Everybody gets stressed out sometime in their lives. As humans we get multiple options on how to deal with stress. However, most people don't know that your house cat also gets stressed out, leading to any number of behavior issues. Here are a few helpful bits of information to understanding the everyday stress your cat can be dealing with.

#1: A New Family Member

Cats don't like having the status quo changed on them. They are accustomed to the way things are and want them to stay that way. When you introduce a new family memberhuman or animalyou disrupt the status quo and stress out your cat. The best thing you can do here is to not rush things. Let your cat get accustomed to the new situation at their won pace, don't force anything.

#2: A Move

Like mentioned above, cats are animals of habits, and moving them to a new house can cause them stress. Some cats may see this as an adventure. As a chance to explore new surroundings. However, most cats will just be scared, and stressed out by this new environment. To relieve the stress of a move, take your cats familiar things, like their crate, their favorite blanket, their bed, their litter box, and their toys. Then, put these things in a room, close the door, and leave your cat in their to get used to and comfortable with just this one small space. Then, open the door to this room, and let them roam around the house at their own pace. Leave the door open to that room with their stuff in it, so they can go back to that room when they get overwhelmed or scared.

#3: Holidays and Parties

Cats are not party animals. They would rather kickback, in the peace and quiet of the everyday norm. Most cat owners know their cat will be nowhere to be found during a party or a holiday in where a lot of people come over. The loud music, and talking scares and stresses your cat. To help them and keep them safe. You should put your cat in a quiet room where they can relax with being disturbed by the party guests. If you don't have a room like this during a party, you can put them in their crate. This is still a safe place for kitty, that makes them feel secure.

#4: A Change in Routine

A change in your daily routinesuch as a change in employmentalso changes your cat's routine. Your cat is used to you being around at certain times and not being there the other times. When you change this, it can stress your cat out. The best thing you can do is to break up your routine even more. Instead of following your normal routine to get ready for work, jingle your keys a bit beforehand to desensitize your cat to the sound of you getting ready to leave. When you do leave, don't make a big deal out of it; if you do, this will often cause the cat to get even more stressed with anticipation.

#5: Window Gazing

We all know that cats like to sit on the windowsill and look out the window. This is usually not a problem unless they can see things out the windowsuch as strange cats in the yardthat they cannot get to and get stressed out over it. This will often lead to misplaced aggression. The best thing to do if this happens is to find a way to keep them out of that particular window.

At the end of the day, just remember that your cat has a fertile mind and imagination. These things need to be nurtured and protected if you don't want them to get stressed.