5 Tips To Handle Nervous Cats

As someone who has to work with cats on a daily basis, I want to share with you five simple tips that can help your nervous cat become more relaxed and sociable around you and others. The tips are the following: 1) Always approach your cat slowly and calmly, 2) Avoid sudden movements, 3) Do not stare at your cat, 4) Touch your cat only when he/she wants it and 5) Give food as reward whenever possible. Let’s explore each of these tips in greater detail!

1) Don’t Panic

Cats are naturally curious and cautious creatures. The world around them is a confusing place full of new experiences, smells, sounds and objects. If your cat seems nervous or you notice he’s hiding more than usual, it might be time to visit your vet. Feline stress can result from anything from sudden change in household routine or changes in your home environment such as renovations to food and water dishes, litter boxes or scratching posts. Luckily there are several things you can do at home to soothe stressed out cats including

2) Give Them Space

Some cats love to hide. If you find your cat hiding, it might be that he is feeling nervous about something in his environment. Give him some space for a while, and pay attention to what he’s doing when he comes out. You may want to create an additional place for him to hide if you see that he retreats often. He might feel better if there are several places where he can go away from whatever is causing his anxiety.

3) Reassure Them With a Soothing Tone of Voice

Have you ever heard a cat meow when it’s hungry? It sounds like it’s in distress, doesn’t it? The key to handling a nervous cat is to take charge, but also reassure them. Your tone of voice will be one of your best tools as you try to de-stress your cat. If your voice comes across as confident and gentle, there will be no reason for your cat to feel threatened by their new surroundings. Create an environment where they can relax and get used to everything at their own pace.

4) Choose Your Words Carefully

When your cat is in an anxious state, he doesn’t understand what’s causing it and that makes him even more nervous. If you’re afraid of cats or know someone who is, try to avoid words like scared and scaredy-cat in your vocabulary. These words make us think of angry, loud animals instead of a nervous animal that needs comfort and reassurance. Use terms like frightened, uneasy or nervous, instead.

5) Try Scratching in Front of Them

If your cat starts twitching when you’re about to try and pet him, scratch a toy just in front of him, or get up and head for his food bowl. When you come back to sit down near your cat again, he might be relaxed enough to let you touch him. If not, try it again tomorrow. You can also try putting on a long-sleeved shirt while handling your nervous kitty so that he doesn’t associate your arm reaching out towards him as an impending attack. I know it’s not fashionable but sometimes fashion needs to take a backseat if we’re going to help our pets live happier lives!

Conclusion

Cats are unpredictable animals, they can be calm one minute and extremely energetic the next. When they’re nervous they tend to go totally crazy, which makes it difficult to handle them sometimes. It’s not easy to find out that your cat isn’t comfortable with something in his life. You try so hard to make him happy, but it seems you can’t do anything right! Cats are independent animals and they have their own personalities so it can be difficult to understand how they think and feel, but there are some things that help nervous cats feel more at ease in their surroundings and you can use them to make your furry friend more comfortable as well.