats are affected by our emotions.
Stress in cats, just like in humans, causes disease. Stress reduces immunity function, leaving kitties vulnerable to illness. Since your anxiety affects your cat, it’s important to keep your stress levels low as much as possible. Whether you need to meditate, exercise, listen to calming music, pray, etc. – make sure that you do your best to keep your anxiety at bay. This will do wonders for the health and well being of your feline friends and your own!
If you have a stressful day at work, try to release your anxiety before arriving home. And then take a quick shower when you you get there. Not only will it make you feel better, but you’ll literally be washing away the anxiety pheromones that your kitty can detect.
We always say that if our cats don’t like you, we probably shouldn’t either. Maybe they can also smell idiots? 😉
Natural Calming Formula for Cats
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