Anxiety and chronic stress are among the most common but least recognised welfare problems in pet cats. Environmental factors, social conflict, and routine disruption all contribute.
Cats are expert at concealing stress — a survival adaptation that means chronic suffering often goes unnoticed by even attentive owners. The link between stress and serious physical illness (FIC, vomiting, over-grooming causing alopecia) demonstrates the real welfare cost of unmanaged feline anxiety. Creating an environment that supports feline psychological needs — multiple safe retreat spaces, feeding stations apart from litter trays, predictable routines, and careful management of inter-cat relationships — significantly reduces chronic stress. Welfare-centred cat keeping treats psychological needs as equally important as physical health.