Cat Fear: How To Help A Nervous Cat - PDSA

Sometimes it’s clear when your cat is upset about something, but some cats can hide their fear and you may not realise they’re uncomfortable. You might not to see their first reaction when something scares them, especially if it happens while they’re outside, so you may only see the end result which is often hiding or stress.

Signs of fear in cats include:

• Freezing in place or making themselves small by crouching low to the ground and lowering their head
• Running away
• Hiding
• Arching their back and puffing up their fur
• Wide eyes with big pupils that look like ovals or circles
• Tucking their tail under them or swishing the tip quickly side to side
• Moving their ears quickly (as they try to listen) or flattening their ears close to their head
• Hissing or spitting
• Scratching or biting
• Peeing or pooing outside their litter tray.

If you’re seeing any of these signs, it could be your cat is afraid, anxious or stressed and it’s important to get take the steps below to help.

If you have an anxious or fearful cat, they can develop a condition called stress cystitis which causes pain, blood in the urine and can even lead to a blocked bladder. Contact your vet for help as soon as possible if you see signs of these or any other symptoms that are worrying you.

How do I find out what is frightening my cat?

Finding out what’s frightening your cat can be an important step to getting them help. Unfortunately your cat could be scared of almost anything, even things that don’t seem at all frightening to us!

So how can you tell what your cat is afraid of? The first step is to look for the signs listed above. Once you know how to tell when your cat is scared, you can start to match up what is happening at the times they’re afraid.

For some fears, the cause will be clear. For others it can be hard to know exactly why your cat is afraid. But knowing the source of the fear can be really useful to help your cat get better.

Some common examples of cat fears include:

• Strangers or unfamiliar people
• Fireworks
• Other cats
• Loud noises
• Dogs or other predators.

With cats that spend time outdoors, you might struggle to find out exactly what they’re afraid of as you might just see the end result when they come home. Fortunately, there are still lots of ways you can help them.

What can I do to help when my cat is scared or anxious?