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Has your cat recently started to act a little strange? Perhaps it has started to act a little aggressively towards you or other family members? Or maybe it has become fearful of something or someone for no apparent reason? Whatever the strange behavior, it is important to get to the bottom of it before it develops any further.

One common cause of a sudden change in a cat's temperament which many owners are unaware of is stress. So could your cat be suffering from stress and if so, how can you help?

Understanding Cats Under Stress

Just like many humans, animals are also sometimes vulnerable to stress. When something or someone new enters your cat's territory, it can leave them feeling threatened. If they do feel uneasy then they are likely to start acting differently and this usually results in either aggression or withdrawal. Even the smallest of changes affects your cat. While some cats can successfully deal with change without any major problems, most will take any form of change really badly. So if you move, bring another pet into the home or bring another person into your cat's life, it can really change your pet's behavior.

However, after you've considered all the stressors above and have concluded that neither of these could be the reasoning behind your cats stress, then it's crucial that you take your feline friend to a vet. Because change is not the only reason for a cats behaviorial problems it's important to rule out illness. Yes, illness could be one of the reasons your cat is acting strangely.When a cat is ill they cannot tell you the what is wrong with them so their behaviors will change in hopes you will notice or just because of the pain they're in.

Now that you have identified the reasoning for your cats behavior, you are now ready to deal with it.

Dealing with Feline Stress

How you deal with your cat's stress will depend entirely upon what it is that your cat is stressed about. Sometimes patience is the best remedy and this is especially the case when you move homes. Start by placing the cat in one room and allow it to become familiar with the house gradually. By giving the cat its own room, it will start to feel safer in there and when it does feel threatened once it is exposed to the rest of the house, it will automatically go into 'its' room to relax.

However, sometimes patience alone will not help. In these cases, it might be a good idea to purchase commercial products to help. Rescue Remedies can help to calm your cat and one particularly good one includes Bach Flower Essence. Helpful in both animals and humans, you should place 2-3 drops of the remedy into your cat's drinking water. This should provide quick relief for your pet once it has drank it. However, not all cats will drink water with the remedy in it because the alcohol content can be too much. If this is the case, then you can always place the remedy behind the cat's ears.

Overall, stress can be a contributing factor to your cat's bad behavior. So if you notice that your cat has started to act strangely and if it has started to spray around the home or act more aggressive than usual then you should think about any changes that may have occurred in and around your home recently. Relieving your cat's stress should eliminate sudden bad behavior problems. If all else fails then you should take your cat to the vet.

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