Cats ‘are stressed because we treat them like dogs’

Interesting article in The Telegraph claiming that cats suffer from stress because owners expect them to behave like dogs.

People expect cats to be thoroughly domesticated, to enjoy being petted and to be relaxed about sharing their living space, said Dr John Bradshaw. They fail to understand that lavishing a cat with affection will not necessarily make it feel more content

Which does sound on the surface like an excuse to ignore your cat!!

He also claims that the chief cause of stress is the proximity to other cats.

“There are two aspects: people get more than one cat and expect them to get on with each other, and they are letting cats outdoors in a neighbourhood with lots of other cats.

“But cats are not very good at getting on with other cats. You might get on with your next door neighbour but cats are not like humans. When people move house they have lots to think about, and perhaps they don’t make quite enough allowance for the cat.

“And people want to have two or three cats rather than one, but just because two cats are owned by the same person doesn’t mean they are going to get on.”

He does make an excellent point, but on the other hand we have six (6) rescue cats and they live with two (2) dogs and I can’t see any signs of stress in them, and they all love a LOT of attention!

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