Showing posts with label separation anxiety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label separation anxiety. Show all posts

Wednesday, 17 April 2024

Social media tempts teenagers to skive and the family cat benefits!

High rates of school absence because of Internet addiction in teenagers leads to social media tempting teenagers to skive, stay at home, and as a consequence be company for the family cat. 💕😊 - if there is one.

If a person is prone to stay at home no matter whether they are a teenager at school or a worker at work, they will be with their cat more often and it would be an antidote to what I see is a major problem with domestic cats: separation anxiety as their owner is at work all day and the kids at school.


The story is about Internet addiction in teenagers concerns skiving and not going to school but for me this is as much a story about that as it is about keeping the cat at home company. 💕🙄

A study decided that teenagers skive as mentioned. It found that teenage girls seem to be more vulnerable to this than boys and more vulnerable to excessive use of the Internet. The more often a teenager uses the Internet the more likely it is that they are addicted to it.

The research took place in Finland. They took data from a national biennial survey. They asked children how much they neglected friends and family and failed to eat or sleep because of their time online. They asked how anxious they were when they weren't online.

Just over 2% of the more than 86,000 children in the school years eight and nine (aged 14 to 16) in Finland who participated were found to use the Internet excessively. Girls were 96% more likely than boys to fall into this category.

3 to 4% of the children reported high rates of absence from school. Those who spent excessive amounts of time on social media had a 38% higher risk of truancy. They also had a 24% higher risk of medical school absences.

The researchers decided that digital media may be tempting teens to stay at home and avoid school which affected their learning. The research is published in the British Medical Journal's Archives of Diseases in Childhood.

As you can see the study was based on self reporting from teenagers. They may have overestimated or underestimated the amount of time they spent on social media online.

Excessive Internet use is not the same as addiction. There is no agreed clinical definition of Internet addiction. It was suggested by another scientist that the research does not help understand the effects of Internet use in children.

But as mentioned above, I would suggest that there is one benefit if there is a family cat. They have some company and social media Internet addiction can remove the problem of separation anxiety for domestic cats.
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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Friday, 22 March 2024

Men are much more likely to adopt cats than women in the UK, study finds

A story in the Daily Mail reports on a study that challenges the ‘crazy cat lady’ stereotype, revealing that men in the UK are more likely to adopt cats than women. According to a survey conducted by UK Pet Food, over the last four years, 27% of men have adopted an adult cat compared to 18% of women. This translates to approximately 1.5 million new male cat-owning households, versus around one million female households.


The report also highlights that many pet owners, particularly those over the age of 45, find their pets to be a significant source of companionship, with some even expressing a preference for spending time with their pets over family members. Additionally, there’s a suggestion that pets could be beneficial for mental health, with one-fifth of respondents supporting the idea of pets being available on prescription.

This study underscores the changing dynamics in pet adoption and the important role pets play in providing emotional support and combating loneliness.

Comment: this trend, if indeed it is a trend, is probably due to cats being considered better pets when the caregiver is working away from home all the time. Unfortunately both cats and dogs suffer from separation anxiety when their caregiver is not around for long periods. If the reason is as I believe, it is a poor reason.

An added problem is that absent caregivers tend to put down dry cat food for day-long grazing which is bad for the cat under these circumstances as the cat becomes slightly dehydrated which combined with the stress of separation anxiety can lead to cystitis, an inflammation of the bladder due to a bacterial infection and/or for the reason stated below.

Separation anxiety in cats can lead to cystitis. Stress is considered a significant cause of Feline Idiopathic Cystitis (FIC), a common type of cystitis in cats. Anxiety can cause the protective layer of the bladder to become patchy, exposing the bladder tissue to harsh chemicals in urine, which can result in inflammation. It’s important to manage a cat’s stress levels to prevent such health issues, and if you notice symptoms of cystitis, consulting a vet is crucial.

I have personal experience of causing my cat to develop cystitis for the above reason, sadly. It was years ago but I still feel bad about it. I have not missed one day of being with my current cat who I have lived with for around 8 years.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Tuesday, 26 December 2023

Hybrid working is great for pet caregiving but not so good for productivity

I'm not sure about other countries but in the UK hybrid working has become somewhat of the norm. Hybrid working means working from home and working from the office. It's a shared working environment as opposed to the default situation in the past of always working from the office.


Flexible hours have pretty well killed off the 9-to-5 working style. It's no longer the way to make a living for the vast majority of office staff in the UK.

Hybrid working allows people to tailor their working hours to fit much better around their nonworking activities. These include cat and dog caregiving.

Improved cat caregiving. Less anxiety.


I can imagine the joy of millions of cats and dogs perhaps particularly cats because they are perceived as being independent and mistakenly believed to accept being alone. I am afraid not.

Now they can have their human companion around far more often. There's been no study on it but I suspect that domestic cat anxiety brought on by separation anxiety has diminished tremendously since Covid-19 and the commencement of hybrid working. 

Also, looking at it from the human perspective, cat caregivers will be more relaxed and less anxious about their companion animals because they can be around far more often. There must be a lot of people who are unhappy about leaving their cats alone all day. That problem is now resolved for office workers.

Survey supports hybrid working


A study of more than 2,000 Britons who used to work in an office five days a week before the pandemic but who now split their working hours between office and home said that they had far more freedom to tailor their schedules and start their workday either later or earlier to suit themselves.

Most (43%) said that they begin their day at 8 AM or before which is earlier than when attending the office. Ten percent chose to logon at work after 9:30 PM. Extraordinary. I have just realised that that is in the evening rather than the morning. They prefer to do nightshift by the look of it.

Although companion dogs and cats are benefited tremendously, I would argue through hybrid working, I think you will find a consensus among managers and business owners that productivity has diminished as a result. 

There are problems with it such as not being able to interact on a direct, person-to-person basis and far more freely with work colleagues in order to exchange ideas. I think this is one way employees are more productive.

In Britain 44% of the workforce now spend at least some of their working week at home according to the Office for National Statistics. The method has become very popular and jobseekers are now demanding hybrid working from their future employers and as employers are having difficulty hiring staff they give way to this demand.

Employee demands


Seventy-one percent of hybrid workers say that they would not take a new role involving a long commute. That's another point about hybrid working; it's avoids commuting costs and time. This puts money in the pockets of employees and can make working more efficient.

But this article is about the benefits to companion animals which for people like me is very welcome. 

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Hybrid working is great for pet caregiving but not so good for productivity
Image: MikeB


Saturday, 4 December 2021

Anxious cats are pushing up the price of pet insurance in the UK

The Times newspaper has a headline which interests me: "Why anxious cats and dogs are pushing up the price of pet insurance". They refer to a guy, Sean Feast, who had to work from home during the pandemic lockdown. Until then he was unsure why he is cat, Marble, a four-year-old tabby, was difficult. She was hard to control and "bitey". 

Marble and Sean Feast
Marble and Sean Feast. Photo: The Times. Great newspaper. Highly recommended!

In other words, Marble tended to bite people even though they were kind to her. She was always aggressive towards people. He discovered why while he was at home durning the extensive lockdown. A neighbouring Bengal cat frequently came through the cat flap for a visit. This dramatically disturbed Marble's life. It was a massive intrusion onto her territory which made her anxious. It would seem that the Bengal cat was quite dominant and that Marble is quite timid by comparison. She had no outlet for her anxiety. It would come out in aggressivity towards people who wanted to be kind to her.

This is called redirected aggression in the cat world. Sometimes people think that their cat is simply aggressive and nasty. There is always a good reason why a cat demonstrates apparent unprovoked aggression. And redirected aggression is not uncommon.

RELATED: Domestic cat attacks their own tail because of redirected aggression.

But the purpose of this short article is in the title. I'm concerned that there are more anxious cats than people are aware of. I believe that cat caregivers should be alert to anxiety in their cat. I believe that it is not that far from the surface. Domestic cats are inherently very alert to what is going on around them and it does not take a lot to energise them. I believe that this predisposes them to anxiety. It is inherent as part of their survival strategy. And as they live in the human world, a land of giants, a slightly timid cat may suffer an almost continual level of slight anxiety.

Certainly, Covid, and the long lockdowns followed by the caregiver going back to the office has disturbed the routines and rhythms upon which the domestic cat relies so heavily. This, too, is likely to heighten anxiety levels. There is, if we are honest, a great problem with cat owners who have to be away from home all day, sometimes for long hours. 

RELATED: Picture of a young cat with a large elderly dog whose separation anxiety was cured by this confident cat.

Under these circumstances cats will often become anxious. It'll be a form of separation anxiety. This can be manifest in health issues such as cystitis and behavioural issues brought about by isolation and boredom if they are confined to the home. And of course cat owners who are away all the time are not able to observe their cat to notice the kind of pressures that they might be under from neighbouring cats if they are allowed outside.

I believe that it is beholden upon cat owners to prioritise the confidence levels in their cat. They should do all they can to boost their domestic cat companion's confidence to make them feel as calm and relaxed as possible. This means plenty of routines in their life which makes them feel more secure. It also means being around as much as possible and creating a calm environment in which they are allowed to express natural behaviour which at heart is wild cat behaviour. 

RELATED: Study says that cats are prone to separation anxiety in homes with two female residents.

This is the raw cat as Jackson Galaxy calls it. The raw cat within - the wildcat within. If you meet the demands of the wildcat they feel whole. If you add to that a friendly and predictable environment they feel whole and content.

I wasn't able to read The Times article but I suspect that the increased insurance premiums arise out of the fact that with feline anxiety you get health problems. The classic one is cystitis commonly called idiopathic cystitis. This causes inappropriate elimination. But there will be other perhaps more insidious health issues.

Saturday, 9 October 2021

Do you believe scientists who say that smelly clothes don't reassure domestic cats?

This is a cross post - click this for the earlier post. Three scientists conducted an experiment as to whether the scented i.e. unwashed clothes, of domestic cat human caregiver's provided what they describe as a "secure base effect" (SBE) for their cats. To cut out the technical language, they wanted to see whether cats obtained reassurance from the unwashed clothes of their owners when their owners were absent; away from the home or perhaps asleep at night. Are smelly clothes a substitute for the presence of cat owners in terms of reassuring the domestic cat companions?

Do you believe scientists who say that smelly clothes don't reassure domestic cats?
Do you believe scientists who say that smelly clothes don't reassure domestic cats? Image in public domain.

I would expect that nearly all cat owners would say that they are at least a second-best substitute. Many cat owners place an unwashed item of clothing in a cat carrier to help to reassure their cat when they take them to a veterinarian for instance. Or they leave an item of clothing with their cat when they are boarded at a cattery when they are away on holiday.

And of course you see thousands of pictures on the Internet of cat sleeping on beds which contain copious amounts of body odour from their owner or domestic cats sleeping on their owner's favourite chair. Domestic cat sleep on the laps of owners because it is warmer and because it smells of their owner. The scientist will say that these are all anecdotal forms of evidence.

They wanted to address the issue through science and provide a scientific, objective answer as to whether smelly clothes reassure domestic cats. And they say that they DO NOT! This runs counter to conventional wisdom on cat caregiving.

ASSOCIATED PAGE: 14 links between stress in domestic cats and health implications

They conducted the experiment in what was a strange place for the cats. The cats would have been brought there in carriers. The room would have been quite stark I expect and there would have been other interfering aspects such as strange noises and strange people. I believe that when you place a domestic cat into an entirely new place which might be perceived as being hostile to them, you cannot expect them to behave normally. And if you can't expect them to behave normally you can't measure natural behaviours.

The researchers found that when cats were left in a room without their owner being present but with the benefit of smelly clothing from their owner they did not use those clothes to seek reassurance. When their owner was in the room with them their stress levels went down but the clothes did not reduce stress levels as judged through their behaviour when their owners left the room.

ASSOCIATED: Study says that cats are prone to separation anxiety in homes with two female residents

They concluded, firmly, that this was scientific evidence that cats don't obtain a "secure base effect" from scented objects belonging to their owner. I would argue, as mentioned, that the study is tainted by the abnormal behaviour of the cats brought about because they were out of their home range and placed in a strange place with can induce a mild sense of panic and anxiety which masks normal behaviours.

The use of scented clothes to help reduce a well-known condition called "separation anxiety" in felines appears to have been debunked by this study. You make up your own mind. I have made up mine as you can see. There is too much first hand experience to show that scented clothes are very important to domestic cat because the smell of objects is a vital part of their lives. The use their sense of smell as much as they use their eyesight. Humans rely far more heavily on their eyesight.

Note: The scientists are: Alexandra C.Behnkea, Kristyn R.Vital and Monique A.R.Udella who, I believe, conducted the study at Animal Health & Behavior, Distance Education, Unity College, 49 Farm View Drive, Suite 201, New Gloucester, ME 04260, USA.

Wednesday, 28 April 2021

Cats and dogs have been as important as human family members during the pandemic

A survey conducted online about the human-to-cat (and dog) relationship threw up the following information. The survey was conducted by the dog and cat well-being business Paws Group.

  • 70% of dog and cat owners believe that their companion animal helped them with their mental health during lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic;
  • 70% of children also benefited, according to their parents, from living with a dog or cat during the Covid-19 restrictions:
  • 61% of owners used their companion animal for comfort during the pandemic;
  • Of those cat and dog owners who are married or living with a partner, 67% said that their companion animal was just as important for their well-being as their human partner;
  • 49% agreed that talking to their dog or cat is easier than talking to a human family member;
  • 47% felt that their cat or dog might suffer from separation anxiety when the lockdowns end;
  • 38% agreed that they would like to take their cat or dog to work in the future (I guess this has come about because they have had much more time with their companion animal working from home under the coronavirus restrictions).

Comment: for me, the results are expected and perhaps predictable. To other people they might not be, particularly the statistic about it being easier to talk to a cat or dog than a human partner. Or perhaps, on reflection, it isn't unexpected when you think about it!

Cats and dogs have been more important than human family members during the pandemic?
Cats and dogs have been more important than human family members during the pandemic? Photo: Pixabay.

One of the perennial sayings from companion animal owners is that they love their companion animals unconditionally. It seems that they can pour more love into an animal than they can a person. And the love is reciprocated or that is they way feel. The love is purer, therefore, than perhaps a typical human-to-human relationship.

We also know of the very many search projects which confirm time and again that children benefit enormously from a relationship with an animal, particularly children with conditions such as ADHD and autism. You don't have to go far in your search on the Internet to find the truth in that statement.

The pandemic lockdowns have brought people nearer to their companion animals which is a good thing. However, the consequences of these lockdowns is not all good with respect to the health and welfare of these animals. There have been a lot of fresh adoptions by arguably unprepared new companion animal guardians who perhaps don't have quite the right mindset to take on the responsibility of looking after their animal for the life of the animal.

It almost seems that they wanted to adopt a cat or dog to see them through the pandemic and after that, when they go back to their offices, they intend to relinquish their pet either in an online sale or via a rescue centre. That paints a rather negative picture but there have been many reports from cat rescue organisations who have expressed this fear.

Friday, 2 April 2021

Every day cat greets woman going to work on her bike

"On my way to my previous workplace i met every morning this cat at the same spot. She jumped always on my lap while i was on my bicycle and collected her daily cuddles...."

Note: videos on this site are typically made by people other than me and held on YouTube servers or the servers of other businesses (not the server storing this website). Sometimes the videos are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened I apologise but I have no control over it.

Once again, this is a particularly sweet story. I actually feel very sorry for this cat. Perhaps I should not. But, the cat needs company. And as you can see in the words of the woman she mentions her "previous workplace". This means that she no longer takes this route, I believe. This in turn means that this cat no longer meets this woman. So neither of them can enjoy their company. I wonder how the cat feels. I would bet that she feels lonely and misses her human, female companion.

It was a small thing but a quite unimportant part of their lives. After all, the woman felt it important enough to post the story to the Reddit.com website. Clearly it made an impact on her life and the same must be said about the cat.

It is these little things which enhance our lives. I would guess that this cat's owner is away all day and the cat is allowed outside which is why she is looking for company. Of course, I am guessing and I could be completely wrong but my gut feeling takes me to that thought. Because a cat is domesticated they need the company of their human companion.



There is a misconception by some people that cats are independent and can be left alone all day while they are at work. This is not true. Of course they can be left alone but after a few hours they will be waiting for their human friend to come home. It's called separation anxiety. Call it what you like. They need companionship. I feel sorry for cats who have to endure this loneliness. There is not much choice for the person because they have to work.

The only choice they have is not to adopt a cat and hopefully the cat that they would have adopted goes to a home where the person is around most of the day.

Every day this cat greets woman going to work on her bike
Every day this cat greets woman going to work on her bike. Screenshot.


Monday, 1 March 2021

Young confident cat cures elderly dog of separation anxiety

This is a beautiful picture of a young, confident cat, Pete, lying next to an elderly dog, Lucy, who suffered (past tense!) from separation anxiety when Joe's job took him away from the family home for long periods. Jo's wife, Lindsey, was at her wits end because Lucy's separation anxiety was acute. As soon as Joe packed his suitcase she'd start whimpering and when he left she wouldn't get out of bed.

She wouldn't go to the bathroom and everything she tried to assuage her separation anxiety failed. Her children, aged 3 and 6, wanted a new pet anyway, and I suppose this encouraged her to try that route. She decided to adopt a young cat rather than another dog as a companion for Lucy and made enquiries at a Pennsylvanian animal shelter called Forever Home Animal Rescue.

Young confident cat cures elderly dog of separation anxiety
Young confident cat cures elderly dog of separation anxiety. Picture: Lindsey Getz.

They were 'advertising' Pete on their website, I presume, describing him as laid back with a really easy-going temperament. An ideal cat she thought although you can never be sure that it is going to work out when you introduce a new companion animal to a home where there is a resident companion animal. Interspecies relationships are more problematic as well.

She shouldn't have been worried because Pete was very well socialised to dogs and that factor in combination with his confident and laid-back nature leapfrogged all the barriers that could have been presented. On the day he was brought home from the rescue center he was lying next to Lucy in the evening cuddling up.

Initially he was a bit fearful and hid for a day or two but Pete quickly became friends with the kids and importantly with Lucy. Lucy had a companion, a substitute to Joe, and Pete was looking after Lucy. Her separation anxiety faded. It is still there but to a much lesser extent. It is almost a cure and of course Lindsey is delighted because she has resolved what she no doubt saw as a major problem in her life.

She says that her life has been transformed for the better in solving Lucy's separation anxiety and in addition, both the lives of Lucy and of course of Pete have also been transformed. And Joe doesn't have to worry any more about Lucy being troubled with his departures. He can do his job without being concerned about Lucy's anxieties. Perhaps that makes him feel better as well because no doubt when you love your companion animals if your behaviour causes anxieties in them it will cause anxiety in you as well.

The lesson is that sometimes taking a chance on introducing a cat into a home where a dog suffers from anxieties of this nature can be hugely beneficial to both animals and to their owners.

Note: this story is from 2016 but it counts as it is educational as well as beautiful.

Tuesday, 17 November 2020

13.5% of domestic cats suffer from separation anxiety problems

The figure seems a little low to me but I'm going to rely upon a questionnaire survey sent to 130 owners of adult cats living in the city of Juiz de Fora in Minas Gerais, Brazil. There were 223 questions for each cat. The research is published in the journal PLOS ONE and it was published on April 15, 2020.
Photo: Pixabay

Information collected showed that 13.5% of the sampled cats i.e. 30 out of 223, had at least one symptom of separation anxiety or a separation problem such as destructive behaviour (which was the most frequently reported behavioural symptoms), excessive vocalisation, inappropriate urination, depression-apathy, aggression, agitation-anxiety and inappropriate defecation. Inappropriate defecation was the least encountered behavioural problem at seven of the cats while inappropriate urination occurred with 18 of the cats surveyed. 

The cats lived in households whose owners varied in age between 18-35 years and in homes where there are no female residents or two female residents. 

 Comment: having read lots of literature of on cat behaviour and cat ownership, I sense that there is a real problem with cats being labelled as independent and being left alone all day while their owners have to go to work. You can't really criticise the people but I don't think that they are fully aware of the mental difficulties that their cats experience when left alone. 

Also, not infrequently, these cats are left alone as full-time indoor cats and therefore they can't entertain themselves outside. I'm not saying that they should be outside because it is more dangerous outside. I'm just saying that it's an issue about cat ownership and whether people are in the right place in terms of their lives to be high quality cat caretakers. 

Tuesday, 22 January 2008

Cat Behavior and Separation Anxiety

Cat behavior and separation anxiety is almost certainly a growing issue. I have first hand experience of it. I don't know if I am being over sensitive or over protective but I think that if we agreed to live with our cat (and she agreed to live with us) we have created a situation where our cat adapts to us being around. We provide the food and warmth, that's agreed. And she provides her presence and companionship.

It is our presence that becomes a part of our cat's life. I can see this in my cat. When I was working I was away all day and she would wait in the house at the front door for hours on end. She was delighted to see me on my return, that was obvious. Was she delighted to see me because I was going to give her some prawns? Or was is because she likes me to be around? Of course the two are linked.

Recently I have been at home a lot more and she sleeps next to me while I am at the computer. So she likes to be near me. When I go into a different room and watch TV she follows me there (albeit about 10 mins later). This tells me she likes me around and I know she likes prawns so it's a bit of both.

Some cats are more patient and able to deal with separation than others. But cat behavior resulting from separation anxiety is noticeable. My former partner worked hard and liked to play hard. She wasn't at her flat a lot. She had a large boy cat. He had to stay in the flat all the time while she is out. What do you expect? Apparently he urinated on her bed. A sure sign of cat behavior resulting from separation anxiety.

When a cat does this he is transferring his scent to you in the same way that he brushes against you when her greets you and when he wants food. He is mixing his scent in his urine to your scent on your bed clothes. He is scent sharing or doing a scent exchange to make himself feel more comfortable and less anxious.

Separation anxiety is not the only reason for peeing on your bed or outside the litter box. Some reasons are:
  • Cystitis - my girl cat get this. It can be brought on by stress and not drinking enough liquid. Drinking more liquid helps to flush the kidneys reducing the possibility of infection.
  • Stress caused by some other reason. Apparently cat's urine contains pheromones (a stress reducing hormone), which when released the cat can benefit from.
  • Dirty litter tray.
  • If you have 2 cats and one is urinating outside the litter the other may mark the area with urine compounding the problem

Pictures: Top copyright imen, bottom copyright .snow
Source:
mine knowledge and http://en.allexperts.com

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