Signs Of Stress In Cats

Decent Essays
Cats and Stress
It is a known fact that stress is a component of or the start of most common cat behavior problems and even some common diseases. Unlike other species cats tend not to show their emotions openly and instead they become quiet and withdraw in their anxiety. For owners to be able to help their cats they must be aware of the signs of stress in their cats. There are several physiological systems in a cat’s body which regulate stress. The two that deal with usual short-term stress in a cat are the HPA axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal) and the sympathetic nervous system. These are the systems which regulate if the cat will fight or give flight while under stress. Unfortunately these systems are not able to deal with chronicor or long-term stress and this is the kind of stress that plays a major role in behavioral problem development and diseases related to stress in cats.
…show more content…
If a mother cat is stressed while she is pregnant or if she has received poor nutrition during pregnancy her litter might be prone to stress development and the non-adaptive coping strategies which form the basis of lots of common behavioral problems in cats. Owners might recognize stress in their cats if their behavior changes abruptly. Acute stress can be caused as a result of an unexpected incident or threat and this kind of stress is quite easy to recognize in cats. Some of the signs can include immobility, the body crouched on all fours and shaking or tail held close to the body among other kinds of

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Adrenal medulla:- The adrenal medulla produces the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine under stimulation by the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system. Both of these hormones help to increase the flow of blood to the brain and muscles to improve the “fight-or-flight” response to stress. These hormones also work to increase heart rate, breathing rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure while decreasing the flow of blood to and function of organs that are not involved in responding to emergencies.…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In chapter 13 the key points of focus are stress, health and coping. As defined by the cognitive appraisal model, stress is a negative emotional state that is in occurrence to events that are seen as appraised as taxing or exceeding one's resources. Psychologists that study stress and other psychological factors that influence health, illness and treatment are health psychologist. Events or situations that produce stress are known as stressors. Significant sources of stress include daily hassles, work stress and burnout.…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I for one never considered or even thought of primates or any animals for that matter suffering from stress. I enjoyed reading the comparison you chose to use. It makes it more clear as to why or how primates become stressed considering their lives are similar to ours in which everyone has a boss except the head male.…

    • 58 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The fight-or-flight response is the reaction when a person perceives a threat. This person has now has two physiological options, to stand up to that threat and fight, or to run away (Grohol). To understand what happens during fight or flight, one needs to understand what chemicals and hormones are used during the process. First, the nervous system is broken down into two major systems: Central and Peripheral. The central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord, and deals with emotion and motor skills.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are many methods on stress management. In this essay it will outline and evaluate two physiological and two psychological methods of stress management. Physiological methods work by relieving the symptoms of stress such as fast heart rate. Two physiological methods include drug therapy and biofeedback.…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Body Homeostasis

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The major role of the HPA axis is to mediate the neuroendocrine stress response, in order to reestablish body homeostasis after an acute stressor (4).A principal component of the stress response is the CRH system, which is located in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus. CRH is synthesized by neurons in the parvocellular/small cell division of the PVN, and it is secreted into the pituitary portal blood (5-7). CRH via portal blood enters the anterior pituitary and binds to type 1 CRH cell-surface receptors, resulting in ACTH secretion (8-10). ACTH acts on the adrenal cortex, specifically on the zona fasciculata, to stimulate cortisol secretion (11). Cortisol inhibits the secretion of CRH and ACTH from the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary, respectively (11).…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stressed lifestyle and personality are some of the psychological factors that influence health and behaviour in our lives. However, our response to stressors determines our ability to control and manage or develop illness out of the stress. “Stress is experienced when a person’s perceived environmental, social, and physical demands exceed their perceived ability to cope, particularly when these demands are seen as endangering the person’s well-being in some way” (Cardwell & Flanagan, 2012). Walter Cannon’s (1932) fight or flight response elaborates the correlation between arousal and stress as due to the survival mechanisms that evolve in homosepian. According to Sarafino stress comprises of two components: the stressors, stimuli that make…

    • 1652 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Kitten Academy… aquarium Having an aquarium with fish is a good way to calm down, staring at it for a while. If you do not have one aquarium and do not want to, then cats can do the trick. It’s streaming 24/7 on a computer near you! The Internet is filled with videos of cats, many really funny and others mere lame excuses from people to put cats in danger or stupid situations.…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is here, that a series of interactions between endocrne glands, the brain and kidneys occur. In turn, controling how the bodies reacts to stress. Therefore, when brain detects a stressful situation, HPA becomes activated and instantly releases a hormone known as cortisol (McEwen, 2007) . This hormone prepares the body for instant reaction. However, when high levels of cortisol is activated over a period of time, it can have a negative impact on ones health.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stress Sources Assessment

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Stress Sources Assessment concluded that overall, my total score on the stress events assessed, percentile was 19.0. The potential for distress chart, in a variety of area of my life, averaged from moderate to low stress percentages. All stress types that were categorized as moderate, in terms for potential distress, were located on the low end of the scale; the moderate scale ranges from 30%-70%. Altogether, I did not score over 40.0% in potential distress. Majority of the high scored stress types, in terms of potential for distress, are areas of self-inflicted stress.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Life Course Approach

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages

    To some degree, it is human nature to feel stressed when we are not sure what to do or when faced with making a difficult or frustrating decision. And, some individuals may have a heightened level of arousal in the central nervous system, causing them to react more excitedly to events and adapt more…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are many parts of your body that is effected by stress. Your immune system, digestive, muscular, circulatory and respiratory system. You wouldn’t think that stress effects the body that much. But there’s more to it. And there are different levels of stress.…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These circuits allow us to return to homeostasis equilibrium. Chronic stress occurs when the stimulus becomes too intense or lasts too long and the body cannot adapt under such circumstances. Without achieving homeostasis the neuroendocrine circuits become altered and can lead to illness (Mariotti, 2015).…

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This is produced in the liver; these hormones lead to Blood Sugar Imbalance and Diabetes, Weight Gain and Obesity, Immune System Suppression and many more problems within the body. 3. Psychological effects of stress Psychological effects of stress are the effects that have to do with mental health and the way in which the mind can cope under the pressure. • Chemical imbalances: Stress triggers a release of chemicals which can make one tired and easily irritable; this is due to the imbalance of hormones released from the paturaty glands. • Thought process and sociability decline: When under stress many people become distracted of forgetful easily this is because the brain is linked to these functions.…

    • 2961 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stress is something all people deal with at some point in their life, making it important to understand. The main causes for stress are usually related to relationship difficulties, work, school, and major life changes. Stress can lead to heart attacks, low performance, lack of focus, loss of sleep, and many more negative effects. Depression is one of the most common effects among most people. Relationship difficulties cause a lot of stress in a person’s life.…

    • 1251 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays