But frequently it can also be the cat’s way of dealing with stress in the household, just as over-grooming, pica and other OCD behaviors are.Įxercise and interactive play - think wand toys - help, according to animal behaviorist Dr. The cat will also bite or scratch their back and tail, meow loudly (usually at night) and do a pretty good imitation of a whirling dervish.įHS can mean there’s a physical problem. The skin on the cat’s lower back actually will ripple. Sometimes it’ll manifest as feline hyperesthesia syndrome (FHS), also known as “rippling skin disorder.” Hyperesthesia in CatsĪccording to some animal communicators, cats will take on our own stress. Forcing the issue doesn’t generally work with cats. She will retrain him to walk in a harness, but for now he travels in a carrier “because he’s unpredictable.”

“Maybe he remembers being in there because it was pretty major surgery,” Ratza reflects. At the vets’, he’d jump at the door latch, trying to get out.” He no longer wanted to play the bathtub game - in fact, he was “terrified” when she put him in - and wouldn’t go for walks anymore. Shortly afterward, Ratza says she noticed that Max seemed to be “very fearful. He also had a hernia operation, followed by a long recovery period in a pet playpen. “They would march right into the vets’,” Ratza says. Max not only let her put him in the tub but also took to walking in a harness immediately.Īs long as his cat-buddy, Wren, was with him, he would follow her. Wendy Ratza says she took her cat Max everywhere as a kitten. I don’t entirely agree with this statement - I know a number of people who make a point of doing just those things with their cats. “They stay in our homes and don’t go walking, driving or traveling with us as dogs often do, so they don’t become accustomed to a variety of places, sounds and objects.” “Fearful behaviors are common in cats,” says the ASPCA, “in part because most of us don’t socialize them as well as we do dogs, and we don’t expect them to be as active a part of our families.” Photo: shouldbecleaning The Social Component of Fearful Behaviors in Cats Young cats need to be introduced to a variety of places, sounds and things. You also have to be ready to back off if you sense that the cat is getting anxious or agitated.But you have to work at the pace that’s right for the individual cat.Usually, a mix of counterconditioning and desensitization will do the trick.

Miserable cat