A Kitty's Point of View: Meow! Cats Don't Like Change!
What’s going on? This is not my normal day... I normally wake my human parents up by jumping on their bed first thing in the morning, but they’re not there! I don’t like change and that’s worrying - if my normal routine is disturbed I get anxious so I think I’ll just go and hide under the bed for a little while until I know it is safe to come out.
Ah, there they are, downstairs! Maybe they needed to get up early this morning but they should know by now that my favourite parts of the day are dawn and dusk (we cats are crepuscular, you know!) and it’s my job to wake them up because I’m quite active first thing in the morning - and in the evening too, come to that!
I Like Routine
I like everything to stay the same, so that my routine doesn’t change. We normally have a little cuddle and a play before they go off to work. Then after my breakfast, I have a little catnap which freshens me up before I go out to explore the garden.
I have my special hiding places so that those other cats can’t see me. And I have high up places too! I love climbing trees or walking along the top of fences looking down on my territory.
When my humans come home from work, they know that I will come to welcome them home and I might rub up against their legs just to make sure they know I’m pleased to see them (I’m leaving my scent on them too, but they don’t realise that!). I might also purr but if things change too much, they can tell I’m not happy because my whiskers face backwards and my ears go in different directions!
When it comes to early evening, I know it’s playtime! But sometimes they forget, or some stranger visits, and I might get a little anxious but it’s OK as long as I can get to my last snack before bedtime. As long as they don’t forget to play with me the next night!
I Don’t Like Visitors
I definitely don’t like it when we have too many visitors but my human parents explain to guests what they should do, if they want me to be friendly. I like to come and greet people in my own time! And if there are lots of people, or loud people in the house I like to go and find a quiet hiding place to wait until things are back to normal!
I Don’t Like Change
We’ve also had a new human addition to the house! I was a bit confused and anxious when things started to change around the house before the baby arrived. There was a lot of new furniture, baby clothes, nappies and they were given a room all to themselves!
My human mummy was very good and she introduced me to all of the new baby things gradually so that I could get used to the smells. I’ve left my scent on some of the furniture in the room - but that’s OK, it won’t harm the baby - and it makes me feel better. Now that the baby has arrived, there are even more smells around, especially from those nappies!
To start with I was a bit nervous because I thought my human parents would not be interested in me any more - but that’s not the case! They do allow me to sniff around the baby when they are there, but they won’t let me stay in the baby’s room - it does look very cosy in there, but they’ve given me my own cosy corner which I really like - it’s nice and high so I can see everything that is happening.
I’m Getting Better at Adjusting to Change!
Some cats don’t mind if things change - they seem to take it in their stride. But I’m not like that - it makes me anxious. My human parents do their best to help me adjust and they make sure that any big changes all happen very slowly so everything becomes normal.
When I was very little, they introduced me to lots of different things like noises I had never heard before - the vacuum cleaner, and the washing machine (that really scared me!) and when I didn’t run away they gave me a nice treat. They also made sure I had lots of nice places that I could retreat to and where I could feel safe… they seem to know when I’m feeling anxious.
I still don’t like change - but with the help of my human parents, I can get used to it. They also plugged in a FELIWAY Diffuser which really helps during changes around the home. It makes me feel much more calm and comfortable and helps me cope with stress in all sorts of situations!
